FrequencyCast Show 98 Transcript
FrequencyCast Show 98 includes details of how to get ypour name sent into space on the comet Bennu.
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 98 (31 mins) |
Show 98 Transcript:
The show starts with discussion of how to get your name sent into space...
Pete:
Hello Kelly, how are you?
Kelly:
I'm good thank you, Pete – how are you?
Pete:
Not too bad. You had a little bit of a cough earlier, didn't you? – are you all right?
Kelly:
I'm okay, I'm surviving at the moment – honey and lemon, honey and lemon.
Pete:
We'll be gentle with you. Before we dive into the main feature of the show, I would like to talk to you about Bennu.
Kelly:
Bennu?
Pete:
You don't know who Bennu is?
Kelly:
It sounds like it should be a cartoon from childhood.
Pete:
Well, it's a comet, heading this way. It's not actually that far away now, in astronomical terms, and as we mentioned briefly in the last show, you have your chance of getting your name on a NASA probe that's going to go and visit it – how cool.
Kelly:
Is this like the Mars one we did before?
Pete:
It wasn't Mars, it was an orbiting satellite, so your and mine name, and the word FrequencyCast, was orbiting in the Aris satellite overhead. You could send your name on the Mars Rover, but we didn't actually do that, but now you could get your name etched to a chip that's going to be sent on the Osaris Rex probe, on its way to the Bennu comet – how cool?
Kelly:
Yeah. For what purpose?
Pete:
Your name immortalised, and sent into space. Let's face it, it's the only time you're going to get to go into space.
Kelly:
Why will it?
Pete:
Well, you don't want to be an astronaut, do you?
Kelly:
No, I don't, but they're starting to take people up on nice little holidays.
Pete:
I'll have a word for you, then – goodbye.
Kelly:
Thanks. No, I'd be impressed if you could actually see a physical picture, you know like when the planes have the messages kind of going past? If it was literally in space, and my name was floating around, a bit like that, then I'd be impressed. I don't know that I believe this, I think it's a con. I'd want photo evidence.
Pete:
Funny you say that.
Kelly:
Oh, Pete! – you haven't! – you've put my name on Bennu!
Pete:
There you go, so you're holding a certificate: "Messages to Bennu, certificate of participation, Kelly, FrequencyCast." Certificate number signed by the Planetary Society. Are you not impressed?
Kelly:
This is the funniest and most random gift I have ever been given in my life.
Pete:
Are you honoured?
Kelly:
I'm honoured that you would get me a gift. As to what it is ...!
Pete:
It's brilliant. Look, it's unique – there's only 271,000 people that have done this so far.
Kelly:
Okay, so not many, and I love the fact that my middle name has now become FrequencyCast.
Pete:
I think we should get it changed by deed poll to FrequencyCast – is that okay?
Kelly:
I'm not going to do that.
Pete:
Well, I have to say, although this is a rather nice little certificate, I didn't actually pay for it. It takes about twenty seconds just to go on, put your name in, and get a pdf. So anybody out there that wants to do this – I'm sorry, Kelly, this wasn't, it's not a present, it's just a nice little gesture that your and my name will forever be orbiting the sun on the Bennu comet, and anybody that wants to do this, you've got a little while to do it yet, but why the heck not? Get your name engraved on a little chip that's going to sit on a comet forever, a certificate, get one for your friend, get one for somebody in your family. It looks a nice little certificate. I think everyone should do it.
Simon:
Hello, this is Simon Jones, aka Arthur Dent, voyaging through the galaxy, and you're listening to FrequencyCast.
Pete:
Now Kelly, happy birthday – not to you, but to what?
Kelly:
The Queen?
Pete:
Fifty years ago, something very important happened in the UK, and without it, FrequencyCast probably wouldn't be here.
Kelly:
Radio.
Pete:
Radio, yes. On 28th March, way, way back in 1964, Radio Caroline launched.
Kelly:
That's where Tony Blackburn, they all started there, didn't they, really? – all the big names in radio.
Pete:
We do owe a lot to the pirates, and it's fifty years since the launch of offshore radio in the UK, and to that end, there was a celebration just a couple of days ago in Walton-on-the-Naze in the county of Essex. So we went along to have a little chat, and find out a little bit more.
Pete:
I'm on the east Essex coast, at Walton-on-the-Naze no less, with Jim. Hello there, Jim.
Jim:
Hi, Pete.
Pete:
And Jim, it's a rather special day today. What's going on today?
Jim:
It is. Today is the 28th March, and it is fifty years to this day when Radio Caroline started, back in 1964.
Pete:
And of course, that changed the face of broadcasting in the UK, didn't it? So we had the three BBC services, and not a lot else, and the pirates steamed in and moored off the Essex coast, and changed the way we listen to our radio, is that right?
Jim:
Yeah, it is. I mean, many followed Radio Caroline, but Radio Caroline can claim to be the first off the UK coast, and it was anchored three or four miles off the Walton coast, and actually at that time was actually visible from the pier here.
Pete:
And we are standing on the pier, and I can see over there there's another structure you pointed out to me over there, which of course I'm a lord of. What are we looking at over there, right in the very distance there, through the fog?
Jim:
I'm actually bowing down now to Lord Pete of Sealand. Yes, the fort, Pete, is Sealand. It was originally Roughs Tower, and was one of the army or navy wartime defence systems from World War II, and in 1967 was taken over by Roy Bates, and declared the Independent Principality of Sealand.
Pete:
Of course, and I am indeed a lord of Sealand. But we're not here to talk about Sealand today, we are talking about Radio Caroline, and Jim, what does Radio Caroline mean to you?
Jim:
I guess I didn't really listen much in the Sixties, and today is about the start of Radio Caroline, but what quite a few people don't realise is that Radio Caroline carried on. It had various times when it shut down. It shut down in 1968, but returned in 1972 off the Dutch coast, and that's when I started listening, and it was a very different type of station, and it wasn't playing Top 40 music, it was playing album music, and it was the story of the struggle of a radio station to survive transmitting from a ship in the high seas, and it was something that I followed greatly, and had quite an influence on me and my interest in radio.
Pete:
And it did have some interesting ups and downs, didn't it? There were a couple of rather nasty situations that the ships experienced over the years.
Jim: They did. I mean, in the Sixties, the ship ran aground near here, off the Frinton coast. In the Seventies, aerial masts fell down, ship anchors broke, and eventually, in March 1980, the ship actually sank. By that time, it was back off the UK coast, and it sank, and it was another three years before they could get another ship, the Ross Revenge, and then that also went through quite a lot of difficulties. But fifty years on, there's still a Radio Caroline which transmits on the internet, and still has quite a loyal following, which we've seen here today.
Pete:
Indeed, yes. Where we are on the pier, if I look back to land, I can see the RNLI building, which is where the celebrations for the day are. I was a little bit surprised to see an Only Fools and Horses' person here today?
Jim:
Yeah, Paul Barber's here, better known as Denzil from Only Fools and Horses, and he is actually, from what I know, apparently he's a Radio Caroline fan, and he was doing the MCing for the start of the proceedings today, and there's a lot of people here – quite a few hundred people here, I would guess.
Paul:
We're going to be doing the proceedings for the rest of the day, telling everybody where to go, where to get off and everything else, and where the boat is. There'll be a big firework display, and a helicopter – we'll be flying over, all right? Without further ado, I'm going to hand you over to Tony "The Captain" Haggis, who was basically the skipper of Radio Caroline when it first came out.
Denzil:
I'm with Tony, Tony Campell, who's organised today's events, and Tony is holding in his hands, well let me get Tony to tell you what he's holding.
Tony:
It's an original Radio Caroline bell, which was given to the rescue team from the local coastguard station here back in 1966, for the rescue of Tom Lodge, Norman St John, Dave Lee Travis, Tony Blackburn, off the Mi Amigo when she went ashore at Frinton in '66. They broke her anchor chain, and the lifeboat couldn't launch in time, because it was severe weather, and this was given to the guys for getting these guys off the ship anyway.
Jim:
Tony, just quickly tell us your involvement with Radio Caroline, because I know that you were a skipper at some time, so tell us what boat you were skipper of, and when you were skipper.
Tony:
I joined the Ross Revenge in November 5th 1985, and we went out on board the Windy, and got on board then. That was during Euro Siege when Laser was out there as well, and I skippered the ship through the Eighties and Nineties, and had great fun on board, fantastic guys, and a privilege to be part of Radio Caroline.
Jim:
Can we finish, I think we need to hear the Caroline bell?
Tony:
It's midday on Radio Caroline, and it's Chris Moore playing the Beatles, "Can't Buy Me Love".
(bell chimes)
Jim:
Excellent, thank you Tony – brilliant, thank you.
Pete:
And of course, as well as the history of offshore radio, we're doing some amateur radio here today, and I think in a few minutes you're going to go and pick up a mike, and see if you can do some transmitting from this historic event, is that right?
Tony: Yeah, we're running the special event station GB5OR, OR for Offshore Radio, because whilst it's commemorating Radio Caroline, obviously it's the start of offshore radio for this country.
Pete:
I'm with Charlie M0PZT. Hello, Charlie.
Charlie:
Hello, Pete.
Pete:
What have you been up to?
Charlie:
Mostly on 40 metres, 7 megahertz, making QSOs with stations around the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and hopefully over to the continent, although conditions today have been less than favourable over towards Germany and the Netherlands, now the Dutch stations are particularly big with the Radio Caroline thing that we've been doing today. We've had a few contacts in Ireland, one contact in Scotland, and generally around the UK, Midlands, Wales, down into the Isle of Wight as well, so what we'd call in amateur radio terms, reasonably local.
Pete:
So just talk me through what equipment you've brought along?
Charlie:
It's my typical portable equipment fare. It's a camping backpack with an all-band, all-mode radio, with a small battery and a fishing pole that's about a metre long when it's closed, but it's up at the moment, and it's the best part of nine metres tall. But the radio and the battery are in my backpack, and all you can see is the microphone coming out of it, and a Morse key on the table as well, but is reasonably stealth.
Pete:
And it's been performing well today on the batteries?
Charlie:
We're on our second battery. We've got a 12-volt battery, and the capacity of it usually lends itself to around two hours of casual operating time, but after about two-and-a-half hours of us really hammering it, it still seems to be holding up, but we're running 100 watts of power, so we're running the full power from the radio. We're very happy with the performance.
CQ, CQ, CQ, this is GB50R, GB50R calling CQ, CQ.
Jim:
It's to get you on a historic day. I used to listen to the station many years ago. Right, we'll let you get away and work some more stationsGB5 Oscar Radio.
Pete:
So that was fun and games at Walton-on-the-Naze in the county of Essex, all good fun, and we loved it, didn't we?
Kelly:
Absolutely, a great day out.
Jason: Hi, I'm Jason Bradbury from The Gadget Show, and you're listening to FrequencyCast.
Pete:
Right, as we're recording this, Kelly, we're not far away from a trip up north, to ...?
Kelly:
The Gadget Show.
Pete:
Yep, as a reminder, Gadget Show Live, between the 9th and 13th April, up at the NEC, which is being sold, by the way, if you hadn't heard the news?
Kelly:
I hadn't heard the news – it's being sold?
Pete:
Where have you been?
Kelly:
I don't know. I have actually been away, to be fair.
Pete:
I'll let you off, okay. So yeah, 9th to the 13th, Gadget Show Live, NEC Birmingham, and of course we gave away some tickets, didn't we?
Kelly:
We did indeed.
Pete:
So a good number of our listeners are going along to Gadget Show Live, to enjoy themselves. If you see us, give us a wave. We'll be wearing our FrequencyCast t-shirts, won't we?
Kelly:
Yes, do come and say hello.
Pete:
And I hope you enjoy the show. We went to the Christmas one, didn't we? – and you met a lovely chap, and you couldn't help stroking him, and having a rummage, could you?
Kelly:
I feel this is incredibly unfair. You asked me to have a rummage. I did not just willingly go and do it.
Pete:
And just to explain what was going on, we met a lovely chap called Zane from a company called Ayegear, who are all about how to wear your gadgets.
Kelly, see what you can find in this gentleman's left pocket here.
Kelly:
Are you actually going to make me do this?
Pete:
I am going to make you.
Kelly:
Well, we've got an iPad in one, quite a nice little photo ID in here ... we've got headphones. Do you still want me to keep going?
Pete:
Yeah, keep going, yeah.
Kelly:
I could find anything in here. It's like never-ending products.
Pete:
Now, we looked at these before. Basically, the product that Zane here is wearing has 23 pockets?
Zane:
Correct, it's got 23 pockets. It's just recently been upgraded from 18 to 23, so now you've got the option of carrying iPads on the left-hand side, or the right-hand side.
Pete:
Does this thing weigh you down now, or can you still nip about with this?
Zane:
You can nip about with it. You can't really tell I'm carrying an iPad, and you can carry much more. I've got everything from debit cards to binoculars, to keys, and it's just totally ram-packed.
Pete:
So I've got to ask, one of the killer features of this has to be travelling, so getting through an airport, where you've got to empty out your keys, your wallet and all that stuff. Does this get around that problem?
Zane:
Oh, yes. How many times have you been through security, and you're walking back, because you've got that one coin somewhere in your jeans that's triggering the alarm. So, put your coins in here, load the vest up, approach the scanner, and put it on the belt, and you go through it. If you're travelling with budget airlines, you can save on baggage fees, because you can carry everything on you.
Kelly:
That is my biggest problem. You try being a girl, just trying to travel on your hand luggage – that is hard work.
Pete:
I'd love to try being a girl for a bit. It must be great fun.
Kelly:
Yeah, I'm sure you would!
Pete:
So, what do you reckon, then? – a rather stylish jacket?
Kelly:
To be honest, you would not know that you were carrying as much as you have. I think it's very slick. Unless you really, really, look, and delve into the jacket, you can't see that there's that much hidden in there, and the thing is, you'd be carrying that much weight anyway, you'd just be carrying it on one shoulder, or like in a backpack, so why not just carry it in a jacket?
Pete:
So, I saw a rather nice t-shirt as well, in girly pink for you. Could you see yourself out jogging in one of these?
Kelly:
I really need one of these. That's the one that's really caught my eye, to be honest. You go out for a run, and you can't take your keys, there's nowhere to put anything; you want your phone. I mean, I've actually gone out jogging before, and got myself lost, and I've not had a phone, I've not had my Oyster card, I've been completely stuck. That means I've got everything there as a general precaution, but without having to try and hold onto it and run at the same time. I think it's a great idea.
Pete:
So the t-shirt we're looking at here, I can see one pocket, but you claim five. Where are the other ones tucked away?
Zane:
The five, they're all kind of scattered strategically around the pockets, so they're easy to use. I'm a cyclist, so when I'm on the road, I want to have back up cash, spare change, my phone, and I want to be able to access that all easily, without trying to find that pocket, so it's all been placed securely. There's three zip pockets and two non-zip pockets, so it's really a matter of which one you're most keen on.
Pete:
Okay, so apart from the t-shirt and the jacket that we've spoken about before, any new products since we saw you last?
Zane:
Yes, we've introduced the hoody, the H13, today at the show, and it's also being featured in the new X-Men film, which is out this year, and the concept behind that was the same as the vest and the jacket, which is aimed at teenagers and students, and you can carry your iPad and everything again strategically placed, a minimal look, concealed pockets.
Kelly:
I am very impressed. I'd like to know how long it takes to find your keys, once you get back from a cycle.
Pete:
Ah, see – Zane's got the trick. Go on then, show us where your keys are.
Zane:
So you've got a built-in key retractor on the outside of the hand-warmer pocket, so you never lose your keys, and you can attach a torch or whatever onto it. I don't know about you, but I tend to lose things quite a lot, so my car keys are always on it.
Pete:
Very, very good – I like that. Well, we're pretty impressed, aren't we, Kelly?
Kelly:
Yeah, I'm very impressed.
Pete:
Do you want another rummage, before we go?
Kelly:
No, Pete – stop it!
Pete:
Go on then, Zane – just give us a reminder of your web address?
Zane:
Yep, you can find us on Ayegear.com, or you can purchase from Amazon.eu.
Pete:
Just give us the spelling of your website?
Zane:
Yes, it's Ayegear.com.
Pete:
So that's Zane from Ayegear – very, very good gadgets, and very stylish as well.
Kelly:
Yes, really, really good, and seemed quite lightweight, considering.
Pete:
Of course, all sorts of things to see at The Gadget Show. We're going to be there hopefully recording a few interviews, chatting to some of the inventors in the new inventor section, which will be quite interesting, and no doubt we'll be looking at spy gadgets again, your favourite.
Kelly:
Yeah, right, but I know the main thing we're really going for is so that you can try and meet Rachel Riley.
Pete:
(sighs)
Kelly:
Yeah, see?
Pete:
And that you can finally meet Jason Bradbury, again.
Kelly:
Or just a nice, rich inventor.
Pete:
Mr Lawton, perhaps?
Kelly:
He's been taken.
Pete:
Oh, has he really? – oh, okay. So of course, that's the man from BubblePix – a lovely chap, Tom Lawton, and we're still waiting for his Bubblescope. It's just going through the final phases of Kickstarter, so any minute now his brand-new invention will be out, and of course we'll be talking about it here on FrequencyCast. So yes, there will be some spy gadgets and things, and one such gadget you had a lot of fun with last year. It was a car tracker – do you remember that?
Kelly:
Briefly, I do remember the car tracker.
Pete:
I do remember you not being overly impressed on the ability to be spied up on your vehicle, and to find out more, here is Chris from Back2you trackers.
Chris:
These are all GPS trackers, that work on a pay-as-you-go sim card, so there's no monthly fees involved. The one you're looking at at the moment is our best seller. It's a self-contained tracker, and this is the one that we do sell to husbands tracking wives, and wives tracking husbands. The customer just buys this tracker, sticks it on the vehicle they want to track, and they can track it all via their cellphone.
Pete:
Okay, so let me just get this right. It's magnetic, so presumably you have to stick it on the outside of the car, or can you put it inside?
Chris:
It can go on the inside. It's better on the inside, out of the weather. It'll work through a reasonable amount of metal, it doesn't need to see the sky. All you need to do, when you want to find out where your vehicle is, or your wife is, or your husband is, is call up the sim card from your phone, and it'll send you a text message back, giving you a latitude, longitude, and also a link to Google Maps, so you can just click on the link, and see the location on your phone – you don't need to go to a PC.
Pete:
And you're also saying it can be set so that if someone takes your car, or your car moves, you get an alert to say that your car's gone, and where it's gone?
Chris:
Yes, you can set a movement alert, so if you're going to park your car overnight, or in storage at the airport, you're going on holiday, you set a movement alert on the tracker. As soon as that tracker moves, you'll get a text message saying, your car's on the move, this is its location, this is its speed, direction, and it'll keep updating you every three minutes. Obviously, you can inform the police. All the police have now got their own mobile phones. You can give them the number of the tracker, so they can track it live in real time. They don't need any special equipment to do that, they just do it on their phones.
Kelly:
Well, I just think there's too many people that really abuse a product like this. I can 100% see its benefit for anti-theft. I just think that there's far too many very paranoid people out there that would very happily track their partners.
Pete:
So go on then, Chris, be honest – the percentage of people that buy this for theft reasons, or for espionage reasons? – go on, spill the beans!
Chris:
I think probably 20% are sold for reasons we don't like to ask about. The rest of them are sold for legitimate tracking vehicles, tracking cars, I think mostly for peace of mind. Traditionally, most trackers have had a monthly fee involved, of about £12 a month, and really you only need to know where your vehicle is when it's not there, so why pay out that sort of money? They can get it all from our website, which is Back2you.com.
Pete:
You're still not convinced, are you, Kelly?
Kelly:
I don't like any idea of being spied on, at all.
Pete:
Well hopefully, some of our listeners will spy us at Gadget Show Live. We'll see you there.
Kelly:
See you there.
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 98 (31 mins) |
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