Annual BBC signal tests

It is that time of the year when the BBC does its test,

a couple of questions:

* What is time and date of the 2010 one?
* What about the Digital parts of the UK?

You still have to test the network even if it change format do you not?

As far as I know it hasn't been confirmed there will be RBS tests, let alone a date.

If they do go ahead the digital parts of the country won't see any of it, as RBS is only used for the analogue transmissions. I imagine the digital only transmitters will have other forms of redundancy now. It's quite possible there won't be an RBS tests given the holes in the coverage. Blaenplwyf is now completely surrounded by digital only transmitters, and therefore wouldn't be able to take part, plus the Scottish transmitters won't be able to rebroadcast from England as the border transmitters are now also digital only. Additionally, BBC One from Sandy Heath has been a rebroadcast of DSat since the summer, which means any transmitters rebroadcasting it will now get the normal service rather than Testcard J.

A little birdie tells me that this year's RBS tests will take place between 0245 and 0500 on January 7th - ie the early hours of Thursday morning. It'll also include a test for DSO regions.

So it its happening after all

Rumoured to have been postponed due to the weather!

Is that not the point of the tests...having things still working in extreme circumstances or have I missed the point.

True, but if the system fails and needs engineer attention most of the tx sites are by their nature exposed and hard to access at the best of times, in treacherous snow and ice it's going to be near impossible, they're not the kind of places which are gritted!

I suspect that during the RBS tests engineers are in strategic locations so they can sort any faults during the test hour. It would be awkward if there was a fault at a site which meant that everything further north couldn't get an RBS source.

When the radio networks went onto RBS a couple of summers back due to a fault the RBS switchover failed at Sutton Coldfield, so anything further north got silence until an engineer turned up and overplugged it.

The snow used to affect sites when they were manned - the engineers got snowed in at Emley back in 1981 according to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj8kbhRQ_Z4

That seems strange, given that Emley Moor was never a Tyne Tees transmitter, although at that time I guess the IBA Regional Operations Centre which looked after Pontop Pike et al would have been Emley.

It was snow and ice which sealed the fate of the original tall mast at Emley, of course (http://tx.mb21.co.uk/emley/emley.php) having accumulated on the stay wires to the extent that the weight caused them to fail.

In fact I think it was 1981 when the nearby Holme Moss was evacuated for six weeks after ice fell from the mast and crashed through the roof of the tx hall (http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/holmemoss/photos02.php) - the engineers based there decamped to either Emley or Moorside Edge.

March 1986 I think. The ice problem delayed the planned frequency swap/shuffle of BBC Radio Sheffield and Radio Hallam (104.1 : 97.4: 95.2), and had a knock on effect for the entire BBC/ILR swap programme that ran throughout 86 and 87.

Indeed the Beeb were so worried about the integrity of Network radio services from Holme Moss, that equipment was assembled at Emley should the need have arisen to provide an emergency R2/3/4 FM service for Yorks.
Lancs was (and still is) quite well covered by Llangollen and Winter Hill as secondary sites to HM.

That timing makes sense Mark, weren't the IBA planning to take the old 405 line YTV aerials down to make space for the radio aerials?

I wonder if they had a plan B to feed Winter Hill, had Emley service not been set up and it had been required? WH is a relay of Holme Moss for radio.

The folks at TX List seem to think it will now take place after DSO at Mendip and Wenvoe, so probably early April.