OT; Tick Tick, worrying dependence on technology, and nosetalgia

Switching on the PC when I got home yesterday, I posted to a hot air engine forum then came back a couple of hours later to check for replies only to find the ADSL link had dropped out - no too unusual, but the usual switching router on and off didn't recover it. Lifting the 'phone handset there was a loud Tick Tick on the line. Better report to BT fault line - but what's the number? I no longer keep the bulky phone book or yellow pages which land on the doorstep at regular intervals as all the relevant info can be found on line, but the internet connection is dead - oh dear, a worrying dependence on technology here!

Eventually rung 100 for operator and, after a few hiccoughs as the number recognition system didn't work (I wonder if the Tick Tick made it think it had a line-disconnect type dialling system) got through to a human being. No chance of speaking to an engineer of course but the call centre (probably on Bombay, though none the worse for that) arranged an automatic line test which came back clear - "the fault must be on your premises sir". I explained that I had already disconnected anything which could possibly cause such a signal, leaving just had one handset connected to the master socket and yes, I had tried another handset! The upshot is that an 'engineer' should be calling on Saturday morning - lord know what he will make of the manky wiring we inherited when we moved in some 15 years ago! Anyway, looks like I'm 'off the air' at home for a while.

Being a naturally curious type, I disconnected the remaining handset and listened with a pair of high impedance 'phones (GEC 'Type Approved By Postmaster General" - just for P-TE that one!) to verify the Tick was still there, then exhumed my old Telequipment 'scope. I didn't do a full measuring job ('scope's probably out of cal by now anyway!), but the Tick is a short duration pulse with a sharp leading edge to an amplitude of about 15 volts and slightly slower fall with a 5 volt 'overshoot' in the other direction, PRF is almost exactly 1Hz, I'm pretty sure that cannot be originating "on my premises".

Nosetalgia? While hunting down a 'scope probe, I came across my old camera gear (Pentax MX with a selection of lenses etc - worth anything nowdays?). Taking the flash out of its box, my nose was assaulted by that familiar smell which seemed to accompany the unpacking of any new Japanese electrical gear some years ago, don't seem to get quite the same whiff now and it brought back memories in the way that sometimes only a smell can!

Sorry about that, but I just had to tell someone!

Nick H

Reply to
Nick H
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Err. Yesterday evening I half jokingly said to Helen "I bet someone will walk into the exchange tomorrow, see the flashing fault light and change a DSLAM card or something". Well what do you know, by the time I got home for lunch the fault, still there when I left for work in the morning, had mysteriously disappeared. Now all I have to do is call off the engineer visit or I'll be charged £60 or so for a no fault found call-out!

Apologies again for all the OT waffle - I don't think I'd have got away with that one at a club night - I can picture eyes glazing over and people trying to sidle away ;-)

Reply to
Nick H

We lose the ADSL at various times for brief periods, but haven't been without it for longer than an hour at the most. BT Broadband at home and Waitrose.com at the factory.

We did have a strange occurence on the main PC at home the other night, and ended up with changing the 200gb hard drive as it wouldn't go through the boot process the next day. We have loads of spare machines already configured, and a full back-up from last weekend plus the most recent emails enabled a swift return to normal service.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

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Reply to
Prepair Ltd

That seems to be the standard reply, I got it a few months ago when I had an intermittent loud crackling, even when the operator could hear it herself I still got the same answer. The fault "on my premises" was finally cured by swapping the pair of wires between the pole in front of my house and the junction box at the end of the road!. The engineers were excellent though, it's just the call centres that try to fob you off.

Greg

Reply to
Greg

In message , Prepair Ltd writes

I used to suffer this when I was on BT I would lose ADSL for periods from 10 minutes to an hour. Changed ADSL supplier (now with Freeola) and in 2 years have only had one outage of about an hour. Same wires same router etc. this leads me to think that BTs service is not quite as robust as it should be,..........

Reply to
Julian Tether

But don't the other suppliers just rent the service from BT? That certainly seems to be the case with Onetel (which I use). I lose my ADSL connection from time to time, usually when very cold or very wet weather coincides with busy periods. Maybe the weather drives more people indoors & makes the system even busier, but my suspicion is that there's some deterioration in my connection to the exchange.

Cheers Tim

Dutton Dry-Dock Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs Vintage diesel engine service

Reply to
Tim Leech

I'm using BT broadband in a little village in Bedfordshire and apart from complete loss of phone line because of connection failure in village no problems in two years.

Mart>> arranged an automatic line test

Reply to
Campingstoveman

In message , Tim Leech writes

AFAIK the cables are the same but the routing equipment at the other end is not and all the lines to the boat were new in 2001. I am at the limit of the connection another 300metres and I couldn't have ADSL so I am limited to 512k other people in the village have 1mb but I guess the 2 fields it has to cross to get to the boat is what makes the difference.

Reply to
Julian Tether

Telewest Broadband, me. Works fine, so well, indeed. that I never think about it.

Frankly, Gracie, I'm surprised it works at all. There is this little cast iron cover in the pavement. Upon removal, water runs from the lower edge of the hole most days. Obviously they have tapped into a stream! The cables dive through latherings of silicone & grommets into a plastic pot with a screw lid. When the lid is removed, there is white corrosion over every exposed metal surface.

Very high tech ............

Regards,

Kim Siddorn.

"Be very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out." Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530)

Reply to
Kim Siddorn

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