Virgin Media Box: Class Act
Mark Carver
http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox.jpg (850k)
Last week, the daisy chained white cable ties were half way up the
cabinet, holding the door closed, quelle surprise this morning it looks
like this. Curiously the vandals haven't ripped the guts out (yet)
I don't know who's the dimmest. The vandals, or Virgin Media for such a
pathetically insecure installation ?
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
Bill Wright
> Photographed this on my walk to work this morning:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox.jpg (850k)
>
> Last week, the daisy chained white cable ties were half way up the
> cabinet, holding the door closed, quelle surprise this morning it looks
> like this. Curiously the vandals haven't ripped the guts out (yet)
>
> I don't know who's the dimmest. The vandals, or Virgin Media for such a
> pathetically insecure installation ?
>
an empty cabinet by now.
Bill
Rick
"Bill Wright" <bi...@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:iiojhe$qhu$2...@speranza.aioe.org...
I grew up and are really poor area when I was a kid, the red telephone boxes
contained a coin box, a handset connected with nothing more brown curly wire
and a usually intact set of directories, yet they were very rarely
vandalised, then came the 'Never Had It So Good' era of the 1950s and
everything seemed to go so terribly wrong, what happened?
The Natural Philosopher
Socialism.
Sheila
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:8ra1co...@mid.individual.net...
I would go with "Virgin Media for such a pathetically insecure
installation". It may have been visited by vandals, but I am not totally
convinced. Three observations, VM contractors have been known to use force
to gain access to cabinets, no attempt has been made to vandalise the
contents and some feeble attempt has been made to secure the doors.
Sheila
Gaius
mark....@invalid.invalid says...
>
> Photographed this on my walk to work this morning:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox.jpg (850k)
>
> Last week, the daisy chained white cable ties were half way up the
> cabinet, holding the door closed, quelle surprise this morning it looks
> like this. Curiously the vandals haven't ripped the guts out (yet)
>
> I don't know who's the dimmest. The vandals, or Virgin Media for such a
> pathetically insecure installation ?
That picture tells you all you'd want to know about VM.
Linked cable ties "securing" a door - FFS. BT's customer service may be
the pits, but at least their engineering hasn't sunk to that level.
Yet.
Graham.
"The Natural Philosopher" <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:iioo7n$gr3$1...@news.albasani.net...
I remember phone books in call boxes.
Sometimes in the front of the book there was a map showing the local
area and if I was lost, once or twice I...
<Hangs head in shame>
It was just the one page M'lud not the whole book.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Graham.
"Gaius" <b...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message news:MPG.27ba0a811...@news.zen.co.uk...
The primary locking mechanism seems to rely on a pair of granny's knitting needles.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Stephen
Stephen
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:8ra1co...@mid.individual.net...
ian field
"Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7LS3p.83518$wJ1....@newsfe08.ams2...
That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first sight of
the fibre-optic cables.
On the news today - copper prices at an all time high.
Dan
> I don't know who's the dimmest. The vandals, or Virgin Media for such a
> pathetically insecure installation ?
Probably not VM, but their install contractor, could be Kelly Or MAP or A.N
Other depending on franchise.
The contractor installers are a right miserable disgruntled bunch,who are
paid per job, they don't give a shit & are quite open about it.
As part of my training I had to "spend a day with a tech" which was an eye
opener. We went to an old property in Huddersfield, they were quite civil
to the customer, agreeing where he wanted the phone point etc. They then
located the street cabinet & proceeded to set about "opening it". This
involved a hammer & crow bar applied with some force (As Sheila pointed
out), before the installer's mate shouted from the van that he actually
possesed a key for said cabinet. By this time the key didn't work & they
were about to can the installation, but a bit of leverage whilst turning
the key did the trick in the end.
As I said, an eye opener. VM do employ a few network techicians & they do
keep spare locks etc. in the stores, so they should fix it in due course.
The contactor will have trashed the lock, done the install, bodged the lock
& fucked off.
Someone could have a few minutes fun by cutting the cables & removing the
orange tags, that denote which house the cable goes too.
Mark Carver
>> That picture tells you all you'd want to know about VM.
>>
>> Linked cable ties "securing" a door - FFS. BT's customer service may be
>> the pits, but at least their engineering hasn't sunk to that level.
>>
>> Yet.
>
> The primary locking mechanism seems to rely on a pair of granny's knitting
> needles.
Well on my way home tonight, a fast response repair team seem to have visited,
and reinstated the high security cable ties, and applied some more insulation
tape just to make sure:-
http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox2.jpg
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
Mark Carver
> "Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>> I would go with "Virgin Media for such a pathetically insecure
>> installation". It may have been visited by vandals, but I am not totally
>> convinced. Three observations, VM contractors have been known to use force
>> to gain access to cabinets, no attempt has been made to vandalise the
>> contents
>
> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first sight of
> the fibre-optic cables.
95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
Bill Wright
>> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first
>> sight of the fibre-optic cables.
>
> 95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
Fibre is useless for mains. Doesn't seem to work at all.
Bill
Mark Carver
Rick
"Dan" <fa...@email.com> wrote in message
news:nx3pl9pgh0nj$.cs79vmbxm4ob$.dlg@40tude.net...
> On Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:55:12 +0000, Mark Carver wrote:
>
>
> Someone could have a few minutes fun by cutting the cables & removing the
> orange tags, that denote which house the cable goes too.
>
I've heard on pretty good authority that that's not unusual for the local
residents to do just that on one rough local housing estate, to make it
difficult to check out illegal installations, I don't know how true it is
but I was also told that on the same estate it's not unknown for a cable
manhole cover to be lifted and the distribution boxes buried in concrete or
tarmac to prevent the cable guys from gaining access.
Dan
> I've heard on pretty good authority that that's not unusual for the local
> residents to do just that on one rough local housing estate, to make it
> difficult to check out illegal installations, I don't know how true it is
I think that the problem with chipped boxes has been all but eliminated now
with the introduction of new smart cards, although I could be wrong. So the
tag removing thing would make sense. I read somewhere that over 75% of
connections were using chipped boxes in some dodgy areas.
ian field
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> ian field wrote:
>> "Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>
>>> I would go with "Virgin Media for such a pathetically insecure
>>> installation". It may have been visited by vandals, but I am not totally
>>> convinced. Three observations, VM contractors have been known to use
>>> force to gain access to cabinets, no attempt has been made to vandalise
>>> the contents
>>
>> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first sight
>> of the fibre-optic cables.
>
> 95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
95% of 0 is...........................
ian field
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> Graham. wrote:
> > "Gaius" <b...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
> news:MPG.27ba0a811...@news.zen.co.uk...
>
> >> That picture tells you all you'd want to know about VM.
> >>
> >> Linked cable ties "securing" a door - FFS. BT's customer service may
> >> be
> >> the pits, but at least their engineering hasn't sunk to that level.
> >>
> >> Yet.
> >
> > The primary locking mechanism seems to rely on a pair of granny's
> > knitting
> > needles.
>
> Well on my way home tonight, a fast response repair team seem to have
> visited, and reinstated the high security cable ties, and applied some
> more insulation tape just to make sure:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox2.jpg
They're just making it obvious there's nothing in there worth nicking.
Bill Wright
> Bill Wright wrote:
>> Mark Carver wrote:
>>
>>>> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first
>>>> sight of the fibre-optic cables.
>>>
>>> 95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
>>
>> Fibre is useless for mains. Doesn't seem to work at all.
>
> You need some of this:-
>
> http://www.gepco.com/products/fiber/cable/92mm_flex_M.htm
>
Bill
Bill Wright
>>> I grew up and are really poor area when I was a kid, the red telephone
>>> boxes contained a coin box, a handset connected with nothing more brown
>>> curly wire and a usually intact set of directories, yet they were very
>>> rarely vandalised, then came the 'Never Had It So Good' era of the 1950s
>>> and everything seemed to go so terribly wrong, what happened?
>> Socialism.
>
> The never had it so good generation were SuperMac Tories.
There was a general shift in educational and parenting philosophy during
the early 50s which had little to do with party politics. Possibly it
was a psychological reaction to the straitened circumstances of the war.
Bill
Andy Burns
> Fibre is useless for mains. Doesn't seem to work at all.
Says who?
http://optics.org/article/25151
Hopefully it'll cook or blind the little bastards if they try to nick it
too :-)
Mark Carver
>
> They're just making it obvious there's nothing in there worth nicking.
This is one of the UK's most prosperous towns, people don't nick cable round
here, they don't need to, unemployment is quoted in 'hundreds' rather than
percent. Instead they go round mindlessly destroying everything they can. The
Post Office have even decommissioned a pillar box outside of an arcade of
shops, because of repeated vandalism. It was so popular, you'd often have the
mail brimming out of the slot. The nearest alternative is now a mile away.
Andy Burns
> This is one of the UK's most prosperous towns, people don't nick cable
> round here
I don't suppose it's the locals around here that go in for it, pikeys
don't have flatbed transits round your way?
Brian Gaff
using cabinets very similar to the ones Virgin have used. I predict the same
situation there very shortly.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email: bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:8ra1co...@mid.individual.net...
> Photographed this on my walk to work this morning:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox.jpg (850k)
>
> Last week, the daisy chained white cable ties were half way up the
> cabinet, holding the door closed, quelle surprise this morning it looks
> like this. Curiously the vandals haven't ripped the guts out (yet)
>
> I don't know who's the dimmest. The vandals, or Virgin Media for such a
> pathetically insecure installation ?
>
> --
> Mark
> Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
>
Mark Carver
> One thing worth worrying about is that the new BT broadband system is now
> using cabinets very similar to the ones Virgin have used. I predict the same
> situation there very shortly.
Who on earth told you that ? BT's FTTC cabinets are some of the most
secure I've seen ?
Sheila
"Brian Gaff" <Bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:iir390$43p$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> One thing worth worrying about is that the new BT broadband system is now
> using cabinets very similar to the ones Virgin have used. I predict the
> same situation there very shortly.
>
> Brian
>
The good news is that engineers who access BT cabinets use a key.
*some* VM contractors have a completely different approach to accessing a
cabinet.
Sheila
snot
> Graham. wrote:
> > "Gaius" <b...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
> news:MPG.27ba0a811...@news.zen.co.uk...
>
> >> That picture tells you all you'd want to know about VM.
> >>
> >> Linked cable ties "securing" a door - FFS. BT's customer service may be
> >> the pits, but at least their engineering hasn't sunk to that level.
> >>
> >> Yet.
> >
> > The primary locking mechanism seems to rely on a pair of granny's
> knitting
> > needles.
>
> Well on my way home tonight, a fast response repair team seem to have
> visited, and reinstated the high security cable ties, and applied some
> more insulation tape just to make sure:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox2.jpg
>
The local council 'round 'ere often use it to secure the access panels
for street lamps.
But what do I know?
Dave
--
Blow my nose to email me
Sheila
"ian field" <gangprob...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:B6_3p.22069$Yz1....@newsfe11.ams2...
centre of the photo. Mark's statement is a fair approximation.
Sheila
Sheila
The UK's Cable TV/Broadband network uses coax to distribute the network from
street cabinets to customers homes.
Sheila
Dave Plowman (News)
The Natural Philosopher <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> > I grew up and are really poor area when I was a kid, the red telephone
> > boxes contained a coin box, a handset connected with nothing more
> > brown curly wire and a usually intact set of directories, yet they
> > were very rarely vandalised, then came the 'Never Had It So Good' era
> > of the 1950s and everything seemed to go so terribly wrong, what
> > happened?
> Socialism.
The 'never had it so good' phrase was coined by Harold MacMillan. Didn't
know he was a socialist. That's what I like about here - you learn
something new every day.
--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
Terry Casey
>
> ian field wrote:
> > "Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>
> >> I would go with "Virgin Media for such a pathetically insecure
> >> installation". It may have been visited by vandals, but I am not totally
> >> convinced. Three observations, VM contractors have been known to use force
> >> to gain access to cabinets, no attempt has been made to vandalise the
> >> contents
> >
> > That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first sight of
> > the fibre-optic cables.
>
> 95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
No Mark.
The subscriber drop cables will be copper plated steel and the trunk cables copper plated
aluminium, so very little copper in there at all (apart from power).
My first experiences of cable was in the East End of London. It wasn't vandals who were
the problem but the kids.
The early build used locks with a triangular section key and were reasonably secure -
until gas and electricity meters started appearing in external boxes with identical
locks, albeit plastic.
Suddenly, every kid in the arera had a plastic cabinet key in its pocket!
The thing was, they didn't vandalise the cabinets - their idea of fun was to open them
and switch the power off!
--
Terry
The Natural Philosopher
> In article <iioo7n$gr3$1...@news.albasani.net>,
> The Natural Philosopher <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>> I grew up and are really poor area when I was a kid, the red telephone
>>> boxes contained a coin box, a handset connected with nothing more
>>> brown curly wire and a usually intact set of directories, yet they
>>> were very rarely vandalised, then came the 'Never Had It So Good' era
>>> of the 1950s and everything seemed to go so terribly wrong, what
>>> happened?
>
>> Socialism.
>
> The 'never had it so good' phrase was coined by Harold MacMillan. Didn't
> know he was a socialist.
"We are all socialists now"
(1894, liberal MP)
That's what I like about here - you learn
> something new every day.
>
I never said that Macmillan was the star of it, its just that giving
people a free lunch seems to mean they don't want to eat it and resent
getting it.
They still *vote* for it, mind you.
Terry Casey
>
> Graham. wrote:
> > "Gaius" <b...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
> news:MPG.27ba0a811...@news.zen.co.uk...
>
> >> That picture tells you all you'd want to know about VM.
> >>
> >> Linked cable ties "securing" a door - FFS. BT's customer service may be
> >> the pits, but at least their engineering hasn't sunk to that level.
> >>
> >> Yet.
> >
> > The primary locking mechanism seems to rely on a pair of granny's knitting
> > needles.
>
> Well on my way home tonight, a fast response repair team seem to have visited,
> and reinstated the high security cable ties, and applied some more insulation
> tape just to make sure:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox2.jpg
Did you forget to turn on the flash? All I'm getting here is a blank black screen ...
(The first one is still ok.)
--
Terry
Rick
plated inner and stainless steel braid, or all of the stuff that I've ever
seen (or used) has been, going right back to the days of the original United
Artists.
Bill Wright
> ian field wrote:
>
>>
>> They're just making it obvious there's nothing in there worth nicking.
>
> This is one of the UK's most prosperous towns, people don't nick cable
> round here, they don't need to, unemployment is quoted in 'hundreds'
> rather than percent. Instead they go round mindlessly destroying
> everything they can. The Post Office have even decommissioned a pillar
> box outside of an arcade of shops, because of repeated vandalism. It was
> so popular, you'd often have the mail brimming out of the slot. The
> nearest alternative is now a mile away.
>
Bill
JohnT
"Dave Plowman (News)" <da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:51a2512...@davenoise.co.uk...
--
JohnT
Ian Jackson
Terry Casey <kt...@example.invalid> writes
However, the EXIF data says the flash did fire.
--
Ian
JohnT
> The Natural Philosopher <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> > I grew up and are really poor area when I was a kid, the red telephone
>> > boxes contained a coin box, a handset connected with nothing more
>> > brown curly wire and a usually intact set of directories, yet they
>> > were very rarely vandalised, then came the 'Never Had It So Good' era
>> > of the 1950s and everything seemed to go so terribly wrong, what
>> > happened?
>
>> Socialism.
>
> The 'never had it so good' phrase was coined by Harold MacMillan. Didn't
> know he was a socialist. That's what I like about here - you learn
> something new every day.
>
The expression was plagiarised from the USA Democratic Party's slogan for
the 1952 Election which was "You Never Had it so Good"!
--
JohnT
Mark Carver
>>> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox2.jpg
>>
>> Did you forget to turn on the flash? All I'm getting here is a blank
>> black screen ...
>>
>> (The first one is still ok.)
>>
> The first time I looked at the photo, it was OK. Now its all dark.
> However, the EXIF data says the flash did fire.
Indeed it did, but the camera's generally not that good. It does have a
really good mobile phone application though, and that does work very well.
Anyway, I'll take a shot in daylight tomorrow morning, and update the
gruesome picture.
Rick
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/virgin.jpg>
Rick
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:8rd1qh...@mid.individual.net...
Peter Duncanson
I've put a processed version of that picture on my website
(temporarily):
http://www.peterduncanson.net/temp/vmbox2.jpg
--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)
ian field
Please Mr scrap metal merchant - what can you give me for a few yards of
co-ax and a sprig of 3A mains lead?
ian field
It'd be less hard work trying to find a job under a thieving toraidhe
government than trying to make a living weighing in stolen co-ax.
Its expensive to recover the metal from all that plastic - the scrap yards
would really prefer not to take it.
ne...@address.invalid
<gangprob...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>"Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:qK94p.36811$8G1....@newsfe30.ams2...
>>
>> "ian field" <gangprob...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:B6_3p.22069$Yz1....@newsfe11.ams2...
>>>
>>> "Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:8rauc2...@mid.individual.net...
>>>> ian field wrote:
>>>>> "Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>>
>>>>>> I would go with "Virgin Media for such a pathetically insecure
>>>>>> installation". It may have been visited by vandals, but I am not
>>>>>> totally convinced. Three observations, VM contractors have been known
>>>>>> to use force to gain access to cabinets, no attempt has been made to
>>>>>> vandalise the contents
>>>>>
>>>>> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first
>>>>> sight of the fibre-optic cables.
>>>>
>>>> 95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
>>>
>>> 95% of 0 is...........................
>> There is a mass of around 50 coax cables connected to the network in the
>> centre of the photo. Mark's statement is a fair approximation.
>
>
>Please Mr scrap metal merchant - what can you give me for a few yards of
>co-ax and a sprig of 3A mains lead?
>
Scrap value of coax.... 50p
Satisfaction of disconnecting TV, broadband and phone from 20
houses....immense.
Sheila
"Rick" <ri...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:iirebm$5ei$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
was to correct the comment that VM's street distribution cabinets contain
fibre-optic cables.
Sheila
Bill Wright
Bill
Bill Wright
>>
> The first time I looked at the photo, it was OK. Now its all dark.
Try again in the morning when it's daylight.
Bill
Terry Casey
>
> Yes, the idea that copper thieves forced the doors was a daft idea. My point
> was to correct the comment that VM's street distribution cabinets contain
> fibre-optic cables.
>
Whilst fibre is not found in cabinets which handle subscriber distribution, there is an
exception.
Magnavox used to do a Trunk amplifier with an integral fibre receiver, known as Fibre-in-
the-lid, for obvious reasons.
Examples I've seen, in former NYNEX areas, have had subscriber distribution in the same
cabinet.
--
Terry
Terry Casey
>
> But as Terry has pointed out, it's not copper it's a stainless steel copper
> plated inner and stainless steel braid, or all of the stuff that I've ever
> seen (or used) has been, going right back to the days of the original United
> Artists.
>
I pointed out that it is steel but I never said it was stainless (because it isn't!)
Also, the braid is aluminium alloy.
If you can find a specification for stainless steel drop cable, I'd like to see it ...!
--
Terry
Terry Casey
says...
>
>
> Whilst fibre is not found in cabinets which handle subscriber distribution, there is an
> exception.
>
Oops! That should have said: Whilst fibre is not normally found in cabinets which handle
subscriber distribution, there is an exception ...
--
Terry
Rick
The original system where I live was installed quite a few years ago by the
aforementioned United Artists (now Virgin) an American Company, I wonder if
they use same style cabinets in the U.S. and if so, the reason that they
aren't designed to be bomb proof is simply because they don't have the the
same proliferation of moronic chavs who constantly vandalise them in the
same way as they do here in the UK?
Bill Wright
today, took a pic on my phone, and it's out of focus.
Bill
Terry Casey
>
>
> The original system where I live was installed quite a few years ago by the
> aforementioned United Artists (now Virgin) an American Company, I wonder if
> they use same style cabinets in the U.S. and if so, the reason that they
> aren't designed to be bomb proof is simply because they don't have the the
> same proliferation of moronic chavs who constantly vandalise them in the
> same way as they do here in the UK?
>
In the States, it's mostly out of reach because they use overhead distribution - like BT
still do for telephones in some places.
Hence the underground (in the UK) subscriber distribution feed is know as a 'drop' cable.
Cable companies aren't allowed to use overhead distribution in the UK but BT still can
and do ...
--
Terry
George Weston
The moronic chavs are there all right but I'd bet that they have more
lucrative targets to go for.
Plus, of course, the possibility of them getting shot if someone (not
necessarily a cop) saw them at it...
George
Bill Wright
The blacks are 46/256 above black and the whites are 188/256 above
black. Better to use the full tonal range and merely tweak the gamma to
increase midrange contrast.
Bill
Bill Wright
> "Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:qK94p.36811$8G1....@newsfe30.ams2...
>> "ian field" <gangprob...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:B6_3p.22069$Yz1....@newsfe11.ams2...
>>> "Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:8rauc2...@mid.individual.net...
>>>> ian field wrote:
>>>>> "Sheila" <nospa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>>>> I would go with "Virgin Media for such a pathetically insecure
>>>>>> installation". It may have been visited by vandals, but I am not
>>>>>> totally convinced. Three observations, VM contractors have been known
>>>>>> to use force to gain access to cabinets, no attempt has been made to
>>>>>> vandalise the contents
>>>>> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first
>>>>> sight of the fibre-optic cables.
>>>> 95% of the cables in there are copper coax, and power
>>> 95% of 0 is...........................
>> There is a mass of around 50 coax cables connected to the network in the
>> centre of the photo. Mark's statement is a fair approximation.
>
>
> Please Mr scrap metal merchant - what can you give me for a few yards of
> co-ax and a sprig of 3A mains lead?
>
>
that is virtually worthless.
Bill
George Weston
Mark Carver
>>
> You've made it worse by putting the whole tonal range into the middle.
> The blacks are 46/256 above black and the whites are 188/256 above
> black. Better to use the full tonal range and merely tweak the gamma to
> increase midrange contrast.
Thanks for your concern chaps, the enhancements from Rick and Peter are very
good, but just as you can't beat having more signal in the first place, rather
than trying to boost it, I will take a new shot tomorrow morning, with the
fine example of telecommunication engineering excellence, glowing in early
morning Hampshire sunlight.
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
Graham.
"George Weston" <geow...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote in message news:8rdjei...@mid.individual.net...
But the Rediffusion did. Big time!
Does anyone remember the TV ads for "The Rediffusion Wire" with the animated bird
"Rediffusion Reggie"?
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Woody
news:MPG.27bba165f...@news.eternal-september.org...
Erm, I am confused. Maybe not in your area but here VM (formerly
NTL, formerly Bell Cablemedia (I think)) have fibre feed to the
street cab and a paralleled pair co-ax/four-pair to the house.
The co-ax carries TV and broadband, the pair carries telephone.
Even BT do exactly that now - or they did as of this morning when
an Openreach man fitted a new line at a radio site for me. BTO
man advised that as there was 40Mb to the cab and the cable was
only about 300m we should possibly get as much as 20Mb if we
wanted it.
--
Woody
harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
Bill Wright
>> http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1566-272977
>
> But the Rediffusion did. Big time!
>
> Does anyone remember the TV ads for "The Rediffusion Wire" with the animated bird
> "Rediffusion Reggie"?
We got the job of removing a lot of old Rediffusion overhead cables
because they were pulling the chimneys down (they used to go
chimney-chimney to get over main roads).
Bill
Mark Carver
> Erm, I am confused. Maybe not in your area but here VM (formerly
> NTL, formerly Bell Cablemedia (I think)) have fibre feed to the
> street cab and a paralleled pair co-ax/four-pair to the house.
> The co-ax carries TV and broadband, the pair carries telephone.
>
> Even BT do exactly that now - or they did as of this morning when
> an Openreach man fitted a new line at a radio site for me. BTO
> man advised that as there was 40Mb to the cab and the cable was
> only about 300m we should possibly get as much as 20Mb if we
> wanted it.
BT FTTC-VDSL ?
I get 34Mb/s sync 1km 'as the crow flies' from the cab. At 300m, unless the
cable really is damp string, you should max out at 40 Mb/s sync, actual
throughput won't exceed 37 Mb/s because of overheads. Congestion, contention,
and bottle necks upstream will reduce that further at times. Nevertheless,
it's very nice.
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
Graham.
"Mark Carver" <mark....@invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:8rdkoi...@mid.individual.net...
The gloom could be considered a metaphor for the state of British engineering standards.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
The Natural Philosopher
My understanding certainly was that there was fibre to the cabinet, and
coax and/or UTP from there to the premises, depending.
Cambridge cable presentation (now Virgin via NTL) IIRC is /was pure
coax. With phones demuxed of that somehow. I think.
> Even BT do exactly that now - or they did as of this morning when
> an Openreach man fitted a new line at a radio site for me. BTO
> man advised that as there was 40Mb to the cab and the cable was
> only about 300m we should possibly get as much as 20Mb if we
> wanted it.
>
40Mbps to the cab is crap. Surely the fibre handles more?
>
Rick
"Graham." <m...@privicy.com> wrote in message
news:iis6sv$seu$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
I'd like to think that it was never anywhere near as bad as that image that
George posted, it looks more like what one would expect to find on the
Indian subcontinent rather than the U.S.
<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/cables1.jpg>
<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/cables2.jpg>
<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/cables3.jpg>
Paulg0
"Terry Casey" <kt...@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:MPG.27bba6f0...@news.eternal-september.org...
> Cable companies aren't allowed to use overhead distribution in the UK but
> BT still can
> and do ...
Virgin have been trialing it recently:
http://www.silicon.com/technology/networks/2010/03/12/virgin-media-launches-overhead-fibre-pilot-to-boost-network-39745587/
Paul
kraftee
"The Natural Philosopher" <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:iis82h$es7$3...@news.albasani.net...
It's being limited, at the moment. Exactly the same as DSL was when it was
first rolled out, or is that fell out, across the country.
kraftee
"Terry Casey" <kt...@example.invalid> wrote in message
Cough
Come to some of the streets in the east of Nottingham and tell me those
aren't Virgin cables and poles. Even the users aren't particularly happy
about it but it does happen.
kraftee
"Paulg0" <zd...@ukgateway.net.spamtrap> wrote in message
news:iisbuu$tq6$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Piloting it?????
It's already being done and has been for at least 10 years
Peter Duncanson
wrote:
Thank you for your review Bill.
It was just a quick adjustment. I've spent the last few weeks adjusting
photos of a gathering of family and friends that was outdoors under
trees and under gazebos with the sun shining (last year). The amount of
contrast was horrific. I eventually managed to get them all surprisingly
good. This has left me temporarily all image-adjusted-out.
--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)
Graham.
> expect to find on the Indian subcontinent rather than the U.S.
> <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/cables1.jpg>
> <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/cables2.jpg>
> <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11815200/cables3.jpg>
Now *that's* what I call a network.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Bill Wright
> The gloom could be considered a metaphor for the state of British engineering standards.
>
>
You think that's bad. Take a look at
http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/roguesgallery/152.shtml
for instance.
Bill
Bill Wright
>> You've made it worse by putting the whole tonal range into the middle.
>> The blacks are 46/256 above black and the whites are 188/256 above
>> black. Better to use the full tonal range and merely tweak the gamma to
>> increase midrange contrast.
>>
> Thank you for your review Bill.
In the words of Rangi Ram, "I was just being clever dickey!"
>
> It was just a quick adjustment. I've spent the last few weeks adjusting
> photos of a gathering of family and friends that was outdoors under
> trees and under gazebos with the sun shining (last year). The amount of
> contrast was horrific. I eventually managed to get them all surprisingly
> good. This has left me temporarily all image-adjusted-out.
I'll tell you the most ridiculous thing. T snatched some pics using my
crappy old phone (got a better one now) of this woman and her dog, the
dog fawning on her knee. She was really keen to have the pictures,
saying that she would put one on her Christmas card. Trouble is, the dog
had so much red-eye it was actually white eye, spread right across its
face. As it happens my son has two similar dogs, same breed etc, so I
photoshopped one of his dogs' faces onto this woman's dog. It worked
well. It went on her Chrissy card anyhow.
It's terrible really, what you can get away with.
Bill
Terry Casey
says...
Your eyes obviously read didfferent words to mine ...
"Cable ISP Virgin Media has announced it WILL trial fibre broadband delivered via
telegraph poles ..." (My emphasis)
But first, the rules will need to be amended ...
"The company noted that CHANGES TO PLANNING GUIDELINES WOULD BE NEEDED to enable large-
scale overhead fibre deployments ..." (My emphasis)
--
Terry
Terry Casey
By Virgin Media or, as you are going back before the inception of VM, one (or more) of
its constituents?
BT doesn't count, for the reason I gave earlier ...
--
Terry
Terry Casey
>
>
> Erm, I am confused. Maybe not in your area but here VM (formerly
> NTL, formerly Bell Cablemedia (I think)) have fibre feed to the
> street cab and a paralleled pair co-ax/four-pair to the house.
> The co-ax carries TV and broadband, the pair carries telephone.
>
There are many ways of achieving the same objective and there are many different
influences in the history of CATV development but the overal pattern is loosely the same.
One fibre feed will typically supply TV and Broadband to an area of about 2,400 homes,
although granularity down to 600 home nodes has been used in some areas.
The fibre receiver/launch amplifier plus several splitters and ascociated cables (thick
ones!) and power supplies pretty much fill a standard sized street cabinet so there isn't
enough room for subscriber distribution in the same cabinet. There is always an exception
to the rule, as evidenced by the Magnavox Fibre in the Lid solution I mentioned in a
previous post but it is extremely rare. If you see two similar sized cabinets side by
side, it is often a pointer to the fibre/coax interface as the second cabinet will be for
subscriber distribution.
Telco Distribution is similar but needs much larger cabinets due to the amount of
electronics[1] needed to interface the fibre to copper and will typically serve around
600 homes so, depending on geography, etc., there will usually be 3 or 4 of them to each
CATV fibre node. Again, these cabinets don't feed subscribers directly. Instead,
multipair cables connect to the CATV cabinets for distribution of combined services to
individual customers.
This may be by siamese cable (coax and UTP in a figure-of-eight format) or individual
cables for each service may be pulled - the end result is the same.
[1] Telephony is fed on two fibre rings for reslience. At each cabinet, the data is
recovered from the fibre, data to/from the local area is extracted/added and the whole
lot converted back to light again, thus regenerating the signal. The cabinet also
contains battery back-up and cooling equipment.
--
Terry
Terry Casey
>
>
> My understanding certainly was that there was fibre to the cabinet, and
> coax and/or UTP from there to the premises, depending.
>
> Cambridge cable presentation (now Virgin via NTL) IIRC is /was pure
> coax. With phones demuxed of that somehow. I think.
>
No. The fact that both services are fed from a single cabinet may give that illusion but
that is all it is: an illusion.
If you could see inside a cabinet before subscriber cables were added it would be easy to
see that the telephony distribution is physically and electrically separate. Once the
cabinet fills up, it is rather difficult!
--
Terry
Peter Duncanson
wrote:
>Peter Duncanson wrote:
>
>>> You've made it worse by putting the whole tonal range into the middle.
>>> The blacks are 46/256 above black and the whites are 188/256 above
>>> black. Better to use the full tonal range and merely tweak the gamma to
>>> increase midrange contrast.
>>>
>> Thank you for your review Bill.
>In the words of Rangi Ram, "I was just being clever dickey!"
>
It's OK. I realised that.
Terry Casey
> coax.
>
>
Ah! Missed this bit! It makes obvious sense to feed the local area on coax only
particularly if, as is the case in Cambridge, the headend is in a densely populated area.
Noise (and distortion) limits the extent to such coverage though, and I can assure you
that there is lot of fibre kit in the Cambridge headend!
So, unless you're in one of those narrow blocked off streets near the headend, you'll be
fed on hybrid fibre/copper (assuming you're a VM customer, that is!)
--
Terry
charles
at my daughter's house there is only 1 cable incoming which is then split
to provide telephone & television. So, they can't all be like that.
--
From KT24
Using a RISC OS computer running v5.16
The Natural Philosopher
magic box, then cable modem on one socket and a standard BT style phone
on another.
I should cross post this to cam.misc as they are all on it over there.
Mark Carver
>
> Thanks for your concern chaps, the enhancements from Rick and Peter are
> very good, but just as you can't beat having more signal in the first
> place, rather than trying to boost it, I will take a new shot tomorrow
> morning, with the fine example of telecommunication engineering
> excellence, glowing in early morning Hampshire sunlight.
...well, morning drizzle, but here it is:-
http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox3.jpg (1 Meg)
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.
Malcolm Gray
>> at my daughter's house there is only 1 cable incoming which is then split
>> to provide telephone & television. So, they can't all be like that.
>>
> that is how I remember it from my friend's Cambridge Cable. One coax, a
> magic box, then cable modem on one socket and a standard BT style phone
> on another.
>
> I should cross post this to cam.misc as they are all on it over there.
My memory is of a figure of eight cable that was something like coax and
cat 5.
Alan
It is for Virgin Media (ex-NTL). Or at least in Bar Hill it is. But we
were never Cambridge Cable, which might be different.
--
Alan
Terry Casey
says...
The operative word there is SPLIT - as in 'splits into TWO separate cables ...'
Funny, that - it does exactly the same thing at the other end!
In fact, you could split them all the way along, but that would rather defeat the object!
You seem to be implying that it is like connecting a telephone to one pair of a 200 pair
cable and only expecting to see one pair at the far end with all 200 telephone circuits
magically multiplexed inside the cable, somehow ...
--
Terry
charles
Casey <kt...@example.invalid> wrote:
[Snip]
> The operative word there is SPLIT - as in 'splits into TWO separate
> cables ...'
The box seems very big just to do this.
> Funny, that - it does exactly the same thing at the other end!
> In fact, you could split them all the way along, but that would rather
> defeat the object!
> You seem to be implying that it is like connecting a telephone to one
> pair of a 200 pair cable and only expecting to see one pair at the far
> end with all 200 telephone circuits magically multiplexed inside the
> cable, somehow ...
multiplexing is magic, isn't it?
Ian Jackson
Terry Casey <kt...@example.invalid> writes
video-phone) systems piggybacked onto existing two-way CATV systems, as
far as I know, none is in operation in the UK. I'm pretty sure that
RF-based TV/internet and the baseband telephone/internet are still
(electrically) completely separate services.
--
Ian
tony sayer
>> Erm, I am confused. Maybe not in your area but here VM (formerly
>> NTL, formerly Bell Cablemedia (I think)) have fibre feed to the
>> street cab and a paralleled pair co-ax/four-pair to the house.
>> The co-ax carries TV and broadband, the pair carries telephone.
>>
>
>My understanding certainly was that there was fibre to the cabinet, and
>coax and/or UTP from there to the premises, depending.
>
>Cambridge cable presentation (now Virgin via NTL) IIRC is /was pure
>coax. With phones demuxed of that somehow. I think.
Fibre to the distribution cab than demux to subscriber cabs and those
are copper and co-ax around up to 1 km or so max from what I remember of
it..
>
>
>> Even BT do exactly that now - or they did as of this morning when
>> an Openreach man fitted a new line at a radio site for me. BTO
>> man advised that as there was 40Mb to the cab and the cable was
>> only about 300m we should possibly get as much as 20Mb if we
>> wanted it.
>>
>
>40Mbps to the cab is crap. Surely the fibre handles more?
>
>>
--
Tony Sayer
Ian Jackson
<to...@bancom.co.uk> writes
>>>
>
>Fibre to the distribution cab than demux to subscriber cabs and those
>are copper and co-ax around up to 1 km or so max from what I remember of
>it..
>
When you think of it, there's not much copper actually available at (or
from) a cabinet. Most of the cables are in ducts in ground, and can't
readily be pulled out.
Even the equipment is of minimal value. Though it might cost thousands
to replace, there can be few buyers for stolen equipment (even in
perfect working order). I suppose that batteries might be worth
something as scrap, but the value of the rest of the stuff will be next
to nothing.
--
Ian
tony sayer
>, Malcolm Gray <malcolm-...@jobstream.com> scribeth thus
Co-ax, RG11 IIRC and a two pair copper phone cable often referred to in
the trade as "Sidecar cable"
--
Tony Sayer
Theo Markettos
> Co-ax, RG11 IIRC and a two pair copper phone cable often referred to in
> the trade as "Sidecar cable"
Yup, that was what NTL fitted us in 2003. I don't know what Cambridge
Cable themselves installed, but I assume it was the same.
Theo
The Natural Philosopher
Right: Given that it's you Tony, I take that as authoritative.
So instead of using - say - baseband POTS and RF muxed on the one cable,
they run a separate pair for de dog and bone..but in the same sheath?
Guy Dawson
> That'll be because it was copper thieves who lost interest at first sight of
> the fibre-optic cables.
>
> On the news today - copper prices at an all time high.
Copper theft of the multi pair cables running to BT's street cabinets must
be one of the drivers behind FTTC.
Guy
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Guy Dawson@SMTP - gn...@cuillin.org.uk // ICBM - 6.15.16W 57.12.23N 986M
4.4>5.4 4.4>5.4 4.4>5.4 The Reality Check's in the Post! 4.4>5.4 4.4>5.4
Bill Wright
> On 08/02/2011 19:44, Mark Carver wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for your concern chaps, the enhancements from Rick and Peter are
>> very good, but just as you can't beat having more signal in the first
>> place, rather than trying to boost it, I will take a new shot tomorrow
>> morning, with the fine example of telecommunication engineering
>> excellence, glowing in early morning Hampshire sunlight.
>
> ...well, morning drizzle, but here it is:-
>
> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox3.jpg (1 Meg)
>
I've sent this picture to the National Gallery of Modern Art, and told
them that you can do the actual museum installation next week. If Damien
Hirst and Tracy Emin can do it so can you. The working title of your
exhibition will be '21st Century British Workmanship'. Could you get a
few other minor exhibits together -- a few botched air cond jobs or
something?
Bill
Bill Wright
Round here they run a single RG6 into the premises and fit a small
screened splitter on the end. One leg does the telly; the other does the
phone.
Bill
Mark Carver
> Mark Carver wrote:
>>
>> ...well, morning drizzle, but here it is:-
>>
>> http://www.markyboy.net/vmbox3.jpg (1 Meg)
>>
>
> I've sent this picture to the National Gallery of Modern Art, and told
> them that you can do the actual museum installation next week. If Damien
> Hirst and Tracy Emin can do it so can you. The working title of your
> exhibition will be '21st Century British Workmanship'. Could you get a
> few other minor exhibits together -- a few botched air cond jobs or
> something?
Ah, er, how about this:- ?
http://www.markyboy.net/aircon.jpg
--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.