"Will Hand" writes:

Don't laugh, but the cows in the paddock have chewed through the data cable
from my anemometer.

Cow-related damage is a long-standing problem with instruments in the great
outdoors. For ionosondes (radio sounders of the ionosphere) the standard URSI
code to indicate "No data for non-ionospheric reasons" is 'C'. I am told this
letter was chosen because cows had a habit of destroying the antennas at the
first ever sounder, at the Radio Research Station at Ditton Park in Slough.

Dartmoor cows are just continuing a proud bovine tradition.

Cheers,

--
Richard Stamper |
E-mail : | Space Science & Technology Department
Tel : +44 1235 446602 | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Fax : +44 1235 445848 | Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, UK.