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Old 19-04-2019, 07:02 PM   #1
73 4V XB
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Default Australia looses another icon.

On October 1st the national time phone number will be switched off forever. I know a lot of younger people have never heard of it but a lot of us older gents used it in our younger years.

It’s the local time, and has been in service for the last 65 years. 1194 and can be called from any phone free of charge. It’s been used to keep track of time clocks at work among many other things. Now with everyone using a mobile phone and having the time set by your provider there’s no use for it anymore.

Have just tried to ring and it’s not answering the reason being is Telstra use the service and the time on my phone is not correct
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Old 19-04-2019, 07:05 PM   #2
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Fond memories indeed, "at the third stroke it will be seven O four and thirty seconds"
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Old 19-04-2019, 07:12 PM   #3
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

I still use when ever I set a Clock.
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Old 19-04-2019, 07:21 PM   #4
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Why does it actually need to be shut down? You would think the whole thing is computerised now? What would this service possibly actually cost the supplier?
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Old 19-04-2019, 07:32 PM   #5
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Forgot about that altogether, just dialled and realised it must be at least 25+ years since i last heard Georges voice......
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Old 20-04-2019, 06:01 AM   #6
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

I still use it when we have a power outage. Best way to set the time
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Old 20-04-2019, 08:12 AM   #7
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva View Post
Why does it actually need to be shut down? You would think the whole thing is computerised now? What would this service possibly actually cost the supplier?
From what I caught on the news. It’s in need of rings and bearings. Has been overhauled once before and has been deemed not worth repairing in its current state.
There is a partition going on to save the service that is reported to have ~2,000,000 calls per year, mostly around daylight savings time.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/cons...18-p51ff8.html
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Last edited by 73 4V XB; 20-04-2019 at 08:20 AM. Reason: Adding a link.
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Old 20-04-2019, 09:37 AM   #8
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

I always used 1194
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Old 20-04-2019, 06:19 PM   #9
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

2 Million calls a year and they don't want to keep it going?

How bloody intelligent of them.

Scammers call me all the time from a cave in Africa yet the number appears as Sydney or London. I get calls from automated services for polling, surveys, nice Chinese person from the ATO and all computer generated.

But getting a simple recorded msg to say the time after you call a number? Just too bloody hard...
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Old 20-04-2019, 07:18 PM   #10
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva View Post
2 Million calls a year and they don't want to keep it going?

How bloody intelligent of them.

Scammers call me all the time from a cave in Africa yet the number appears as Sydney or London. I get calls from automated services for polling, surveys, nice Chinese person from the ATO and all computer generated.

But getting a simple recorded msg to say the time after you call a number? Just too bloody hard...
One word says it all “Telstra”.
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Old 20-04-2019, 08:45 PM   #11
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quite a few speaking clocks still in service worldwide.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_clock
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Old 21-04-2019, 08:31 AM   #12
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

The weather is going too. 1196

There used to be a stack of these dial-it services, including Dial a Horoscope, Dial a Hit, Movie hotline. I need to go look at an old whitepages now and find them.
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Old 21-04-2019, 10:01 AM   #13
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

I didn't even know this was a thing, there you go hey.

I just called it then, why does it have a British accent?
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Old 21-04-2019, 10:11 AM   #14
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

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Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo View Post
I didn't even know this was a thing, there you go hey.

I just called it then, why does it have a British accent?
Because these services come from a time when public speakers were trained in the "BBC" accent. Back when you could actually understand what people were saying
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Old 21-04-2019, 10:13 AM   #15
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Its part of the master plan to turn it into a phone APP with a paid subscription......
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Old 21-04-2019, 10:15 AM   #16
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Yeah, BBC means something entirely different these days

It's interesting looking back at video footage from the 1960s in the USA and Australia, the difference in accent between then and now in both countries.

Obviously 'BBC' accent was in, and the American accent was eloquent too.

Even WWII footage of US politicians there is a clear difference.

Last edited by Franco Cozzo; 21-04-2019 at 10:21 AM.
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Old 21-04-2019, 10:28 AM   #17
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

What's the full phone number? +61 X XXXX 1194

What would it say if you called it from overseas?
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Old 21-04-2019, 10:58 AM   #18
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quote:
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what's the full phone number? +61 x xxxx 1194

what would it say if you called it from overseas?
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Old 21-05-2019, 01:09 PM   #19
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

All one has to do now is look at the time on your mobile phone nowadays it's always correct, so if you go from QLD and drive over the to the NSW border in daylight saving, the phone will changes time directly.

The time displayed on you phone is always correct nowadays.
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Old 30-09-2019, 10:02 PM   #20
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

You've only got just under 2 hours to get your 1194 and 1196 calls in! It goes tonight!!!!!
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Old 30-09-2019, 10:09 PM   #21
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

I called, and put George on speakerphone for everyone's benefit... as a high school kid I could use any payphone without having any coin, and find out the time. That was Commodore 64 days.
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Old 30-09-2019, 10:35 PM   #22
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Most DAB radios automatically set the time from broadcasts (DAB transmission contains a local time of day and so a device may use this to automatically correct its internal clock when travelling between time zones and when changing to or from Daylight Savings) and for us old Short Wave listeners there are always the time signal stations like:
CHU Canada: 3330 kHz, 7850 kHz, 14670 kHz
BPM China: 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, and 15,000 kHz
HLA South Korea: 5,000 kHz
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See https://swling.com/blog/tag/shortwav...time-stations/ including some recordings.

But George's 1194 was a useful number to call to see if your landline was working.
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Old 30-09-2019, 10:43 PM   #23
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Just called. Time was10.12 but its 8.42 in perth. No wonder he got the sack
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Old 01-10-2019, 06:07 AM   #24
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mick taylor View Post
All one has to do now is look at the time on your mobile phone nowadays it's always correct, so if you go from QLD and drive over the to the NSW border in daylight saving, the phone will changes time directly.

The time displayed on you phone is always correct nowadays.
I've noticed when you get close to the SA border it changes a few KM before you cross, I'm assuming it's picking up signal from an SA tower rather than a VIC one.
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Old 01-10-2019, 07:49 AM   #25
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

When I was a kid calling the time on a pay phone for free was part of our daily entertainment but that was before they invented television.
Who could forget the pennies rolling down the little slope thing to make a paid call.
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Old 01-10-2019, 08:46 AM   #26
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quote:
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When I was a kid calling the time on a pay phone for free was part of our daily entertainment but that was before they invented television.
Who could forget the pennies rolling down the little slope thing to make a paid call.
Carefully folded cardboard up the shute and rapidly press A & B buttons got you enough coin for a medium coke and big bag of lollies back in the day!
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Old 01-10-2019, 11:16 AM   #27
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Richard Peach, who provided the voice of the speaking clock, used to be an ABC presenter down this way for quite some years. He passed away in 2008. They had a segment on him and the speaking clock last week on the local ABC station, where they interviewed some of his former colleagues. Was a pretty cool segment.
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Old 01-10-2019, 08:15 PM   #28
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fed View Post
When I was a kid calling the time on a pay phone for free was part of our daily entertainment but that was before they invented television.
Who could forget the pennies rolling down the little slope thing to make a paid call.

I would dial 116611 to listen to 3MP hit song of the week free.
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Old 01-10-2019, 09:54 PM   #29
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

Well it just so happened tonight. What’s the correct time?
After a power trip due to faulty appliance I’ve lost my clocks. The Sony “smart” TV tells me it’s 9:51, as my IPOS does. My Telstra foon tells me it’s 9:45. I put more trust in the TV than Telstra
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Old 02-10-2019, 08:23 AM   #30
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Default Re: Australia looses another icon.

How are we all coping without our buddy George since his passing? :(
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