FrequencyCast Review of 2010
In show 59, we looked back at the TV and tech events of 2010, and a look at what's in store for coming years. Here's the third part of our transcript of the show.
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Listen to FrequencyCast Show 59 - Our look back at 2010
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Look Back at 2010 - Transcript Part 3:
Continued from Review of 2010 - Page 2
Carl:
And of course then we moved into May, and it was show 51, where we had a look at the Digital Economy Act. Now that was scary, wasn't it?
Pete:
That's the new bill that has come in to bring in two things. It's bringing in the idea of switching off FM radio as early as 2015, if that can be believed, and also of course the new piracy legislation to crack down on people doing illegal file sharing and the like.
Carl:
And from one pirate to another - walkie-talkies. That was something we did as well.
Pete:
Oh, we did - we did a walkie-talkie test, do you remember? It was quite a chilly night, wasn't it?
Carl:
It was a chilly night for me, but you were all right - you were in the car, in the warm.
Pete:
Now, I'm going to go out in the car. I'm actually going to be the passenger, so I'm obviously not using these while I'm driving. So I should be able to leave you here with a tape recorder, drive off for a few miles to see how far these walkie-talkies reach.
Carl:
Here we go.
OK, so we are now on the move, heading in a westerly direction, 150 feet away talking to you on the Cobra.
Carl:
And you're coming through loud and clear.
Pete:
We're now at the 1,000 foot mark.
Carl:
Whilst I can hear you, there's quite a bit of crackle on the line.
Pete:
Checking in at the half a mile mark, talking to you on the Cobra.
Carl:
I can hear you, there's crackle, I can still make out what you're saying. The beacon bleep, comes through very clearly.
Pete:
We have now hit the three-quarters of a mile mark.
Carl:
There's a lot of crackle. I can still make out what you're saying though, quiet, in fact.
Pete:
OK, so we've hit the one mile mark. At the moment, I'm talking to you on the Cobra, and I'm now going to switch over to the Motorola.
So we're sitting here at the one mile mark, one mile west of Carl. I'm now talking to you on the Motorola. Does this sound any clearer?
Carl:
Yes, the Motorola sounds somewhat clearer, it's not so harsh with the crackling. Where are you now, Pete?
Pete:
OK, so we're still at the one mile mark, and I'm now switching to the Mitex, which should be the more powerful of the three radios that we're using.
Pete:
That'll be walkie-talkies then. In the news as well for May, we had the launch of the iPad from Apple, and a massive TV series finished.
Carl:
Which one was that?
Pete:
Let me give you a clue - you'd be lost without it.
Carl:
Eerm, 24? OK, and then we went on to show 52, which took place in June, for more digital photos. I remember this, there was sorting out your photos and all the special new apps they had.
Pete:
That's it, so how to sort and tag your photos. We talked about displaying your photos on digital picture frames, including the Joggler, which now seems to have been discontinued, and we also talked about this.
Carl:
Oh yes - what was that, hold on a minute - Eye-Fi, I remember that. Wasn't that in the camera?
Pete:
It was indeed. This is a little SD card that has Wi-Fi built in, and you took a photo and it would automatically upload it for you over the wireless network, so no need to bring your synch lead for your camera, it auto updates and also geotags your location.
Carl:
Very good. What else did we do?
Pete:
In June we also talked briefly about this.
Carl:
Your pockets are full of rubbish, aren't they?
Pete:
Go on then - what's that? - remember that one?
Carl:
That was a pedometer that you, wires up to your computer and tells you how unhealthy you are and you have to tell it how many bacon and eggs you've had in the morning, and it tells you whether you've burnt them off, and all sorts of crazy things like that.
Pete:
That's it - the Fitbug. It stays in your pocket, acts as a pedometer, and you can upload the data if you're looking to lose a few pounds. Also, you get Nectar points with it, so as you walk about, you collect Nectar points.
Carl:
There's nothing to say about that, is there, really? But in July, that was show 53, we covered BT Vision.
Pete:
We did, it was well worth another look. We covered it a few years prior, but we wanted to talk about some of the new changes. If you're interested in BT Vision, you might be interested to know that in 2011 there could well be a new BT Vision box that supports the YouView service, so watch this space.
Carl:
What was YouView again?
Pete:
That's Project Canvas, combining Freeview and internet TV. That's going to be a big one to watch for 2011.
Carl:
Oh yeah - I remember that.
Pete:
Also in July, we had a whole bunch of radio stations under the Heart brand shrink, so we had 33 stations called Heart shrinking down to 15, closure of a lot of local radio stations. The good news for radio in the month was 6 Music was saved.
Carl:
Excellent.
Pete:
We also went out and about, and met up with the chairman of an amateur radio society.
Carl:
Oh yes - Mr Ham himself. He was very intriguing.
Radio Operator (John):
From Golf Bravo Nine Zero, Mike Zulu X-Ray, back to Foxtrot Eight Delta Zulu Uniform ...
Pete:
John told us that the world of amateur radio is still very much alive and kicking, and some radio hams have been able to make contact with the International Space Station, and even the moon.
John:
Now that receiver capability has improved, it is now within nearly anybody's capability to receive a signal that has been bounced from the moon.
Indeed, I was down in Chelmsford in Essex, the birthplace of radio, where I caught up with the Chairman of the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society.
Chairman:
Today we've been offered the Education Room to celebrate the fact that 90 years ago, on 15th June, Dame Nellie Melba came to Chelmsford and created basically the first professional broadcast in the world.
Pete:
Hardly very interesting stuff, which is why Dame Melba was hired in June 1920.
Chairman:
Now this was the first radio broadcast that Dame Melba had actually done. It was also nearly the last, because she realised that, if she was transmitting, and thousands of people were listening to her for free, they may not come to her operas and pay money to actually hear her.
Pete:
As John's a radio amateur, we also took the opportunity to get chatting to him about powerline adaptors, those things that plug into the mains supply, causing interference that's killing short wave, and as you can expect, the interference that's being generated by these home networking products is causing his colleagues some problems.
John:
It can be a complete, total wipeout of the short wave bands, and that can actually go up and even affect your DAB reception. Some people I know have completely given up the short wave bands.
Pete:
And as a result of speaking to the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society, I now have become a licensed amateur radio person.
Carl:
Which is fantastic, and if you read "The Kon-Tiki Expedition", you'll find out that it was a radio ham that kept in contact with them more often than anyone else, it seems.
Pete:
There you go - CQ CQ CQ.
Carl:
You're right there. (Simply another of his little tantrums, I think.)
Pete:
Be quite interested to know if there are any other amateur radio people out there listening. I know we've got two or three listeners out there that are into their amateur radio, including my friend Jim and Keith and a few others. If you are a radio ham, or indeed if you want to know what being a radio ham's all about, I'd love to tell you more.
Carl:
Ah - so we'll move on to show 54, and this was August, and where we were talking about sport on TV.
Review of 2010 Transcript - Page 4
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