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Old 5th Apr 2016, 2:18 pm   #1
martiR2R
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Default BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

James May (love or hate) rebuilds a bakelite dial telephone, not my scene, but the one last night rebuilding a Suffolk Punch mower was great fun.
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 2:28 pm   #2
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I also watched it. There's no way of knowing how much was scripted or set up, but he does seem to have a genuine love of what he's doing.
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 8:42 pm   #3
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

It was a Colt, not a Punch- that's a bigger 14" cut machine of slightly earlier vintage.

Anyone else notice the vital missing step- no mention of filling the sump between build up and starting it

As a lad, I didn't like the Suffolks with their wussy centrifugal clutch and idiot proof four stroke, two stroke Qualcasts and Atcos were much more fun, they could be revved up before you dropped the clutch and required a degree of mechanical sympathy to get the best out of them and not stall

Anorak off, or at least changed for a lab coat for tonight's offering.... I hope it's as engaging.
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 9:35 pm   #4
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear....

"Here's one made earlier"

And I think the microphone description could have been technically accurate without being more difficult to understand as a layman.

Once again, I suspect that oil should have featured somewhere, too.

Nevertheless enjoyable in itself as well as for looking for nitpicking opportunities.
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 9:43 pm   #5
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

A bit disappointing, though I suppose it's unreasonable to expect him to wire up the internal electrics in what is basically a home light engineering workshop, and I suspect May has no expertise with the electrical side of things. It's always difficult to draw the line between geeky accuracy and general accessibility. Not bad overall I think - it could have been much worse.
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 10:00 pm   #6
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I was somewhat disappointed with it too. The technical descriptions were inadequate and not even that accurate. He must have had some assistance as I doubt he could have figured out where everything goes just from the parts.

The "one he made earlier" was obviously one that has never been taken apart.

I suspect there is an element of the BBC trying to find something he can do which isn't controversial and doesn't involve cars!
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 11:16 pm   #7
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulsherwin View Post
A bit disappointing, though I suppose it's unreasonable to expect him to wire up the internal electrics in what is basically a home light engineering workshop, and I suspect May has no expertise with the electrical side of things.
But the electrics are the easy bit, especially with a diagram.

Assembling the dial, without diagrams, seemed to me to be rather implausible. I wouldn't like to try it.

The line cord was wrong and I didn't see him add a resistance into the bell circuit
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 11:36 pm   #8
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I suspect this may be Richard May's TV equivalent of a contractual obligation album, so we're probably lucky that it's as entertaining as it is.

[later: yes, that should be James May]
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Old 5th Apr 2016, 11:51 pm   #9
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I watched the first episode on iPlayer afterwards and from his comments about whether there was actually anyone still watching I think you may be right. Only three episodes too (electric guitar tomorrow), over consecutive evenings, and probably never to be seen again.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 7:47 am   #10
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulsherwin View Post
I suspect this may be Richard May's TV equivalent of a contractual obligation album.
I assume you mean James May. ;-)

I have to say that I too was disappointed (and unconvinced about the dial assembly). Quite apart from the inaccuracies already mentioned, I thought the testing fell sadly short of the mark - OK, the bells respond to incoming ringing current, so what? How about demonstrating that a call can actually be established by lifting the handset (not receiver, James, that's the end you hold against your ear), or even that that reassembled dial did actually manage to dial out.

At least with the lawn mower we saw him pushing it back and forth across some grass rather than just starting it up - though I don't recall actually seeing evidence that the grass was actually being cut.

Oh well, let's see how he gets on with the electric guitar this evening!

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The "one he made earlier" was obviously one that has never been taken apart.
To be fair to him, he did say that it was one that "someone else made earlier", which could have been some 60 years earlier.
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Last edited by Dave Moll; 6th Apr 2016 at 7:53 am. Reason: added about "one made earlier"
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 8:10 am   #11
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

Good grief, people! Have you forgotten that the rising generation (and most of the risen generations, come to that) know nothing of mechanical ingenuity? If a bloke with an engaging manner and a ready-made audience chooses to introduce them to the fascination of how things were, I say more power to his elbow. But no, we must all have our niggle, mustn't we?

I know that, when May did a programme about the technology of the music industry, an acknowledged expert in disc technology was engaged and May spent some time quizzing him about the subject (off camera) in a way which showed a real interest in, and curiosity about, the subject.

Fred Dibnah didn't get everything right, either, and look what he did for his corner of things.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 9:25 am   #12
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

Watched last nights and the previous one, couldn't quite see the point in it, found it a bit bland, I'll watch the guitar one if I can, only 'cos I've got a guitar.

Lawrence.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 10:05 am   #13
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

Richard May- there's a name from my past! A colleague at Racal who sailed a canoe all the way down the Nile (!) in the late '70s. Come to think of it, his hairstyle was pretty similar to James May's too.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 10:14 am   #14
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I watched the lawnmower one, and also have to say that although it was nice gentle television, which people with little or no experience of actually taking things apart and putting together may find interesting - I found it quite annoying with quite a few things that I just wouldn't do.

For example - gudgeon pins go into pistons a lot easier if you put the pin into the freezer for a couple of hours. Also sealant as well as a paper gasket? Really?

But it's entertainment, not education - and yes, probably just a running out of James May's contractual obligations, so you can't really complain too much. If it was too technical people wouldn't watch.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 10:24 am   #15
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I watched with an open mind, I like the May approach to technical matters.

Remind me, don't you have to set the bells up on a phone to ensure that they ring properly?
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 10:28 am   #16
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

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Richard May- there's a name from my past! A colleague at Racal who sailed a canoe all the way down the Nile (!) in the late '70s. Come to think of it, his hairstyle was pretty similar to James May's too.
Yes yes, all right, that's what comes of posting after getting back from the pub

I did actually realise I'd made this mistake when I woke up at about 3am and did consider getting up to correct it - then I rolled over and went back to sleep.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 11:00 am   #17
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I agree that it's just entertainment, but part of my entertainment (and I suspect that of many others here) is spotting the inaccuracies and having someone to whom I can grumble about them!
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 11:10 am   #18
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

I found both the Lawnmower and Telephone programmes interesting, but wouldn't like to comment about any innaccuracies in either, as I'm not experienced in dismantling &/or repairing either type of item. Regarding the 'phone, the fact that it rang when he dialled it's number from a mobile proved that it could receive & respond to incoming calls, but it's a pity James didn't demonstrate that it could also dial out and contact another number, too!
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 11:48 am   #19
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

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For example - gudgeon pins go into pistons a lot easier if you put the pin into the freezer for a couple of hours.
I sat there muttering about boiling a kettle and dunking the piston in hot water. Works a treat and only takes about three minutes.

The two methods are a nice example of duality I think.
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Old 6th Apr 2016, 11:48 am   #20
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Default Re: BBC 4 9pm tonight - Bakelite telephone

The producers of most of these programmes always assume that their target audience is more interested in seeing the head of the person involved rather than actually being able to see the detail of what he is up to.
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