On topic Riggers Diary

The phone was ringing and ringing but I always ignore it until I'm
actually sitting behind the desk. As soon as I was it rung again, with
the breathless voice of the girl at the council bringing the unwelcome
news that the Dyke Road flats had got no TV reception. "Again!"

This was a bit annoying, because I changed the main head end amplifier
after the lightning about a week ago and everthing else appeared
unscathed and was working fine. This time it was the pre-amplifier.
Apparently the weather had gone 'very dark, very suddenly' at 6pm
last night, and although there hadn't actually been any lightning the
TV system had stopped working at that moment. Odd.

As I left Dyke Road the phone rang and a female voice started gabbling
at me nineteen to the dozen, only about three of which I could
understand. It really was a torrent of words, and I kept hearing
something about 'de cows in'. One of our ethnic minority friends
gone into farming? After a while I realised that she was saying
'degaussing'. What do I know about degaussing? Nothing. Can't
even spell it.

"Why are you telling me about this?"

"Well you did the aerial and I thought you might be able to advise
me."

"Oh, where do you live? I don't remember . . . "

"Oh I suppose you see lots of people don't you? It was when we
bought the new telly. Not the new new telly, the one we had before.
Anyway, he waved this magic wand thing at it and it made it no better
and he said it was my speakers but they're not anywhere near the
telly they're on the other side of the fireplace but he said it was
them and he picked my speaker up and waved it at the telly and it went
pink and he said there you see that proves it was your speakers (he WAS
a nasty man) and he said it was my own fault as well because I've
been turning it off by pulling the plug out and he said that would have
damaged it as well but the switch stopped working just after I got it
and I asked them to come but they said I'd have to take it to the
shop well how can I with my leg?" She had to stop for breath
momentarily so I dived in but all I managed was "So . . ." before
she was off again. As I listened it became more and more obvious that
the TV shop was giving her a rough deal, but no matter how often I
attempted to interject to offer some helpful advice I just couldn't
get a word in.
"Anyway he mended the switch so I've turned it on and off with that
for a week now but it's no better and I can't sleep, I really
can't, for the worry of it, I mean what am I going to do, he said
because the telly was =A3500 and it should be =A3600 there was no
guarantee . . ." I had to get a word in somehow. Shock tactics, that
was it.

"You're a very bad listener you are!" I said loudly, over her
voice. The flow stopped. There was a silence.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I do go on a bit sometimes. But you see I was so
worried and I just didn't know what to do I mean what if it won't
ever come right I've turned it on and off twenty times just now and
it isn't getting any better . . ."

"SHURRUP! SHURRUP! For God's sake woman will yer shurrup and let me
get a word in?"

"Oh yes, sorry, but I'm so worried."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude but you've rung me for advice and
really I ought to do at least some of the talking." From then on she
listened, a bit, and I hope I helped her. The conversation ended as I
got home, twenty minutes after it started. It must have cost her a
fortune to ring a mobile for that long.

As I finished lunch the phone rang. It was a good customer who had been
told by Panasonic that the fact that his IDTV (with TopUp) kept 'going
black' was because the aerial (new by us) was not wideband. The aerial
points at Emley Moor, with every mux within Group B. What are we coming
to when firms like that mislead customers in that way?

When Paul was away last week I went to a domestic call for him. The
problem was poor reception of the ITV mux. All the muxes were at the
same strength, the 64QAM just tipping the balance. I decided that the
solution would probably involve a tall mast, a new downlead, and maybe
a masthead amp, and since it was teatime I told the bloke that Paul
would do when he returned. But in the event I went to it today.

The downlead loss was 8dB (about twice what it should have been) and
lifting the aerial 6ft gave an extra 6dB. So a new mast and downlead
were installed. The box was a Sagem and as soon as the new cable was
connected it said "New channels detected on the stream. Autotune?"
to which I replied "Yes please dear box." But the autotune added
muxes that were obviously not from Emley Moor, and when it was done I
noticed that the BBC and ITV channels were showing very poor strength
on the red bar. I looked at 'technical details' to see that the two
relevant muxes from Belmont were present. So I guessed that the box had
tuned them. I fitted an Emley channelpass filter, which killed the BBC
reception, thus proving the point. (Belmont ch48 sneaks thro' an
Emley filter). So I tried to do another autotune, but this time I
needed the four digit code. I looked at the customer and he said quick
as a flash '1202' but this gave 'code error'. Of course I tried
several times, tried 0000 and 1234 and 4321 and 9999 lots more, but all
to no avail. He was adamant that the code he'd given was right, but
then he remembered what had happened. He'd got the box free with the
telly and the installer had asked him for a four digit number, so
he'd given a number and said "I'll not forget that, it's the
same as the burglar alarm." Afterwards he'd realised that he'd
told the guy the alarm code, so he changed the latter from being
'someone's' birthday to being 'Lucy's birthday'. 1202 was
the new alarm code, and he couldn't remember who the 'someone' was,
still less their birthday. We tried the birthdays of every son,
daughter and grandchild without success. I even tried my own and our
cat's. Meanwhile the ITV started to pixellate and the missus said
"It's no better than it was before." So in the end I've
emailed Sagem to find out if there's a solution. Ho hum!

Bill

wrote:
The phone was ringing and ringing but I always ignore it until I'm
actually sitting behind the desk. As soon as I was it rung again, with
the breathless voice of the girl at the council bringing the unwelcome
news that the Dyke Road flats had got no TV reception. "Again!"

This was a bit annoying, because I changed the main head end amplifier
after the lightning about a week ago and everthing else appeared
unscathed and was working fine. This time it was the pre-amplifier.
Apparently the weather had gone 'very dark, very suddenly' at 6pm
last night, and although there hadn't actually been any lightning the
TV system had stopped working at that moment. Odd.

As I left Dyke Road the phone rang and a female voice started gabbling
at me nineteen to the dozen, only about three of which I could
understand. It really was a torrent of words, and I kept hearing
something about 'de cows in'. One of our ethnic minority friends
gone into farming? After a while I realised that she was saying
'degaussing'. What do I know about degaussing? Nothing. Can't
even spell it.

"Why are you telling me about this?"

"Well you did the aerial and I thought you might be able to advise
me."

"Oh, where do you live? I don't remember . . . "

"Oh I suppose you see lots of people don't you? It was when we
bought the new telly. Not the new new telly, the one we had before.
Anyway, he waved this magic wand thing at it and it made it no better
and he said it was my speakers but they're not anywhere near the
telly they're on the other side of the fireplace but he said it was
them and he picked my speaker up and waved it at the telly and it went
pink and he said there you see that proves it was your speakers (he WAS
a nasty man) and he said it was my own fault as well because I've
been turning it off by pulling the plug out and he said that would have
damaged it as well but the switch stopped working just after I got it
and I asked them to come but they said I'd have to take it to the
shop well how can I with my leg?" She had to stop for breath
momentarily so I dived in but all I managed was "So . . ." before
she was off again. As I listened it became more and more obvious that
the TV shop was giving her a rough deal, but no matter how often I
attempted to interject to offer some helpful advice I just couldn't
get a word in.
"Anyway he mended the switch so I've turned it on and off with that
for a week now but it's no better and I can't sleep, I really
can't, for the worry of it, I mean what am I going to do, he said
because the telly was £500 and it should be £600 there was no
guarantee . . ." I had to get a word in somehow. Shock tactics, that
was it.

"You're a very bad listener you are!" I said loudly, over her
voice. The flow stopped. There was a silence.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I do go on a bit sometimes. But you see I was so
worried and I just didn't know what to do I mean what if it won't
ever come right I've turned it on and off twenty times just now and
it isn't getting any better . . ."

"SHURRUP! SHURRUP! For God's sake woman will yer shurrup and let me
get a word in?"

"Oh yes, sorry, but I'm so worried."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude but you've rung me for advice and
really I ought to do at least some of the talking." From then on she
listened, a bit, and I hope I helped her. The conversation ended as I
got home, twenty minutes after it started. It must have cost her a
fortune to ring a mobile for that long.

As I finished lunch the phone rang. It was a good customer who had been
told by Panasonic that the fact that his IDTV (with TopUp) kept 'going
black' was because the aerial (new by us) was not wideband. The aerial
points at Emley Moor, with every mux within Group B. What are we coming
to when firms like that mislead customers in that way?

When Paul was away last week I went to a domestic call for him. The
problem was poor reception of the ITV mux. All the muxes were at the
same strength, the 64QAM just tipping the balance. I decided that the
solution would probably involve a tall mast, a new downlead, and maybe
a masthead amp, and since it was teatime I told the bloke that Paul
would do when he returned. But in the event I went to it today.

The downlead loss was 8dB (about twice what it should have been) and
lifting the aerial 6ft gave an extra 6dB. So a new mast and downlead
were installed. The box was a Sagem and as soon as the new cable was
connected it said "New channels detected on the stream. Autotune?"
to which I replied "Yes please dear box." But the autotune added
muxes that were obviously not from Emley Moor, and when it was done I
noticed that the BBC and ITV channels were showing very poor strength
on the red bar. I looked at 'technical details' to see that the two
relevant muxes from Belmont were present. So I guessed that the box had
tuned them. I fitted an Emley channelpass filter, which killed the BBC
reception, thus proving the point. (Belmont ch48 sneaks thro' an
Emley filter). So I tried to do another autotune, but this time I
needed the four digit code. I looked at the customer and he said quick
as a flash '1202' but this gave 'code error'. Of course I tried
several times, tried 0000 and 1234 and 4321 and 9999 lots more, but all
to no avail. He was adamant that the code he'd given was right, but
then he remembered what had happened. He'd got the box free with the
telly and the installer had asked him for a four digit number, so
he'd given a number and said "I'll not forget that, it's the
same as the burglar alarm." Afterwards he'd realised that he'd
told the guy the alarm code, so he changed the latter from being
'someone's' birthday to being 'Lucy's birthday'. 1202 was
the new alarm code, and he couldn't remember who the 'someone' was,
still less their birthday. We tried the birthdays of every son,
daughter and grandchild without success. I even tried my own and our
cat's. Meanwhile the ITV started to pixellate and the missus said
"It's no better than it was before." So in the end I've
emailed Sagem to find out if there's a solution. Ho hum!

Bill

Nice one Bill. The Segam default PIN is 1234!

AKW

Nice one Bill. The Segam default PIN is 1234!

AKW

Thank you.

Bill

wrote:

He'd got the box free with the
telly and the installer had asked him for a four digit number, so
he'd given a number and said "I'll not forget that, it's the
same as the burglar alarm." Afterwards he'd realised that he'd
told the guy the alarm code, so he changed the latter from being
'someone's' birthday to being 'Lucy's birthday'. 1202 was
the new alarm code

....which he's now divulged to a second tradesman...

--
Mark.
http://tranchant.plus.com/

On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:09:54 +0100, Mark Tranchant
wrote:

wrote:

He'd got the box free with the
telly and the installer had asked him for a four digit number, so
he'd given a number and said "I'll not forget that, it's the
same as the burglar alarm." Afterwards he'd realised that he'd
told the guy the alarm code, so he changed the latter from being
'someone's' birthday to being 'Lucy's birthday'. 1202 was
the new alarm code

...which he's now divulged to a second tradesman...


Try reading Bill's OP again.

--
cerberus

lid wrote:
On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:09:54 +0100, Mark Tranchant
wrote:

wrote:

1202 was the new alarm code

...which he's now divulged to a second tradesman...

Try reading Bill's OP again.

OK:

* STB and alarm both set to unknown number xxxx.
* customer divulges xxxx to installer
* customer realizes he's revealed alarm code to stranger
* customer changes alarm to 1202
* Bill asks for STB code
* customer gives him 1202, the alarm code

So as I see it, the customer has now given his alarm code to two
tradesman. Admittedly, only one (hopefully zero by now) has the current
code, but this customer isn't much good at security.

Maybe the installer has a note of the original xxxx code somewhere?

--
Mark.
http://tranchant.plus.com/

Yes, he told me his alarm code, inadvertently.

So far, no complaints from the customer and no reply from Segem.

Bill

Aztech wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Yes, he told me his alarm code, inadvertently.

That's really not nice when you think about it, if somebody does nab
something from his house all his tradesman will be under immediate
suspicion.

Luckily any bobby calling here would see by the dreadful old telly we
watch that we aren't into nicking other people's!

Bill