Not sure if this is in the right area, but I had an unusual event a couple of days ago. I live on a steel narrowboat, and I had just got out of the shower.
Before you nod off, I should explain that I had my roof vent (with its brass ‘mushroom’) open with the extractor fan running when a police helicopter appeared and hovered overhead.
The helicopter was 200 or 300 foot above me, and suddenly the pilot’s comm report about a suspect to ground forces was broadcast loudly inside my boat!
Anybody got a theory about why this happened?
bri 😀
By: barry flahey - 20th February 2011 at 17:26
This is slightly related to Bri’s question. When I’m sitting quietly on the can
in my upstairs bathroom I can clearly hear the sounds from outside, almost amplified. Particularly loud is the engine noise from an Avanti that passes over at a fair height once a week. The Army choppers (Sioux) pass regularly over at around a thousand feet, filling the room with sound. Also coyotes yapping in the fields across the way, yipping pups especially are amplified. Canada Geese honking on the river about quarter of a mile away, come in strength five.
Could it be the vent pipe as in Bri’s case except no mushroom, which of course is open to atmosphere (apart from the extractor fan) I hardly have a stealth bathroom. it’s actually more like an echo chamber. I’ve often wondered if sounds from my bathroom do not flow in the other direction also, and are broadcast throughout the neighbourhood. Some of my neighbours are not terribly friendly. I always thought it was my accent….
By: Nashio966 - 20th February 2011 at 15:51
Definitely wont have been any police radio transmissions! Its a digital encrypted channel!
It could have been to the tower, but the context of what was heard would indicate that it was a police broadcast.
Hence the use of the large speaker system underneath 🙂 (I think its called “Groudshout” Or something like that 🙂 )
By: PMN - 20th February 2011 at 11:34
May be radio bleed over,the high frequency transmission from a powerful transmitter on the aircraft,may be the boat sat in water and being steel acted as an aerial and livened up your speakers.
If the boat did somehow act as an antenna then I’d expect whatever it picked up to take the most direct route to ground as electricity always does, which would have been straight into the sea. I’m not too sure anything like that would have any real effect on radio equipment on the boat itself as I doubt such a small radio would have enough power in its output to generate enough voltage on an object the size of a boat to have any significant effect. I wouldn’t have thought so anyway, although I’m a sound engineer and not a radio engineer so I could be wrong!
By: mike currill - 20th February 2011 at 09:53
I can’t listen to radio one in my hangar as ATC interupts it all the time, it just swamps the station, others are ok though.
psst
That’s got to be a good thing as it discourages you from listening to a c*** station.:D
By: Nashio966 - 19th February 2011 at 20:34
It will have been the daft loudspeakers on the underside of the aircraft – They’re called something like Thunderwave or some other daft name :diablo:
I do remember that the searchlight is called “Nightsun” 😀 You definitely will NOT hear any police transmissions on any radio reciever set in this country 🙂 Airwave radio is encrypted and on a separate network to radio/phones etc 🙂
Basically like a separate radio/mobile phone network for the police – Afaik only two police forces in all of the UK dont use airwave
By: Flying-A - 19th February 2011 at 20:31
A claimed freak broadcast that involves one of aviation’s great mysteries:
http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Documents/Notebook/notebook.html
As for authenticity, all I can say is that the artwork matches the period and the other contents seem typical of a girl that age in that era.
By: hampden98 - 19th February 2011 at 17:55
When I was a kid I had one of those old Stereo Record Players with two large speakers, When taxi cabs, Fire Engines, Police or Ambulances pulled up out side I could here them clearly through the speakers even when the Stereo was off and unplugged.
By: TonyT - 19th February 2011 at 16:42
I can’t listen to radio one in my hangar as ATC interupts it all the time, it just swamps the station, others are ok though.
psst
By: mike currill - 19th February 2011 at 14:37
May be radio bleed over,the high frequency transmission from a powerful transmitter on the aircraft,may be the boat sat in water and being steel acted as an aerial and livened up your speakers.
This seems to be the most likely scenario. There are times when something from way off the frequency you’re tuned to will come through if the transmitter is close enough and powerful enough.
By: bri - 19th February 2011 at 13:56
Do you think I could get some kryptonite on Ebay? 😉
By: Lincoln 7 - 16th February 2011 at 18:24
I think you are suffering from superman hearing, suggest you get a bit of kryptonite and keep it in you boat.;)
Lincoln . 7
By: bri - 16th February 2011 at 13:45
Did I escape? – you’re quick, I’ll give you that! 😀
My digital radio was playing on Radio 3, but the freak broadcast was very loud throughout my boat and not at radio volume. I did hear it through the ventilator too.
A few good and interesting suggestions, thanks lads.
I had wondered if the downdraft from the rotor somehow brought it down, but I did hear the PTT function as well.
bri 🙂
By: Portagee - 14th February 2011 at 23:58
I live under the approach to Edinburgh (about 10 miles out). The FM radio in our kitchen regularly picks up pilots calling that they are now on finals or acknowledging some other information not picked up. The aerial of the radio is close to copper plumbing pipes which I presume becomes a massive receiving array.
It doesn’t do it with every aircraft, just often enough to be annoying when a fav tune is interupted.
By: laviticus - 14th February 2011 at 20:21
May be radio bleed over,the high frequency transmission from a powerful transmitter on the aircraft,may be the boat sat in water and being steel acted as an aerial and livened up your speakers.
By: Lincoln 7 - 14th February 2011 at 20:14
Do the police helicopters not have the facility to speak over a loud speaker system for crowd control etc ? Im thinking mabye that was selected by the pilot by accident whist he was talking to atc or police ground units ?
I can only speak for my old Force, but our helicopter was fitted with loudspeakers. I can’t however tell you who made them.
Lincoln .7
By: PMN - 14th February 2011 at 20:08
Bri, what kind of radio did you hear the transmission through on your boat?
By: SOFTLAD - 14th February 2011 at 20:02
Do the police helicopters not have the facility to speak over a loud speaker system for crowd control etc ? Im thinking mabye that was selected by the pilot by accident whist he was talking to atc or police ground units ?
By: 91Regal - 14th February 2011 at 17:18
No theory, Bri, but a similiar thing happened to me many years ago when I lived near St. Albans. I turned on my music centre (remember them ?) in my bedroom one afternoon and picked up a transmission from a HP Victor that was flying overhead in the circuit for Radlett. Try as I could, I could never duplicate the effect.
By: Sky High - 14th February 2011 at 15:35
Did you manage to evade arrest……;):diablo:
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February 14, 2011 at 3:25 pm