On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:

On 11 Apr, 17:20, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:

I have no idea what they're called, the LED signs in some bus stops
that tell you how long the busses are supposed to be, my question is,
how do they work? how do they update?

The system is called Countdown, and as part of the iBus project it is
set to become much more reliable and accurate.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the present system is not very
reliable or accurate :P.

As another poster pointed out, the present system is rather Heath-Robinson
and failure-prone. It was, though, the best that could be done with the
technology of the time it was implemented. Frustrating as it is, it's
better than nothing.

tom

--
Ed editor textorum probatissimus est -- Cicero, De officiis IV.7

On Apr 11, 6:52*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:
On 11 Apr, 17:20, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:

I have no idea what they're called, the LED signs in some bus stops
that tell you how long the busses are supposed to be, my question is,
how do they work? how do they update?

The system is called Countdown, and as part of the iBus project it is
set to become much more reliable and accurate.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the present system is not very
reliable or accurate :P.

As another poster pointed out, the present system is rather Heath-Robinson
and failure-prone. It was, though, the best that could be done with the
technology of the time it was implemented. Frustrating as it is, it's
better than nothing.

Was it a development of the BESI system used in the 1970s?

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, MIG wrote:

On Apr 11, 6:52*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:
On 11 Apr, 17:20, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:

I have no idea what they're called, the LED signs in some bus stops
that tell you how long the busses are supposed to be, my question is,
how do they work? how do they update?

The system is called Countdown, and as part of the iBus project it is
set to become much more reliable and accurate.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the present system is not very
reliable or accurate :P.

As another poster pointed out, the present system is rather Heath-Robinson
and failure-prone. It was, though, the best that could be done with the
technology of the time it was implemented. Frustrating as it is, it's
better than nothing.

Was it a development of the BESI system used in the 1970s?

Pass!

tom

--
The MAtrix had evarything in it: guns, a juimping off teh walls, flying
guns, a bullet tiem, evil computar machenes, numbers that flew, flying
gun bullets in slowar motian, juimping into a gun, dead police men,
computar hackeing, Kevin Mitnick, oven trailers, a old womans kitchen,
stairs, mature women in clotheing, head spark plugs, mechaanical squids,
Japaneseses assasins, tiem traval, volcanos, a monstar, slow time at
fastar speed, magic, wizzards, some dirty place, Kung Few, fighting,
a lot of mess explodsians EVARYWHERE, and just about anything else yuo
can names!

In message
, MIG
writes
On Apr 11, 6:52*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:
On 11 Apr, 17:20, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:

I have no idea what they're called, the LED signs in some bus stops
that tell you how long the busses are supposed to be, my question is,
how do they work? how do they update?

The system is called Countdown, and as part of the iBus project it is
set to become much more reliable and accurate.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the present system is not very
reliable or accurate :P.

As another poster pointed out, the present system is rather Heath-Robinson
and failure-prone. It was, though, the best that could be done with the
technology of the time it was implemented. Frustrating as it is, it's
better than nothing.

Was it a development of the BESI system used in the 1970s?

There was something else between BESI and Countdown and I can't for the
life of me remember what it was and can't be bothered to Google.
Someone will tell me any time now.......
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

On Apr 12, 4:46*pm, Ian Jelf wrote:
In message
, MIG
writes





On Apr 11, 6:52*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:
On 11 Apr, 17:20, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:

I have no idea what they're called, the LED signs in some bus stops
that tell you how long the busses are supposed to be, my question is,
how do they work? how do they update?

The system is called Countdown, and as part of the iBus project it is
set to become much more reliable and accurate.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the present system is not very
reliable or accurate :P.

As another poster pointed out, the present system is rather Heath-Robinson
and failure-prone. It was, though, the best that could be done with the
technology of the time it was implemented. Frustrating as it is, it's
better than nothing.

Was it a development of the BESI system used in the 1970s?

There was something else between BESI and Countdown and I can't for the
life of me remember what it was and can't be bothered to Google.
Someone will tell me any time now.......

I can't find much about it at all, but I've seen pictures of "radio-
controlled" buses in the 1970s passing some kind of scanners in the
street. (It stood for "Bus Electronic Scanning Indicator"?)

It would have been used for managing buses, but I suppose that once
you've got a system for locating and identifying buses, the next stage
is to link the information to PIS.

Would the system in between have been perfecting the management part,
or would it be to do with the PIS part?

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:46:02 +0100, Ian Jelf
wrote:

In message
, MIG
writes

Was it a development of the BESI system used in the 1970s?

There was something else between BESI and Countdown and I can't for the
life of me remember what it was and can't be bothered to Google.
Someone will tell me any time now.......

PIBS? Passenger Information at Bus Stops.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

On 11 Apr, 18:52, Tom Anderson wrote:

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:

On 11 Apr, 17:20, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:

I have no idea what they're called, the LED signs in some bus stops
that tell you how long the busses are supposed to be, my question is,
how do they work? how do they update?

The system is called Countdown, and as part of the iBus project it is
set to become much more reliable and accurate.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the present system is not very
reliable or accurate :P.

As another poster pointed out, the present system is rather Heath-Robinson
and failure-prone. It was, though, the best that could be done with the
technology of the time it was implemented. Frustrating as it is, it's
better than nothing.


Heath Robinson-esque is quite the right sounding description! I
couldn't quite remember when Countdown began, but after a bit of
googling I found this post by the great Mr Arquati, formerly (and I
still think occasionally) of this parish...

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....6435d488fdeb6a

....in which it is stated that the Countdown system went live in 1996
(the above thread incidentally is from 2005 and concerns the Countdown/
iBus overhaul), when GPS technologies were pricey and the government
hardly splashed LT with cash.

I don't know the plotted history of the system but I wouldn't be at
all surprised to learn that it was only installed on a few routes at
first.

Anyway, 'tis a grand thing that it will be made better. It's most
frustrating to have to guess whether the display is telling the truth
or not.