I've always been impressed by the BBC tech people I met, doing a high-quality job in an extremely bureaucratic neophobic environment.
As part of making the unit, we had to ensure it complied with all the relevant European directives so that it could be CE marked. We had the Codec tested for both safety and EMC.
Interesting, I thought this wasn't required for internal use; probably the BBC corporate structure means it no longer counts as "internal".
On "Radio Teleswitch":
[Droitwich] transmitter uses a pair of obsolete metre-long valves which are no longer manufactured anywhere in the world.[1]
In October 2011, the BBC admitted that the Droitwich transmitter, including Radio 4's longwave service and Radio Teleswitch, will cease to operate when one of the last two valves breaks, and no effort would be made to manufacture more nor to install a replacement longwave transmitter.
This is like the Domesday Book (1980s interactive multimedia system on Laserdisc): high-tech and sui generis at the time it was built, but eventually uniquely obsolete.
The BBC itself is very much a valve-and-laserdisc organisation in a Google world. We huddle round the warm glow, concerned that eventually some vital element will give out due to lack of money and the whole enterprise will give up.
Periodically someone comes up with the idea of shutting down analog FM radio. This is politically inconceivable as half the country has ancient radios that were tuned to Radio 4 in 1967 and have never played any other station (an exaggeration, but only a small one).
CE carries a number of subclasses that can be self-certified.
With respect to EMC and safety it is absolutely in their best interest to conform, not merely out of a bureaucratic obligation but out of a need to minimize any interference from or to other equipment housed nearby.
As part of making the unit, we had to ensure it complied with all the relevant European directives so that it could be CE marked. We had the Codec tested for both safety and EMC.
Interesting, I thought this wasn't required for internal use; probably the BBC corporate structure means it no longer counts as "internal".
On "Radio Teleswitch":
[Droitwich] transmitter uses a pair of obsolete metre-long valves which are no longer manufactured anywhere in the world.[1]
In October 2011, the BBC admitted that the Droitwich transmitter, including Radio 4's longwave service and Radio Teleswitch, will cease to operate when one of the last two valves breaks, and no effort would be made to manufacture more nor to install a replacement longwave transmitter.
This is like the Domesday Book (1980s interactive multimedia system on Laserdisc): high-tech and sui generis at the time it was built, but eventually uniquely obsolete.
The BBC itself is very much a valve-and-laserdisc organisation in a Google world. We huddle round the warm glow, concerned that eventually some vital element will give out due to lack of money and the whole enterprise will give up.
Periodically someone comes up with the idea of shutting down analog FM radio. This is politically inconceivable as half the country has ancient radios that were tuned to Radio 4 in 1967 and have never played any other station (an exaggeration, but only a small one).