As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
by Octopus just over a week ago.

The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
more than happy to answer questions etc.

We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
could access via an App. As, with either, there is also an App to access
our data from Octopus and the table top one doesn't need your phone etc
to hand, we opted for that.

It took a couple of days for System to register our meter etc and, while
the local display is (more or less real time), the website lags.

One niggle, the in house display only shows total electric kW (or £),
not Hi/LO if you have economy 7. To get those details, you need to read
the meter itself.

We only had one installed due to loss of the 198kHz time signal.

On Sun, 25 Feb 2024 15:36:03 +0000, Brian wrote:

> As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
> by Octopus just over a week ago.
>
> The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
> more than happy to answer questions etc.
>
>
> We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
> could access via an App. As, with either, there is also an App to access
> our data from Octopus and the table top one doesn't need your phone etc
> to hand, we opted for that.
>
> It took a couple of days for System to register our meter etc and, while
> the local display is (more or less real time), the website lags.
>
>
>
>
> One niggle, the in house display only shows total electric kW (or £),
> not Hi/LO if you have economy 7. To get those details, you need to read
> the meter itself.
>
> We only had one installed due to loss of the 198kHz time signal.

May be worth looking around your account to see if there is a curl to
read data from their servers.

On 25/02/2024 15:36, Brian wrote:
> As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
> by Octopus just over a week ago.
>
> The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
> more than happy to answer questions etc.
>
>
> We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
> could access via an App. As, with either, there is also an App to access
> our data from Octopus and the table top one doesn't need your phone etc
> to hand, we opted for that.
>

Request an Octopus mini for free
https://octopus.energy/blog/octopus-home-mini/

This will interface with the phone app and give near live electric
consumption (30 to 60 seconds update rate

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

alan_m wrote:

> Brian wrote:
>
>> We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
>> could access via an App.
>
> Request an Octopus mini for free

I assumed the interface he'd chosen to not have /was/ an octopus mini?

On 25/02/2024 16:56, Andy Burns wrote:
> I assumed the interface he'd chosen to not have /was/ an octopus mini?

I don't think an either, or - you can request the mini, even if you have
the IHD. There is a rather long wait for them, though.

In message <urfmp3$1ttt7$1@dont-email.me>, at 15:36:03 on Sun, 25 Feb
2024, Brian <invalid@invalid.com> remarked:

>As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
>by Octopus just over a week ago.
>
>The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
>more than happy to answer questions etc.

I've recently swapped to Octopus, and am eagerly awaiting them deciding
they need to replace my dual fuel British Gas smart meter which has been
broken for about two years now.
--
Roland Perry

On 25/02/2024 16:56, Andy Burns wrote:
> alan_m wrote:
>
>> Brian wrote:
>>
>>> We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
>>> could access via an App.
>>
>> Request an Octopus mini for free
>
> I assumed the interface he'd chosen to not have /was/ an octopus mini?
>

You can have both. I have both.

The mini talks to the electric meter, sends data to Octopus, and in turn
displays the results on a smart phone app.
The app shows my live electric consumption to a resolution of 1 minute.

The app (without the mini) shows daily consumption to a resolution of 30
minutes (but a day behind)*, weekly consumption to a resolution of a
day, monthly consumption to a resolution of a day and yearly consumption
to resolution of a month.

The stand alone display only gives the ongoing total for the day or
month (a single figure)

* The only slight gotcha is the data is cleared down at midnight and
then for the next 24 hours you get a usage graph updated every 30 minutes.
Similarly the weekly data is reset midnight Sunday and the monthly data
reset on 1st Jan.

The above assumes that you haven't turned off the permission for Octopus
to collect 30 minute data from the DNO. For those who wear tin foil hats
Octopus give the option of obtaining the data weekly or monthly.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 25/02/2024 17:30, Harry Bloomfield Esq wrote:
> On 25/02/2024 16:56, Andy Burns wrote:
>> I assumed the interface he'd chosen to not have /was/ an octopus mini?
>
> I don't think an either, or - you can request the mini, even if you have
> the IHD. There is a rather long wait for them, though.

It may depend on who made the meter. My wait was around 4 weeks.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 25/02/2024 15:36, Brian wrote:
> As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
> by Octopus just over a week ago.
>
> The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
> more than happy to answer questions etc.
>
>
> We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
> could access via an App. As, with either, there is also an App to access
> our data from Octopus and the table top one doesn't need your phone etc
> to hand, we opted for that.
>
> It took a couple of days for System to register our meter etc and, while
> the local display is (more or less real time), the website lags.
>
>
>
>
> One niggle, the in house display only shows total electric kW (or £),
> not Hi/LO if you have economy 7. To get those details, you need to read
> the meter itself.
>
> We only had one installed due to loss of the 198kHz time signal.

One thing to check (we found out by chance).

The gas meter needs to communicate with the electricity meter, and the
electricity meter sends data for both meters to the Octopus servers.

Check that the gas meter uses *both* communication frequencies. I'm not
sure whether this means both 2.4 and 5 GHz. We had problems after a
couple of months where the gas meter only communicated with the
electricity meter (and hence the servers and the IHD) once in a blue
moon. Until a certain day, everything had been fine.

When a second fitter came out to investigate, he found that an old type
of gas meter had been fitted, which only communicated over a frequency
that had a shorter range. Unfortunately he needed to replace the whole
meter, rather than just a comms board, to give the ability to talk over
the longer-range frequency.

It sound as if the older type uses 5 GHz (only) whereas the new one uses
both 5 and 2.4 GHz (with 2.4 GHz having a longer range because it is
attenuated less by walls etc. Or an equivalent concept for whatever
frequencies the two meters use for meter-to-meter comms.

Sorry that all this sounds a bit woolly and vague, but I'm repeating as
much as I remember of what the fitter told me, and he may not have
understood everything. Real Chinese whispers stuff ;-)

The single/dual frequency thing may only affect some people. Our elec
and gas meters are about 20 metres apart, with four thick stone walls in
between, because that part of the house was built in the 1800s. No nice
simple brick and breeze-block cavity walls in those days ;-(

NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> On 25/02/2024 15:36, Brian wrote:
>> As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
>> by Octopus just over a week ago.
>>
>> The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
>> more than happy to answer questions etc.
>>
>>
>> We had the choice of a 'table top' display or an interface which we
>> could access via an App. As, with either, there is also an App to access
>> our data from Octopus and the table top one doesn't need your phone etc
>> to hand, we opted for that.
>>
>> It took a couple of days for System to register our meter etc and, while
>> the local display is (more or less real time), the website lags.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> One niggle, the in house display only shows total electric kW (or £),
>> not Hi/LO if you have economy 7. To get those details, you need to read
>> the meter itself.
>>
>> We only had one installed due to loss of the 198kHz time signal.
>
> One thing to check (we found out by chance).
>
> The gas meter needs to communicate with the electricity meter, and the
> electricity meter sends data for both meters to the Octopus servers.
>
> Check that the gas meter uses *both* communication frequencies. I'm not
> sure whether this means both 2.4 and 5 GHz. We had problems after a
> couple of months where the gas meter only communicated with the
> electricity meter (and hence the servers and the IHD) once in a blue
> moon. Until a certain day, everything had been fine.
>
> When a second fitter came out to investigate, he found that an old type
> of gas meter had been fitted, which only communicated over a frequency
> that had a shorter range. Unfortunately he needed to replace the whole
> meter, rather than just a comms board, to give the ability to talk over
> the longer-range frequency.
>
> It sound as if the older type uses 5 GHz (only) whereas the new one uses
> both 5 and 2.4 GHz (with 2.4 GHz having a longer range because it is
> attenuated less by walls etc. Or an equivalent concept for whatever
> frequencies the two meters use for meter-to-meter comms.
>
> Sorry that all this sounds a bit woolly and vague, but I'm repeating as
> much as I remember of what the fitter told me, and he may not have
> understood everything. Real Chinese whispers stuff ;-)
>
>
>
> The single/dual frequency thing may only affect some people. Our elec
> and gas meters are about 20 metres apart, with four thick stone walls in
> between, because that part of the house was built in the 1800s. No nice
> simple brick and breeze-block cavity walls in those days ;-(
>

Both meters seem to be working fine ( ie sending data to Octopus), after
the initial ‘set up’ delay, which I was warned about.

Our meters are side by side, within 0.5 m of each other or so.

The electric one has a large antenna, stuck inside of the meter box.

The installer mentioned he’d chosen the type for our location.

Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
> In message <urfmp3$1ttt7$1@dont-email.me>, at 15:36:03 on Sun, 25 Feb
> 2024, Brian <invalid@invalid.com> remarked:
>
>> As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
>> by Octopus just over a week ago.
>>
>> The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
>> more than happy to answer questions etc.
>
> I've recently swapped to Octopus, and am eagerly awaiting them deciding
> they need to replace my dual fuel British Gas smart meter which has been
> broken for about two years now.

It may be worth giving them a nudge. While they are very good customer
service wise in my experience, I gained the impression they are doing a lot
of Smart Meter installs, possibly due to the Economy 7 time clock issue.

( As you may know, the time signal embedded in the 198kHz BBC transmission
is ending soon. It is used by the older Economy 7 time switches.)

Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:

> ( As you may know, the time signal embedded in the 198kHz BBC transmission
> is ending soon. It is used by the older Economy 7 time switches.)
>
Is it? I gather that teh reported demise of 198khz is just teh amalgamation
of R4LW programme with teh main R4 programme and the transmission from
Droitwich carrying the teledata will continue.

--
braind

me9 wrote:

> Brian wrote:
>
>> ( As you may know, the time signal embedded in the 198kHz BBC transmission
>> is ending soon. It is used by the older Economy 7 time switches.)
>
> Is it?

The radio teleswitch service will be around until at least March 2025

<https://www.energynetworks.org/industry/engineering-and-technical-programmes/radio-teleswitch>

> I gather that teh reported demise of 198khz is just teh amalgamation
> of R4LW programme with teh main R4 programme and the transmission from
> Droitwich carrying the teledata will continue.

step 1: Get people used to not needing to listen on LW

step 2: Stay schtum for a while

step 3: Stop broadcasting on LW

On 26/02/2024 07:45, Andy Burns wrote:

> step 1: Get people used to not needing to listen on LW

How many people actually listen to LW? I haven't had a radio with am/lw
capability for more than 25 years

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

alan_m wrote:

> How many people actually listen to LW?

god-fearing, politics-loving, cricket-buffs?

alan_m <junk@admac.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
> On 26/02/2024 07:45, Andy Burns wrote:
>
> > step 1: Get people used to not needing to listen on LW
>
> How many people actually listen to LW? I haven't had a radio with am/lw
> capability for more than 25 years
>
It's handy in Europe still, with a decent receiver you can get a
listenable signal over quite a wide area. Even my car radio gives me
reasonable R4 LW reception in Northern France (and presumably much of
Belgium and the Netherlands).

--
Chris Green
·

On 26/02/2024 08:03, alan_m wrote:
> On 26/02/2024 07:45, Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> step 1: Get people used to not needing to listen on LW
>
> How many people actually listen to LW? I haven't had a radio with am/lw
> capability for more than 25 years
>
>
It has the longest range of all BBC transmitters. People in Eastern and
Southern Europe and the North Sea and the Atlantic could all pick it up.
And did. That's why it has a shipping forecast.

--
"Nature does not give up the winter because people dislike the cold."

― Confucius

In article <at2uak-dtf41.ln1@esprimo.zbmc.eu>,
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
> alan_m <junk@admac.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
> > On 26/02/2024 07:45, Andy Burns wrote:
> >
> > > step 1: Get people used to not needing to listen on LW
> >
> > How many people actually listen to LW? I haven't had a radio with am/lw
> > capability for more than 25 years
> >
> It's handy in Europe still, with a decent receiver you can get a
> listenable signal over quite a wide area. Even my car radio gives me
> reasonable R4 LW reception in Northern France (and presumably much of
> Belgium and the Netherlands).

A great many years ago, I listened to the Light Programme along the shores
of Lake Geneva.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4té²
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 18:26 25 Feb 2024, Roland Perry said:

> In message <urfmp3$1ttt7$1@dont-email.me>, at 15:36:03 on Sun, 25 Feb
> 2024, Brian <invalid@invalid.com> remarked:
>
>>As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
>>by Octopus just over a week ago.
>>
>>The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
>>more than happy to answer questions etc.
>
> I've recently swapped to Octopus, and am eagerly awaiting them deciding
> they need to replace my dual fuel British Gas smart meter which has been
> broken for about two years now.

Broken in what way?

In message <XnsB1248F397FB8C5D4AM2@135.181.20.170>, at 14:04:46 on Mon,
26 Feb 2024, Pamela <pamela.private.mailbox@gmail.com> remarked:
>On 18:26 25 Feb 2024, Roland Perry said:
>
>> In message <urfmp3$1ttt7$1@dont-email.me>, at 15:36:03 on Sun, 25 Feb
>> 2024, Brian <invalid@invalid.com> remarked:
>>
>>>As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters installed
>>>by Octopus just over a week ago.
>>>
>>>The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional and
>>>more than happy to answer questions etc.
>>
>> I've recently swapped to Octopus, and am eagerly awaiting them deciding
>> they need to replace my dual fuel British Gas smart meter which has been
>> broken for about two years now.
>
>Broken in what way?

Not sending readings back to the supplier. Failing to pair with the
local consumer display. Pretty comprehensive fail!!
--
Roland Perry

me9 <me9@privacy.net> wrote:
> Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:
>
>> ( As you may know, the time signal embedded in the 198kHz BBC transmission
>> is ending soon. It is used by the older Economy 7 time switches.)
>>
> Is it? I gather that teh reported demise of 198khz is just teh amalgamation
> of R4LW programme with teh main R4 programme and the transmission from
> Droitwich carrying the teledata will continue.
>

It seems there has been a very recent extension to give companies time to
replace the time switches.

On 18:31 26 Feb 2024, Roland Perry said:
> Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Pamela <pamela.private.mailbox@gmail.com> remarked:
>>On 18:26 25 Feb 2024, Roland Perry said:
>>> Feb 2024, Brian <invalid@invalid.com> remarked:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As previously posted, we were scheduled to have Smart Meters
>>>> installed by Octopus just over a week ago.
>>>>
>>>> The installation went very smoothly- the chap was very professional
>>>> and more than happy to answer questions etc.
>>>
>>> I've recently swapped to Octopus, and am eagerly awaiting them
>>> deciding they need to replace my dual fuel British Gas smart meter
>>> which has been broken for about two years now.
>>
>> Broken in what way?
>
> Not sending readings back to the supplier. Failing to pair with the
> local consumer display. Pretty comprehensive fail!!

I had both those problems for the last year with British Gas.

Worse than not sending readings correctly, their gas meter installed
last March wasn't recording them for itself either. The battery had gone
flat.

So there are no readings for the past year's gas consumption. The use of
estimates for each quarter got overlooked.

A few weeks ago British Gas installed a replacement meter but it still
hasn't started sending readings. Once it does, British Gas and I are
going to have an interesting debate about how to correctly estimate the
consumption for the past year.

On 26-Feb-24 8:33, Andy Burns wrote:
> alan_m wrote:
>
>> How many people actually listen to LW?
>
> god-fearing, politics-loving, cricket-buffs?
>
And Captains of ballistic nuclear missile submarines. An all too often
overlooked minority, but quite important in their own way.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 26/02/2024 19:49, Brian wrote:
> me9 <me9@privacy.net> wrote:
>> Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:
>>
>>> ( As you may know, the time signal embedded in the 198kHz BBC transmission
>>> is ending soon. It is used by the older Economy 7 time switches.)
>>>
>> Is it? I gather that teh reported demise of 198khz is just teh amalgamation
>> of R4LW programme with teh main R4 programme and the transmission from
>> Droitwich carrying the teledata will continue.
>>
>
> It seems there has been a very recent extension to give companies time to
> replace the time switches.
>

The BBC have finally (almost !) clarified the situation

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/everything-else/changes-to-radio-4

On Tue, 02 Apr 2024 09:05:55 +0100, Mark Carver wrote:

> On 26/02/2024 19:49, Brian wrote:
>> me9 <me9@privacy.net> wrote:
>>> Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> ( As you may know, the time signal embedded in the 198kHz BBC
>>>> transmission is ending soon. It is used by the older Economy 7 time
>>>> switches.)
>>>>
>>> Is it? I gather that teh reported demise of 198khz is just teh
>>> amalgamation of R4LW programme with teh main R4 programme and the
>>> transmission from Droitwich carrying the teledata will continue.
>>>
>>>
>> It seems there has been a very recent extension to give companies time
>> to replace the time switches.
>>
>>
> The BBC have finally (almost !) clarified the situation
>
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/everything-else/changes-to-
radio-4

Can we not record the transmission and re-transmt it to control the
meters..?