Don't Forget - B S T Begins Overnight!

JUST A REMINDER that the clocks go forward at 1am one hour for British Summer Time to commence. Me, I don't have a problem with GMT, as the clock to the left will show. So I'll let you all get on with it then...

Wallpaper Of The Week



The picture above is a view of Perth, Australia, contributed by my friend Hannah Walters of Aberdare, South Wales, which I hope you like. I think it makes a nice wallpaper, I have it as my desktop at present.

I'm planning on some ideas for here on RFTFT, until then I'll keep them under wraps and say "Take care, good night"!

Six Nations Results & Radio Round-up, March 2007

IN A previous post, I posted the early results and forthcoming fixtures of the RBS Six Nations 2007 and to complete that post, here are the results commencing Sunday 11 February 2007 until the completion of the tournament, Saturday 17 March 2007 :

Sunday 11 February 2007 :

Ireland 17 - France 20 (Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland)

Saturday 24 February :

Scotland 17 - Italy 37 (Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland)

Ireland 43 - England 13 (Croke Park)

France 32 - Wales 21 (Stade de France, Paris, France)

Saturday 10 March :

Scotland 18 - Ireland 19 (Murrayfield)

Italy 23 - Wales 20 (Stadio Flaminio, Rome, Italy)

Sunday 11 March :

England 26 - France 18 (Twickenham, Middlesex, England)

Saturday 17 March :

Italy 24 - Ireland 51 (Stadio Flaminio)

France 46 - Scotland 19 (Stade de France)

Wales 27 - England 18 (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales)

France retain the RBS Six Nations Championship, winning 4 matches, gaining 8 points, Ireland won 4 matches, gaining 8 points, England won 3 matches, gaining 6 points. Italy have their best ever finish in the Championship, 4th place, winning 2 matches, gaining 4 points. Wales are 5th, winning 1 match, 2 points and Scotland have the 'wooden spoon' : winning 1 match, 2 points, finishing bottom of the table.

RADIO ROUND-UP, MARCH 2007

ALMOST a week ago, I spent an evening listening to the shortwave band, commencing at 20 hours GMT on the frequency of 9800 kHz and here are the broadcasts I heard on the evening of Tuesday 13 March 2007 :

Voice of America, 2020 - 2030 GMT, 9815 kHz (French language broadcast)

Voice of America, 2051 - 2057 GMT, 9815 kHz (Hausa language broadcast)

Radio Netherlands, 2106 - 2120 GMT, 9895 kHz (Dutch language broadcast)

All India Radio, 2124 - 2144 GMT, 9910 kHz (General Overseas Service [English] broadcast)

Radio Cairo, 2148 - 2208 GMT, 9990 kHz (English language broadcast)

In a future post, I hope to include links to the above broadcasters to access their websites, which I hope you will find of interest.

All the best for now, have a great week!

TIME BEGINS IN ANTHORN VILLAGE

SOURCE : News & Star

Published on 28/02/2007

By Kelly Eve

THE UK’s time signal was beamed from a former military base in a remote part of north Cumbria for the first time yesterday.

The 13 individual masts which dominate the skyline at Anthorn will be used to transmit the radio signal full-time from April 1 and time will be accurate to 1/1,000th of a second.

It is the signal used to set all official clocks and the ‘pips’ on BBC radio.

Tests of the signal began yesterday and will increase in the run-up to the switch-over. For the first day, low cloud covered the tops of the 13 masts which are connected by a network of heavy, metal cables.

In the blustery conditions, a few sheep were seen taking shelter in one of cluster of bushes that are inside the cordoned-off site where a handful of redundant, old war-time brick buildings still stand on the peninsula.

The UK time signal has been broadcast from a station near Rugby since 1927.

It is moving to Anthorn because the body responsible, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), is switching contracts to the VT Communications’ transmitter at Anthorn. Previously known as ‘The Time From Rugby’, it will now be referred to as ‘The Time From NPL’.

The signal is used to manage 999 communiciations, the rail network and a wide range of electronic networks, including cash machines, speed cameras and mobile phone billing systems.

The system at Anthorn is being upgraded and it is believed it will not need as much maintenance as the Rugby equipment.

“Maintaining accurate time is essential to keeping the modern world working,” said NPL managing director Steve McQuillan.

“Most people only need time to be accurate to within a few seconds or even minutes, but global navigation systems, the internet, the power industry and financial systems are just some of the industries that depend on very accurate time to operate.”

NPL, at Teddington in south-west London, is one of only five centres worldwide using the latest caesium fountain atomic clocks to contribute to the world time standard, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

The Anthorn transmitter is usually used for relaying orders to submarines on 19.6 kHz under the callsign GBZ.

It is one of four NATO facilities with three others in Norway, Germany, and Italy.

The Anthorn site began its career as a military landing strip during World War One, being used as an emergency landing ground for RAF Silloth in World War Two. The Royal Navy took it over in December 1942 and created RNAS Anthorn, also known as HMS Nuthatch. After the war, it was kept as an aircraft unit until it closed in 1958.

Residents have welcomed their transmitter’s new, modern use.

Sandra Mitchinson has lived on Solway Drive for over 20 years.

She said: “I suppose it’s a nice thing to have now but I think we should also get someone local to do the speaking clock, the voice for it too.

“We don’t have much going for us here so this would be good for us.”

Source : News & Star.