BBC Home Service police bulletins
N_Cook
when any why did they stop and was it those that mentioned Whitehall 1212 as
contact telephone number of Scotland Yard?
Still retained as New Scotland Yard number of 0300 123 1212
Structured format something like
This is a police ( ? ? ) , would (insert name) believed to be touring in
(area of UK) please contact his (relative) ( name) ,who is dangerously ill,
in (hospital)
John
"N_Cook" wrote
I think it went something like "We have an SOS for (name) ...." etc
Harry Bloomfield
> Structured format something like
> This is a police ( ? ? ) , would (insert name) believed to be touring in
> (area of UK) please contact his (relative) ( name) ,who is dangerously ill,
> in (hospital)
I can just remember them. I think they ended towards the end of the
1960's. I also seem to remember they were on a Sunday afternoon.
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
N_Cook
news:hl5pfk$lcm$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Thanks for that.
That was the keyphrase I was looking for "SOS message". I thought the term
SOS would be a prohibited word on national radio, in case it broke through
on some emergency channel. I seem to remember they were only to be heard
just before the 7am news. Personally I've not heard one for decades.
The last similar I heard was for a fisherman off Scotland somewhere who had
his radio tuned to marine emergency channel but transmit mike on ,
rebroadcasting Radio 4.
So now some googled info, not possible before
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-sound-of-summer-that-spells-sos-124706
4.html
Early in the morning or late at night a BBC announcer will appeal for
someone caravanning in Norfolk or sailing in the Irish Sea to phone home
urgently because a mother or son is dangerously ill.
The BBC first broadcast an SOS message in 1923, one year after the Home
Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation was founded. A six-year- old
boy was missing, and his parents and the police were worried for his safety.
The BBC allowed a 30-second broadcast, asking for news of sightings. As a
result of reports from listeners the boy was found safe and well. This
success, and the apparent willingness of listeners to help, encouraged the
BBC to reserve a regular slot for such urgent appeals.
The Home Service's successor, Radio 4, broadcasts about 25 messages a year,
with a peak in the summer months when holiday-makers cannot be contacted in
any other way. According to a BBC spokesman: "Sometimes there are no SOS
messages for weeks, sometimes four are broadcast consecutively. We get them
out as fast as we can: it is possible that within an hour of a call coming
in, the person who was out of touch will be turning the car around and
heading home."
In recent years, the BBC has devised much stricter criteria for broadcasting
the SOS messages. They no longer take calls for missing persons, only
considering cases where someone is dangerously ill, and a close relative is
out of contact. There must also a be a high probability that the person will
be listening when the SOS goes out.
The SOS message, like the Shipping Forecast, is one of those Radio Four
traditions which enhances its standing as a mouthpiece for the nation. No
other national station has reserved airtime for such broadcasts.
***********
I was reminded of it hearing this report, this week, incidently shows the
durability of flash memory
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/headlines/5006204.Friends_get_reunited_with
_lost_photos/
Ian Jackson
<div...@tcp.co.uk> writes
>
>The SOS message, like the Shipping Forecast, is one of those Radio Four
>traditions which enhances its standing as a mouthpiece for the nation. No
>other national station has reserved airtime for such broadcasts.
>
I'm still mourning the loss of Finisterre!
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/features/finisterre.sh
tml>
It's years since I heard a BBC SOS message. And I have a feeling that
they stopped using the term 'SOS'. Didn't they start using something
like 'important' or 'emergency' instead?
--
Ian
Ian Jackson
Bloomfield <harry...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> writes
>N_Cook wrote :
>> Structured format something like
>> This is a police ( ? ? ) , would (insert name) believed to be touring in
>> (area of UK) please contact his (relative) ( name) ,who is dangerously ill,
>> in (hospital)
>
>I can just remember them. I think they ended towards the end of the
>1960's. I also seem to remember they were on a Sunday afternoon.
>
buried by Sunday! No, I think that the messages were broadcast
as-and-when required.
But I don't recall hearing any repeats. Did this mean that the first one
was always successful, or were repeats not allowed?
--
Ian
David Woolley
> That was the keyphrase I was looking for "SOS message". I thought the term
> SOS would be a prohibited word on national radio, in case it broke through
> on some emergency channel. I seem to remember they were only to be heard
SOS is only a distress signal when sent in morse code and it is actually
a prosign, not the letters SOS, There is no character pause between the
S, O , and S. Many films miss out the third Mayday in the speech
distress signal, although some recent ones reproduce this authentically.
N_Cook
news:x$kJ02OGj...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk...
Someone's personal story on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/2009/09/ipm_weather_special.shtml
* 22. At 5:15pm on 22 Sep 2009, Wordswordswords wrote:
RE: SOS info. I thought it used to be broadcast on Radio 4 long wave,
which had a much greater range. We picked one up for our family back in the
late 70s when holidaying in France, as our uncle knew it was a safe bet we'd
be listening in. Rushed home, but my grandfather had died in the meantime. I
remember my parents being very grateful to t
N_Cook
news:hl5tgr$f3p$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
I'd love to know what the difference in psychology is between UK and USA
concerning ringing phone numbers used in films. Legislation placed in USA
about 1970s that no 555.... number would be given to anyone and all films
making use of a phone number would use 555... . Only the USA required this.
The Simpsons did a take on it, but the subtlety missed by the "recorded in
front of a live audience" - as if they'd use a dead audience.
Harry Bloomfield
> What if a relative was taken ill on a Monday? They could be dead and buried
> by Sunday! No, I think that the messages were broadcast as-and-when required.
Agreed, but I only remember them being broadcast on a Sunday.
Harry Bloomfield
> I'd love to know what the difference in psychology is between UK and USA
> concerning ringing phone numbers used in films. Legislation placed in USA
> about 1970s that no 555.... number would be given to anyone and all films
> making use of a phone number would use 555... . Only the USA required this.
I did not know it was a requirement, but I had noticed that they all
begin with 555. In UK drama they seem to script around reading out
actual phone numbers.
Ian Jackson
Bloomfield <harry...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> writes
>Ian Jackson expressed precisely :
>> What if a relative was taken ill on a Monday? They could be dead and
>>buried by Sunday! No, I think that the messages were broadcast
>>as-and-when required.
>
>Agreed, but I only remember them being broadcast on a Sunday.
>
--
Ian
Paul Cummins - G7FUJ
da...@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid (David Woolley) wrote:
> Many films miss out the third Mayday in the speech
> distress signal, although some recent ones reproduce this
> authentically.
Lets be honest, if you heard a Mayday that wasn't quite formatted
correctly, you'd still respond if no-one else did
--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981
Yeti
They also did a mickey-take of it in the film "Last action Hero". The
boy in the film used it to attempt to prove to Arnold Schwarznegger that
he was living in a film.
Brian Reay
news:mn.6a6b7da20f...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk...
> Ian Jackson expressed precisely :
>> What if a relative was taken ill on a Monday? They could be dead and
>> buried by Sunday! No, I think that the messages were broadcast
>> as-and-when required.
>
> Agreed, but I only remember them being broadcast on a Sunday.
I vaguely recall the BBC announcing this type of message would cease due to
the growth of mobilephones.
--
73
Brian G8OSN/W8OSN
www.g8osn.net
David Woolley
> I did not know it was a requirement, but I had noticed that they all
> begin with 555. In UK drama they seem to script around reading out
> actual phone numbers.
The UK reserved number ranges are not as simple as the 1-xxx-555-xxxx
rule for North American Numbering Plan ones, but they do exist:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/numbers/num_drama
e.g. 07700900xxx mobile numbers are bogus. 0xxx 496 0xxx is the most
common landline pattern, but is not universal.
>
Frank Turner-Smith G3VKI
news:3zvdn.11$Tu...@newsfe10.ams2...
Nah, mobile phones are getting smaller, not growing.
--
;-)
.
73 de Frank Turner-Smith G3VKI - mine's a pint.
.
http://turner-smith.co.uk
Brian Reay
"Frank Turner-Smith G3VKI" <g3...@turner-smith.co.uk> wrote in message
news:JYwdn.318977$Jg5.2...@newsfe02.ams2...
> "Brian Reay" <s...@website.com> wrote in message
> news:3zvdn.11$Tu...@newsfe10.ams2...
>> "Harry Bloomfield" <harry...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:mn.6a6b7da20f...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk...
>>> Ian Jackson expressed precisely :
>>>> What if a relative was taken ill on a Monday? They could be dead and
>>>> buried by Sunday! No, I think that the messages were broadcast
>>>> as-and-when required.
>>>
>>> Agreed, but I only remember them being broadcast on a Sunday.
>>
>> I vaguely recall the BBC announcing this type of message would cease due
>> to the growth of mobilephones.
>>
>
> Nah, mobile phones are getting smaller, not growing.
;-)
Dan Morse of Four Feather Falls
N_Cook
news:20100213170...@peterson.fenrir.org.uk...
> On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:57:24 +0000
> Ian Jackson <ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > I'm still mourning the loss of Finisterre!
>
> name lives on in the renamed sea area!
>
> But I agree with you, Finisterre tells me where it is whereas the new
> name doesn't.
>
> --
>
> Brian Morrison
>
> "I am not young enough to know everything"
> Oscar Wilde
>
Shame the original sound file of this classic is not out there somewhere,
rather than this person's recollection of the shipping forcast soap opera
as done in "A Day in the Life of Radio 4"
http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=238398&sid=5dc87dcca262ce863c22fd3
12208ea98
...
It is one of those sagas about two great dynasties in Texas and the whole
thing came to me about ten-to-six last Thursday evening. I know the precise
time because I was listening to Radio Four. By the time the weather forecast
came on at five-to-six I had the whole thing mapped out.
I'll give you a general synopsys. It is about two adjoining cattle ranches -
North Utsire and South Utsire. North Utsire is the family home of the Tyne
family and they have a heard of pedigree Sumburgh cattle. The patriarch of
the family, living in a tastelessly furnished mansion, is old Dogger Tyne.
He is rough and tough, has white hair and also blue eyes which he crinkles
up meaningfully. He is widowed and has two daughters. The youngest is Lundy
who is pert and tomboyish. The other daughter, Valentia, is quite different.
She wears a lot of lip gloss and her lustrous head of hair is so heavily
lacquered that it hardly moves when she goes out in a high wind - even Gale
8 at times.
Old Dogger Tyne loathes the Fisher family at South Utsire. The head of this
family is Cromarty Fisher. He is fair, moderate and good. He has a senior
ranch hand called Lewis whom he treats like a brother. Sometimes, however,
he asserts his authority and kicks the butt of Lewis. Cromarty Fisher has a
handsome son named Rockall who has a hyperactive Adam's Apple denoting
sensitivity. O course, Rockall Fisher is in love with Lundy Tyne.
Why, you ask, do the Tyne hate the Fishers ? It goes back to an earlier
generation when Viking Tyne was courting the wistful, romantic Faeroes
Fisher, but the families would not let them marry. Poor Faroes went mad and
threw herself off a cliff. The wind was Storm force 10 at the time. Viking
died of grief. (All this can be seen in flashback.) Some folks say Faeroes
secretly gave birth to a daughter called Hebrides. (She will turn up as a
successful lawyer in Episode Fourteen.)
Other characters include Dogger Tyne.s sidekick, a sinister figure called
Malin. He owns a fierce dog . a German Bight. He seldom speaks, just gives
the odd, intermittent light scrowl.
Then there is the femme fatal, Shannon Fastnet, who is in love with Rockall
Fisher but who knows it is hopeless. She drives her scarlet Portland
convertible too fast and she goes to the bars in the nearby town of Biscay
where she drinks too many Bell Rock cocktails.
You will soon be seeing the whole drama on your TV screens and I don't
want to spoil the plot for you. I will just mention one marvellously
dramatic moment. Young Lundy Tyne is being blackmailed by the evil Malin and
finally she can take no more. She pulls out a Smiths Knoll Automatic and
shoots at him. Malin just laughs in his sinister way. `Missed,. he sneers.
`Three miles...
Dan Morse of Four Feather Falls
"N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hl6mik$qn$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Paul Rigg
They used to use 246-8091 quite a lot which was in fact the number for the
weather forecast in most if not all cities with 7 figure numbers ie London
Birmingham Edinburgh Glasgow Liverpool and Manchester
So no danger with lots of nutters ringing it up!