Random News Stories

[Randy Stankey]

I think the ship was adrift. It went under the bridge stern first.

Since everybody was in "parade mode," there probably wasn't anybody close enough to the bridge who could get the engines started on time. Remember, you don't just turn the key and press a button to bring a big diesel engine, like that, on-line in ten seconds. There's a whole, big procedure that likely takes two or three minutes, even in an emergency. By the time the captain, his mate and the helmsmen got to their posts, I bet the ship was already under the bridge!

[Marcel Birgelen]

Leo, We'll just have to wait and see what the report says... I also think if it lost the engine, even with the tug assisting, that it still would have happened. The current in the river there moves fast.

It has to be an engine or other kind of control failure, even if they mistook feet for meters, you have to be a special kind of blind not to see this coming. Either that, or the Italians must have released Captain Schettino early...

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Firstly, apologies for the joke above: when I made it, all the coverage then online stated that there were no deaths and only two minor injuries.



It's like the hybrid ships of the mid c-19 (when reciprocating steam propulsion had been invented, but not scaled up to have enough power to drive a large ship at a significant speed), in that it had both sails and engines, according to this.



If that's the case, then presumably there was never any intention for it to pass under the bridge. From these pics, it appears that there is no way it possibly could have done:

image.png
image.png

Unless the perspective is seriously distorted in the first photo (it obviously is in the second), the front mast was at least 40-50 feet higher than the bridge deck. My wife speculated that either they thought that the tide was lower than it was (which would explain getting it wrong by a few feet, but not that much), or that they had a figure for the height of the bridge deck that they thought was in meters but was actually in feet. But the ship being totally out of control and there being no intention to pass under the bridge at all would also explain it.

If so, that raises the question as to why lessons seemingly weren't learned from the Baltimore bridge accident a few months ago.

Leo, We'll just have to wait and see what the report says... I also think if it lost the engine, even with the tug assisting, that it still would have happened. The current in the river there moves fast.

[Randy Stankey]

facepalm-picard.gif
Facepalm...

[Leo Enticknap]

Firstly, apologies for the joke above: when I made it, all the coverage then online stated that there were no deaths and only two minor injuries.

That thing has sails. "Lost power" == wind stopped blowing?

It's like the hybrid ships of the mid c-19 (when reciprocating steam propulsion had been invented, but not scaled up to have enough power to drive a large ship at a significant speed), in that it had both sails and engines, according to this.

Authorities blamed “mechanical issues”, and said the ship had lost power before the crash, at about 8.20pm on Saturday evening.

But some experts have speculated that the ship’s engines may have been stuck in reverse after tug boats pushed it into position to set sail.

If that's the case, then presumably there was never any intention for it to pass under the bridge. From these pics, it appears that there is no way it possibly could have done:

image.png
image.png

Unless the perspective is seriously distorted in the first photo (it obviously is in the second), the front mast was at least 40-50 feet higher than the bridge deck. My wife speculated that either they thought that the tide was lower than it was (which would explain getting it wrong by a few feet, but not that much), or that they had a figure for the height of the bridge deck that they thought was in meters but was actually in feet. But the ship being totally out of control and there being no intention to pass under the bridge at all would also explain it.

If so, that raises the question as to why lessons seemingly weren't learned from the Baltimore bridge accident a few months ago.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I just watched another, much clearer video shot from an office building. It shows the Tug racing to try to get around the front. Ultimately, it was stopped by a piling immediately on the other side of the bridge...

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

That thing has sails. "Lost power" == wind stopped blowing?

They apparently lost control of steering as they likely did not have the engine running at more than idle because the Tug had them, also the tug was trying to get around it into position in the front to push it back from the bridge, but could not get there in time. That river has a really fast current.

[Frank Cox]

That thing has sails. "Lost power" == wind stopped blowing?

[James Biggins]

More seriously, how could it have been possible for the officers on that ship not to know that their masts were taller than the bridge they were trying to sail underneath?

Apparently it lost power while manoevering.

[Leo Enticknap]

Here.

Massive sailing vessel collides with Brooklyn Bridge in dramatic NYC crash caught on camera
NYPD Harbor Unit conducted rescue operations after the Cuauhtémoc training ship struck the underside of the famous bridge

By Alexandra Koch Fox News
Published May 17, 2025 10:20pm EDT

A search and rescue operation is underway after a naval training ship donning a massive Mexican flag crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on Saturday night, sending passengers into the murky water.

Videos posted to social media appear to show the mast of the ship crashing into the bridge just before 8:30 p.m., as passengers and nearby onlookers screamed.

The 150-foot-tall Mexican Navy training ship, Cuauhtémoc, struck the bottom side of the roadbed portion of the Brooklyn Bridge, officials with the New York Police Department (NYPD) told Fox News.

Flags and debris from the ship plummeted into the water below, as the vessel rocked back and forth, pushing its way under the landmark.

All 250 occupants onboard have been accounted for, according to the New York Fire Department (FDNY).

The ship appeared to have veered to the side after passing under the bridge, nearly crashing into a nearby pier before coming to a stop.

The NYPD Harbor Unit is on scene aiding with rescue operations. There is no visible damage to the bridge, according to the NYPD.

"I’m praying for everyone who was on this ship that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge this evening," New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a post on X. "New Yorkers should follow local guidance while our first responders do their jobs."There is no visible damage to the bridge, according to the NYPD.

Sinko de Mayo!

More seriously, how could it have been possible for the officers on that ship not to know that their masts were taller than the bridge they were trying to sail underneath?

[Harold Hallikainen]

The US has also used subaudible tones on AM broadcast and subcarriers on FM broadcast for utility load management. Some utilities have also used dedicated VHF or UHF frequencies for utility load management. I heard of one utility that would give a discount if they could install a radio on your air conditioner to allow for load shedding when demand is really high.

Broadcasters have always looked for "data broadcasting" markets, pretty much without success. The new US digital television standard being rolled out once again is touting its data broadcasting capability. However, I think the data broadcasting market is extremely limited compared when compared with interactive data retrieval.

I believe that in the US, most "smart meters" use mesh radios that then link to an internet gateway (which often uses a cellular data connection). The smart meters typically allow for time of use metering. I don't think they typically do load shedding since a very large SSR or relay would be required. Also, it would shut down the entire load behind the meter and not just some high power load (like an air conditioner).

I think the current method utilities are handling load shedding is very clever. They are giving customers thermostats that have a WiFi radio in them. The WiFi connects to the consumer's WiFi access point and then to the utility. The utility can shed loads by applying an offset to the temperature setting to reduce power consumption by air conditioning or hearing systesm. This is a very low cost way of getting load shedding capability.

[Leo Enticknap]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...ing-to-an-end/

Powerful programming: BBC-controlled electric meters are coming to an end

Customers are being pushed to smart meters that have their own signal problems.

Kevin Purdy – Apr 11, 2025 1:43 pm

Radio signal broadcasts have their usefulness, but they eventually end (except, perhaps, for SETI). Every so often, we mark the public end of a once-essential wavelength, such as 3G cellular, analog television, or the Canadian time check. One of the most weirdly useful signals will soon end in the United Kingdom, with notable consequences if its transition is not properly handled.

Beginning in the early 1980s, UK homes could have electrical meters installed with a radio teleswitch attached. These switches listened for a 198 kHz signal from the BBC's Radio 4 Long Wave service, primarily broadcast from the powerful Droitwich Transmitting Station. These switches listened to 30 messages per minute, waiting for a certain 50-bit data packet to arrive that signaled that electricity was now at cheaper, off-peak rates ("tariffs" in the UK).

With this over-the-air notice, homes that bought into Economy 7 or Economy 10 (7 or 10 hours of reduced-price power) could make use of ceramic-stuffed storage heaters that stayed warm into the day, prepare hot water heaters, and otherwise make use of off-peak power. How the electrical companies, BBC, and meters worked together is fascinating in its own right and documented in a recent video by Ringway Manchester (which we first saw at Hackaday).

Very fragile tungsten linchpins

But BBC Radio 4's Long Wave transmissions are coming to an end, due to both modern realities and obscure glass valves.

Two rare tungsten-centered, hand-crafted cooled anode modulators (CAM) are needed to keep the signal going, and while the BBC bought up the global supply of them, they are running out. The service is seemingly on its last two valves and has been telling the public about Long Wave radio's end for nearly 15 years. Trying to remanufacture the valves is hazardous, as any flaws could cause a catastrophic failure in the transmitters.

Rebuilding the transmitter, or moving to different, higher frequencies, is not feasible for the very few homes that cannot get other kinds of lower-power radio, or internet versions, the BBC told The Guardian in 2011. What's more, keeping Droitwich powered such that it can reach the whole of the UK, including Wales and lower Scotland, requires some 500 kilowatts of power, more than most other BBC transmission types.

As of January 2025, roughly 600,000 UK customers still use RTS meters to manage their power switching, after 300,000 were switched away in 2024. Utilities and the BBC have agreed that the service will stop working on June 30, 2025, and have pushed to upgrade RTS customers to smart meters.

In a combination of sad reality and rich irony, more than 4 million smart meters in the UK are not working properly. Some have delivered eye-popping charges to their customers, based on estimated bills instead of real readings, like Sir Grayson Perry's 39,000 pounds due on 15 simultaneous bills. But many have failed because the UK, like other countries, phased out the 2G and 3G networks older meters relied upon without coordinated transition efforts.

The valve (vacuum tube) in question:



This wasn't the only time that data was embedded in public radio broadcasts in the UK. In the days before smartphone GPS apps, when standalone "satnav" (as they were called in the UK) hardware was used, at least one system was able to receive real time traffic congestion info and suggest alternative routes: the data was embedded within Classic FM. So wherever you were driving, if you couldn't receive Classic FM clearly, your satnav wouldn't know if you were about to get stuck behind an accident for half an hour.

Still, it's surprising what some of the consequences of phasing out old infrastructure can be. When I left the UK for good in 2013, DAB (digital terrestrial radio) was rapidly superseding all analog radio: only the reluctance of auto makers to put DAB receivers in cars was holding it back. But even there, concerns were being expressed about signal resilience and coverage in more rural areas, just as they are here as a result of AM (medium wave in the UK) receivers not being supplied as standard in many EVs.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Back when I lived in St Charles, IL, there was a nearby Chinese joint that was very good and we got stuff from there quite often. Then one day I was reading through the local newspaper only to learn they were cutting and chopping food right on the floor. Thankfully, they were closed down and never reopened...

[Leo Enticknap]

Look away if you're vegan and/or about to have dinner anytime soon (source):

Chinese restaurant shut down after pigeons served as ‘roast duck’

Madrid police say the birds had been grabbed from the streets and killed in the kitchen

James Badcock in Madrid
09 April 2025 6:42pm BST

A Chinese restaurant in Madrid has been shut down for serving street pigeons as “roast duck”.

Police raided the Jin Gu restaurant, in the city’s Usera district, late last month, finding a pair of plucked pigeons in a cockroach-infested secret storage room alongside bags of dubious-looking meat and sea creatures protected under Spanish law.

Officers said they believed the birds had been grabbed from the streets and killed in the restaurant kitchen, with the owner, who was arrested, intending to pass them off as the traditional Chinese delicacy.

“It is not illegal to breed pigeons in Spain, but there was no paperwork for these birds or almost any of the meat products in the kitchen, so we are pretty sure they were street pigeons,” a spokesman for Madrid’s local police told The Telegraph.

While inspecting a filthy bathroom that was being used as a storeroom, police discovered a wall shelf that slid to one side to reveal a hidden door.

Behind it, they found a cockroach-infested room in which strips of defrosted animal flesh were drying on a plastic clothes horse.

Eight rusted freezers without functioning thermometers were stuffed with bags of meat, fish and seafood that had apparently not been purchased through legal channels, including sea cucumbers that were possibly of a species banned from trade in Spain.

Sacks of bivalve molluscs were also found, which police believed came from Asian wetlands. On the floor were rat traps that had been set with putrid meat.

According to police, the secret store contained “more than a ton of foodstuffs of untraceable origin”.

The restaurant, which has been open for more than a decade, has received hundreds of online reviews, some of which were positive.

However, some customer experiences warned of unacceptably low standards, and “strange-tasting” duck.

“Terrible food, in a very bad state. The duck had a taste that was, at best, strange, [and] the kitchen had seemingly not been cleaned for months,” read a review posted in January.

Another said that several family members had been sick after a meal at Jin Gu and that he had contacted the restaurant to complain that it was serving “rotten food”.

The restaurant owner, who has not been named, is being investigated for possible crimes against public health and against wild species.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

CP-650's. and early XD-10's were a pain for several years because of the plague. After the first few, I carried a cap kit so I could do them on site. About an hour start to finish. I always use Nichicon 105 degree rated caps. Those will last as long until the piece of gear goes obsolete for other reasons. This has become less common today, but a lot of older equipment still in use or storage may have bad caps in them.