maximillion Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The Pips are ninety today. Happy Birthday Pips. I am 62 so I have known the Pips all my life, and I can even remember when they used to go 'pip, pip, pip, pip, pip, pip' whereas now they go pip, pip, pip, pip, pip, piiiiiiiip! The Pips help us Brits to keep our stiff little lives on track, they tell us when the trains are late (well, no not really, they're always late, but at least we KNOW they are late, and we wouldn't otherwise.) The Pips sound every (British) hour on the hour on Radio 4, then on the World Service so if you think your timer device is out you can check it, you can tell it is on the hour, you can do a whole ton of stuff you wouldn't do otherwise. A bit of history: Marking the hour, every hour like, ahem, clockwork. The Greenwich Time Signal aka The Pips. Those little tones are ninety years old today. Happy bleeping birthday! The proposal for a time signal came from one Frank Hope-Jones in a radio talk in April 1923. Reith and the Astronomer Royal, Frank Dyson, agreed on the idea of broadcasting Greenwich Standard Time with a chronometer at the Royal Observatory tripping a switch at five seconds to the hour to create those iconic pips – using a 1kHz oscillator, for the technically minded. The time signal was first broadcast at 9.30 p.m. on 5 February 1924. There you go, a little slice of British life for you all. Don't ch'all feel more knowledgeable now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) I thought you meant Gladys Knight's back-up singers. I was gonna send them a card. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q8n4oWClu8 Edited February 5, 2014 by Luigi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentJoy Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I'm out of positive votes, but props to both. :smile2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xTrishaxLynnx Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The Pips are ninety today. Happy Birthday Pips. I am 62 so I have known the Pips all my life, and I can even remember when they used to go 'pip, pip, pip, pip, pip, pip' whereas now they go pip, pip, pip, pip, pip, piiiiiiiip! The Pips help us Brits to keep our stiff little lives on track, they tell us when the trains are late (well, no not really, they're always late, but at least we KNOW they are late, and we wouldn't otherwise.) The Pips sound every (British) hour on the hour on Radio 4, then on the World Service so if you think your timer device is out you can check it, you can tell it is on the hour, you can do a whole ton of stuff you wouldn't do otherwise. A bit of history: Marking the hour, every hour like, ahem, clockwork. The Greenwich Time Signal aka The Pips. Those little tones are ninety years old today. Happy bleeping birthday! The proposal for a time signal came from one Frank Hope-Jones in a radio talk in April 1923. Reith and the Astronomer Royal, Frank Dyson, agreed on the idea of broadcasting Greenwich Standard Time with a chronometer at the Royal Observatory tripping a switch at five seconds to the hour to create those iconic pips – using a 1kHz oscillator, for the technically minded. The time signal was first broadcast at 9.30 p.m. on 5 February 1924. There you go, a little slice of British life for you all. Don't ch'all feel more knowledgeable now? How apropos, then, that my friend and I watched (re-watched, for me) Series 1, Episode 3 of BBC's Sherlock last night. It's the one where Sherlock keeps getting mobile messages consisting only of a certain number of pips, which indicate the number of people Moriarty is going to try to blow up; or as Sherlock would say, the number of "tests" remaining in "The Great Game." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I still don't know who they are. :l Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xTrishaxLynnx Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Not really who, but what: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Time_Signal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I still don't know who they are. :l Watch the video - Gladys Knight and the Pips were a group in the... what - laste Sixties, early Seventies? The Pips were all cousins (and maybe a brother) of Gladys. They had some ssmmmooooottthh moves! And some very tasteful matching tailored outfits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHZRosko Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 When I lived in the UK, the pips were one of those reliable things that reminded you that things were still working. Every hour on the hour on Radio 4. That and the Shipping Forecast, especially the one late at night where they played Sailing By first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximillion Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 Oh yes yes, I have to agree. I lived for a while in a 12 ft caravan on the Isle of Iona and I knew I was safe once Sailing By and the shipping forecast came on. Another day with the Lord over....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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