Justin Smith

Could someone please explain the biggest mystery of the moment ?

Where is all the bread going ?

Bear in mind :

1 - Bread goes off in about a week

2 - Bread is quite bulky so takes up a lot of room in ones freezer

I heard a theory that some people might even be buying extra bread "as a spare", then binning it when it got stale only to buy some more ! It sounds unlikely, and incredibly selfish*, but I can't think of any other explanation.....

* If this is true they should be flogged, and I'm only half joking.

19 minutes ago, melthebell said:

Doesn't have to be a direct bribe but I think up and down the country choosing a contractor isn't always down to what's best or value for money, money gets wasted all the time

My point exactly.

Now this is a big big question..... Corruption doesn't have to be anything as obvious as a direct bribe. I suspect most corruption in this country is businesses putting councillors (or MPs or whoever) "in a positive frame of mind" towards them by indirect means, i.e. gaining influence.

As an example, who would have thought that councillors being given free tickets to sports events could be corrupt ? But it is and I'm pretty sure it's not allowed or if it is the politicians would have to declare it. You may have thought that petty, but actually it isn't. I have an ongoing issue with SIV (Sheffield International Venues), and they are an arrogant organisation if ever I saw one, right up to the very top. As it happens the council say they have no legal powers over them anyway, though they do obviously have influence (£1.2 million worth this year....), but, if councillors had had free tickets (not that I'm saying they have) they would obviously be less willing to get involved (consciously or sub consciously) with an issue which could cause problems between them and the distributors of largesse.

And that's why all benefits should, and must, be declared by all politicians, and why there is such a furore if said benefits (like Boris Johnson's holiday) are found not to have been declared.

I'm pretty sure she won't have given her card or bank details to anyone so how could they force her to pay anyway ?

Thanks for your replies. It's a brand new Alba with (just) a loads of Google icons. Does that make it an Android ? ! ?

16 minutes ago, altus said:

Make sure your friend disables in app purchases. Get your friend to search for "kid runs up in app purchases bill" for suitable warning examples.

She just wants to download simple games, will she still have to do that ?

Could anyone help me with this please ? ! ?

My friend has just bought a tablet and was told she could download free some simple games for her 6 year old to play on the plane etc.

She's asked me to help ! How would I go about doing that ?

9 hours ago, WokeyMcWokeface said:

It was and is the only place to live in Sheffield, and South Yorkshire for that matter, but the lurch to the left and the rise of champagne socialists is a shame. People driving BMWs and sending kids to private school and then sticking up a Labour sign at election time as a virtue signal. Extreme wokeism.

I admire "champagne socialists". You could argue they are the real socialists. It's easy to vote Labour if you're working class and you think they'll take money off the rich and give it to you, rather more principled are people voting Labour and actually paying more tax.

On ‎02‎/‎03‎/‎2020 at 13:41, geared said:

She has a Twitter here: https://twitter.com/_oliviablake

 

Also a phone number is listed on her campaign website : 0114 272 4964

As is another e-mail address [email protected]

 

Also she lists a mobile number on the Sheffield Council website   07817 672 558

I know for a fact not all councillors bother answering their phone or E mails, I'd have thought MPs wouldn't be any different.

One of my councillors, Julie Grocutt, did used to answer the phone and I can remember being impressed by that, but, TBH, it should be taken as read they answer the soddin' phone....

On ‎13‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 08:51, L00b said:

 

Leave was fronted by Mr Gove, the very same individual who fessed up on Monday that this will happen indeed. I understand that Mr Javid, also of the government, added an extra layer of fessing up this week as well. 

 

You're getting import duty on everything coming from the EU27 from 01.01.21: a tariff-free trade deal between the UK and the EU does not mean a custom charges-free setup like you have known for the past couple of decades under the Single Market. It just means you don't pay a tariff on this or that imported item: you still pay VAT on the item value (+shipping +handling fee) just like in the OP.

We're going over to Rotterdam on  a ferry cruise this month, we usually bring back a shed load of wine bought cheaply on the vessel, enough to more or less last for the next year ! I'm assuming we won't be able to do that next year, one more reason why I won't be "forgetting and uniting" like that proven liar and adulterer Boris Johnson wants us all to.

20 minutes ago, MEC176 said:

Morning Justin, Other Aerial Bodgers, that is very intresting the information

you give is fascinating and if other people are having problems with their reception

I surgest they read what you have posted if there's are mounted or have simular obstacles as your pictures show then they know what the problem is with the reception, I have been and looked at our aerial, ok it's only from ground level and I would think it's most likely a Wide Band general purpose aerial on a four foot mast clear of any obstacles, quite a few around use are of the same shape and style etc. 

 

Couple of question's I would like to ask we have had in the past on a lovely warm clear day with no clouds etc the channel's on the high'er channel number's break up is this to do with the atmospherics, do you really need a Digital aerial, is there such a thing, if you have a all singing dancing HD internet TV.   Thanks

Are you sure you haven't got excessive signal ? Most people don't realise you can have too much signal and it's as bad as too little, here is an article on signal strength. My advice to anyone with a signal problem is buy an attenuator, they're only a couple of quid.  When the attenuator is in use does the signal get better or worse ? If it gets better your problem is / was excessive signal, if it gets worse you're short of signal.

There's no such thing as a "digital aerial", excepting where transmitters changed group at the digital switchover, e.g. back in 2011 Sheffield / Crosspool went from A group to wideband / K group, the graph below illustrates how an  A group aerial will only pick up 3 or 4 of the 6 MUXES :

On ‎11‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 12:06, L00b said:

Jersey is not in the EU, so the custom/import procedure is followed by the delivery services, no different if you had bought the Echo from e.g. a US seller.

 

Ordinarily the custom charge is VAT at 20% applied to the declared value of the item (that's why items marked as 'gifts' i.e. zero value, attracts less duty - but then insurance won't pay out if it gets lost), to the freight cost and to the handling/admin fee for all that paperwork.

 

20% on £30 + £15 P&P (if the actual postage cost appears on the parcel, rather than 'what eBay says') is £9 (£54 total), without handling charge. But that's more than you paid.

 

Alternatively, if the charge was calculated on the £30+£3.48 P&P, then that gives you a handling charge of £8 [(30+3.48 + 8)x1.2]=£49.79 (which is your £30+3.48+£16.31)]. EDIT: per thecult's post above.

 

If the buyer really paid £15 P&P, then it looks like you're actually under-paying the applicable customs charge, you tax evader, you! 

 

Topically after yesterday's news...get ready for those custom charges on *anything* you buy from Europe from 1 Jan 2021.

I think you've got that wrong , Leave assured us that would not happen, and, since they're in government now, they are in  a position to ensure it never does......

On ‎10‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 19:00, carosio said:

Aerials themselves rarely need replacing unless the cable connectors in the box have deteriorated. More commonly it's the down lead that has let in water due to a pinched clip or the wind has chafed it along the gutter or similar. Usually a replacement downlead(s) solves the problem. Although, if another aerial is mounted on the stack too close to an existing one it could cause interference, particularly with the old analogue transmissions. If in a weak signal area, splitting the signal for two sets reduces it by half, so a high gain aerial is sometimes required.

This is not necessarily true unfortunately, particularly for "Bacofoil aerials"  :

Other aerial bodges......

3 hours ago, glitterballs said:

So is BBC4 HD, Quest HD and Forces TV available from Emley Moor?

Had new aerial fitted still and its still pointing at Sheffield even though I asked for it to be directed to Emley Moor, was told the channels had gone from Emley too?

 

Looks like I was told wrong and typically the guys who fitted it are not returning my calls asking for it to be put right!

 

Thanks

Yes they are still being transmitted from Emley, as well as Belmont, Waltham and Bilsdale (see table above).

Where do you live ? Some sites can't get on Sheffield TX. Who did you get to fit the aerial ?

12 hours ago, Colin Foster said:

Channel 31 is now used for the Sheffield Live MUX from Grenoside. Think 37 is being used by another transmitter as well.

 

MUX 7 and 8 were always meant to be temporary anyway. They've been moved/ are being moved to 55 and 56 at every transmitter they broadcast from, those frequencies being in the 700 MHz band that is being cleared of TV signals. They get switched off at the sites still transmitting  them at some point in the next few years.

A lot of channels moved frequency at Emley though, which is why you needed to retune.

Sheffield area channel to MUX allocations, very useful (even if I do say so myself.....) :  

Use in conjunction with digital MUX to programmes

Deleted

Apparently these possible messages saying retune "may* be required on Feb 12th" are for some people up near Leeds who are on repeater transmitters off Emley Moor. As far as I know nobody in the Sheffield area should need to retune their TVs on the 12th Feb.

* does it say "might" need retuning, or "will" need retuning ?

10 hours ago, kidneystone said:

I'm on the Emley Moor transmitter. I lost quite a few channels today so I did the retune  I am getting a message to retune again on Feb 12th....it's a pain in the arse. 

Everytime I have to retune I have to make a note of all the programs that are set to record ( over 20) and Re-enter all the information again.

I cannot seem to find out why anyone round here should have to retune on the 12th Feb, unless Grenoside will be late starting transmissions, can anyone confirm that Grenoside has started transmitting the local Sheffield channel (on CH31) ?

NOTE : Grenoside has been chosen  to transmit (just) the Sheffield local channel because many people in Sheffield with their aerials on Emley will be pointing more or less in that direction, thus people on Emley will also p/u the Sheffield channel (not just those on Crosspool transmitter).

2 hours ago, willman said:

just tuned mine in,moved along a few channels to recieve notification for retuning on Feb 12th.

 

Which transmitter are you on ? I didn't think anything was happening up here on the 12th Feb ! Sandy Heath transmitter is having a MUX about but that's down near, er, Sandy. There, one MUX is moving to CH33, which Emley has a MUX on now as well. Maybe they think there may be co-channel issues, but I can't see why that would require a retune.....

1 hour ago, oldskool said:

I'm left with just 5 hd channels today on the living room set 😒 outside Ariel is horizontal  the bedroom TV which uses a indoor boosted Ariel and  is on the window sil ,still has all the channels its  in a  vertical position having line of sight out of the window too the other transmitter  helps i guess. 

 

could never get a picture using the indoor one in the living room  too many bricks and walls in the way.

 

can someone lend me a ladder 😂🤣😂

 

How many channels do you have in total SD and HD ?

And which transmitter are you on ?

4 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Is there an easy way to select the transmitter from which you receive a TV service from?

Unfortunately our main TV uses the post code to make us use the Crosspool transmitter for everything instead of Belmont which provides a more reliable service.

Sometimes aerial can pick up more than one transmitter, particularly if you live up high. Under those circumstances try manually tuning your TV in.

44 minutes ago, Blue Day said:

I would assume you’d need to point your TV aerial to the relevant transmitter?

Correct, though you may also have to repolarise it :

It is entirely possible that an internet forum is not the best place to get support for my position, on that we can surely agree......

1 hour ago, ECCOnoob said:

Who waits for programmes or sits whilst adverts are on these days?

 

TV on demand is what people are watching.  Hard disk recorders have been mainstream for many many years now on both Freeview and satellite with the ability to pick and choose programmes, watch them when you want and skip through any ad breaks.

 

I'm sorry but teletext (even the fancy red button type) is a dinosaur of a service with a completely dwindling market.  It's inevitable it will be turned off at some point.

 

In 2019 there's a world of information on my mobile phone more than ever would be found on the red button service.  Given the current generation of pensioners have been around more than long enough to embrace the world of mobile telephony and home internet, there are very little excuses for clinging onto a dying service other than one's own stubbornness to change.

You may call it "stubbornness to change", but who are you, or the BBC, to tell other people how to live their lives ?

Personally I do not want a smart phone, I want to get away from the soddin' internet. I've seen too many people glued to their smart phones ignoring the world around them (even out at a restaurant with their wives / husbands / parents ! ), no thanks.

32 minutes ago, makapaka said:

I think they’ll have a good idea how many times people access the service.

 

theyll also have an equally good idea how many people access their online service.

 

its like asking them to go back to analog radio cos some people prefer it - times moved on. 

No, the BBC will have an exact figure for the number of people who use their online service via their website(s) stats package(s). They will not know how many people use their broadcast services (Text or indeed programmes) without conducting an expensive and time consuming survey then extrapolating the results.

But in any case the BBC is there to provide  service to all, particularly the disadvantaged. I admit I don't have a smart phone out of choice, but there are significant numbers of people who don't have one either because they can't afford then or don't understand them, usually, but not exclusively, older people. Text is one of the things which makes the BBC different from eth commercial broadcasters, and that is increasingly important these days when the licence fee is coming under pressure

However, at the end of the day, I cannot imagine running the text service costs that much in the greater scheme of things.

As I mentioned earlier, there are probably quite a few people who don't rely on it but use Text (news and sports headlines etc) as a time filler waiting for  a programme to come on, or whilst the adverts are on. It's not only me who has made this point on other forums.

2 hours ago, makapaka said:

Nope -  in the opinion of many - which is why it will go.

 

if it was so widely used there wouldn’t be a discussion. 
 

It’s old technology that is not fit for purpose because most people use the new technology available to them.

 

 

I bet it's more widely used than the BBC think.......

On ‎03‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 09:04, hilldweller said:

If the main elements of your TV aerial are pointing up and down (vertically polarised), then you are receiving signals from Crosspool transmitter.

Emley Moor transmits with horizontal polarisation (aerial elements side to side)

Simples😀

It's not quite as simple as that, there are other vertically polarised transmitters, e.g. Oughtibridge transmitter, Totley, and Stocksbridge, plus Chesterfield transmitter of course.

More accurately if your aerial is pointing at Crosspool (as in just above Crookes) and is vertically polarised then you are almost certainly on it.

7 hours ago, Colin Foster said:

One way - have a look on Calendar news on ITV. If the background behind the presenters is the Humber Bridge, you're receiving Crosspool. The version broadcast from Emley Moor has Leeds as the backgound.

If the background is the Humber Bridge surely you'd be getting your signals from Belmont transmitter (East Lincs) ?

11 hours ago, glitterballs said:

So now I’m confused (not hard) if I type in my post code it tells me I’m on Emily moor yet tonight on BBC4 HD it said I’ll loose the service on the 5th!

Having just spent 1k on a new TV I’m slightly miffed especially as the licence is increasing 🤬

The postcode predictor is not 100% accurate.

Very few HD channels are being switched off, and the ones that are get a small audience. I suspect that BBC News HD and CBeebies HD will be moved onto one of the other MUXES (and therefore receivable off Crosspool) within a year or two.