There is another example of the BBC transmitting "silence" and that is
the two minute silence on Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph after Big
Ben and the gun at 11 oclock on the 11th of November. Most of London
is still moving, and they wind up the gain until the city noise is
interrupted by the second gun and the buglers playing the Last Post.
Within the BBC there used to be a general feed to all studios of the
Big Ben microphone, either an old "apple and bisuit" or an AXBT
classic ribbon probably long replaced. The output level was not a
problem. :-) The hours bell, which is actually the real Big Ben (not
the clock or tower), is accurate to a second and is still used as a
broadcast time signal. If sound engineers in control rooms got bored,
they would turn up the volume of the Big Ben feed and listen to
London.
David
David Brinicombe
North Devon, UK
Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum - Ambrose Bierce
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