On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:03:28 -0700 (PDT)
Freddie wrote:

On Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:36:26 UTC, Graham P Davis wrote:

When I was at Wyton, the used Molfax charts were stored in a cupboard
under the forecasters bench. The office had been painted a year or two
earlier, and yet the paint in the cupboard was still wet due to the
action of the chemicals in the fax paper.

Dreadful stuff - IIRC the satfax paper was even more loaded with chemicals.
There used to be a brown stain on the ceiling over the satfax machine in many
offices I inhabited. Heaven knows if there are any health implications for
us humans.


I loved the smell when I changed the roll. Used to get the new roll and sniff
it, almost addictive!

Remember the game of changing the roll before the red line ran out? Sods law the
FSXX would start to come in just as you were about to change it and then you
had a nerve jangling few minutes to see if the roll would last. Losing the FSXX
normally got the forecaster a tad upset. Canny assistants of course would
change in a transmission break before the red line appeared and then
put back the half roll back in soon after midnight.

"Graham P Davis" wrote in message
...
On 23/03/17 11:34, Ron Button wrote:
As probably one of the oldest in this group ,I can recollect back in the
'50 as a young assistant at London Airport (Heathrow to you ) plotting
three hourly charts by hand using two pens tied together ,red and black.

When I started as an observer in '62 at Wyton, I used the the two pens
tied together but on moving to Bedford the following year we had special
plotting pens having a single (red) handle with two nibs. I think they
were of German design - or so I was told.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. [Retd meteorologist/programmer]
Web-site: http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear,
or an idiot from any direction! [Irish proverb]



I didn't know that you were at Wyton, Graham (or I have forgotten)..I was
there in 1957/58. I still have my plotting pens, rusting, in the loft. I
really enjoyed the challenge of the 'single' night shifts, (while the other
shift members were taking their break), plotting a European and E.Atlamtic
chart for midnight while doing hourly obs and Ms and Bs. There was no let up
as the airfield was a master div. The office was on the 1st floor of a large
hanger, with a clear view only to the north. At night, if there were no
runway lights on, only used if there was night flying, apart from a Pundit
beacon on the airfield boundary, there were no lights at all, except when a
very infrequent car headlights on the Ramsey road could be seen, making the
observing of visibility rather a lottery. I enjoyed my time there, and was
able to get lots of 'familiarisation' flights in Canberras and Ansons, as
the boss would always sign my self-typed authorisation chitty.

--
Bernard Burton

Satellite images and weather data for Wokingham at:
www.woksat.info/wwp.html



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On 23/03/2017 15:36, Graham P Davis wrote:
On 23/03/17 13:42, Freddie wrote:
On Thursday, 23 March 2017 12:28:31 UTC, Graham P Davis wrote:
we had special plotting pens having a single (red) handle with two
nibs. I think they were of German design - or so I was told.

Oh wow, I've never heard of those before! I was one of those who
used biros taped together to plot the European chart as far east as
there was data available (Wyton) and used to stick the Molfax wet fax
chart to a larger North Atlantic paper chart and plot the ships :-)


When I was at Wyton, the used Molfax charts were stored in a cupboard
under the forecasters bench. The office had been painted a year or two
earlier, and yet the paint in the cupboard was still wet due to the
action of the chemicals in the fax paper.


As a paint chemist I would be interested to know what the paint was and
what the chemicals were. I've never come across such a drying retarding
effect before!

--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg

Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!

On 24/03/2017 08:55, Crusader wrote:
Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!

Dunno about you lot that had cushy postings to sleepy out stations ,but
at the frantic LAP those on night shift arranged a roster whereby every
body were given a two hour sleep break thru the watch,that meant all us
junior bods were alloted the first break i.e midnight til two,in the
Teleprinter room !
I'll leave the rest to your imagination.....
RonB

On 24/03/17 08:55, Crusader wrote:
Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!


Those Mufax tubes also made excellent beanpoles - once you'd collected
enough of them - by heating one end so that it softened and then
enlarging it by forcing the end of another tube into it. This could be
repeated until you had a pole of suitable length. For easy over-winter
storage the poles could be dismantled.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. [Retd meteorologist/programmer]
Web-site: http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear,
or an idiot from any direction! [Irish proverb]

On 24/03/2017 10:35, Ron Button wrote:
On 24/03/2017 08:55, Crusader wrote:
Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated
with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as
well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily
re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!

Dunno about you lot that had cushy postings to sleepy out stations ,but
at the frantic LAP those on night shift arranged a roster whereby every
body were given a two hour sleep break thru the watch,that meant all us
junior bods were alloted the first break i.e midnight til two,in the
Teleprinter room !
I'll leave the rest to your imagination.....
RonB

When were you at Heathrow Ron? I was there in the 70s and we had a rest
room (actually two, male and female). No peace in the teleprinter room,
especially after the 75 baud teleprinters were put in. Boy were they fast!
Because the two nibbed pens ran out (I too believe they were German), we
experimented with a Rotring pen, with black ink at one end and re at the
other. You plotted all the black info, then the red. Wasn't too bad.

Then there was the guy who plotted a synop - entirely within the station
circle on a Eumed chart. And it was legible. But it took rather a long time!
There was one SO who had to wear rubber gloves when handling fax paper
as it had a bad effect on him. Don't know if he had them supplied.
Anyone remember Archie Clifton as it was he?

On Friday, 24 March 2017 11:26:08 UTC, Metman2012 wrote:
On 24/03/2017 10:35, Ron Button wrote:
On 24/03/2017 08:55, Crusader wrote:
Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated
with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as
well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily
re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!

Dunno about you lot that had cushy postings to sleepy out stations ,but
at the frantic LAP those on night shift arranged a roster whereby every
body were given a two hour sleep break thru the watch,that meant all us
junior bods were alloted the first break i.e midnight til two,in the
Teleprinter room !
I'll leave the rest to your imagination.....
RonB

When were you at Heathrow Ron? I was there in the 70s and we had a rest
room (actually two, male and female). No peace in the teleprinter room,
especially after the 75 baud teleprinters were put in. Boy were they fast!
Because the two nibbed pens ran out (I too believe they were German), we
experimented with a Rotring pen, with black ink at one end and re at the
other. You plotted all the black info, then the red. Wasn't too bad.

Then there was the guy who plotted a synop - entirely within the station
circle on a Eumed chart. And it was legible. But it took rather a long time!
There was one SO who had to wear rubber gloves when handling fax paper
as it had a bad effect on him. Don't know if he had them supplied.
Anyone remember Archie Clifton as it was he?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Used to receive fax charts at our met station at Plymouth Poly (later Plymouth Uni).I remember the ammonia type smell.
There was a story going that at the local RAF Mount Batten met station, on one occasion they run out of loo paper and had to use fax paper. Left with a sore bum.
:-)

Len
Wembury
SW Devon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Friday, March 24, 2017 at 11:55:59 AM UTC, Len Wood wrote:
On Friday, 24 March 2017 11:26:08 UTC, Metman2012 wrote:
On 24/03/2017 10:35, Ron Button wrote:
On 24/03/2017 08:55, Crusader wrote:
Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated
with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as
well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily
re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!

Dunno about you lot that had cushy postings to sleepy out stations ,but
at the frantic LAP those on night shift arranged a roster whereby every
body were given a two hour sleep break thru the watch,that meant all us
junior bods were alloted the first break i.e midnight til two,in the
Teleprinter room !
I'll leave the rest to your imagination.....
RonB

When were you at Heathrow Ron? I was there in the 70s and we had a rest
room (actually two, male and female). No peace in the teleprinter room,
especially after the 75 baud teleprinters were put in. Boy were they fast!
Because the two nibbed pens ran out (I too believe they were German), we
experimented with a Rotring pen, with black ink at one end and re at the
other. You plotted all the black info, then the red. Wasn't too bad.

Then there was the guy who plotted a synop - entirely within the station
circle on a Eumed chart. And it was legible. But it took rather a long time!
There was one SO who had to wear rubber gloves when handling fax paper
as it had a bad effect on him. Don't know if he had them supplied.
Anyone remember Archie Clifton as it was he?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Used to receive fax charts at our met station at Plymouth Poly (later Plymouth Uni).I remember the ammonia type smell.
There was a story going that at the local RAF Mount Batten met station, on one occasion they run out of loo paper and had to use fax paper. Left with a sore bum.
:-)

Len
Wembury
SW Devon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, the excitement of FAX rolls has certainly drawn all the ex MetO employees out of the woodwork.

Whilst it's rather endearing that so many could not only cope with the working for a big company (something that proved too much for me), but have fond memories of their employment, it does make posts about cutting the grass seem exciting!

I can only pray that this thread doesn't drift onto 'exciting things I did on the photocopier'.

Graham
Penzance

On 24/03/17 12:58, Graham Easterling wrote:
On Friday, March 24, 2017 at 11:55:59 AM UTC, Len Wood wrote:
On Friday, 24 March 2017 11:26:08 UTC, Metman2012 wrote:
On 24/03/2017 10:35, Ron Button wrote:
On 24/03/2017 08:55, Crusader wrote:
Wasn't it some sort of urea/ammonia mix that the paper was impregnated
with...with a few other odd chemicals to prevent lremature drying?
It was also amazing what one could use the paper roll centres for as
well as the used fax blades. Many an exhaust pipe has been temporarily
re-attached to the car with old blades before going home after a shift.
Paper roll holders were excellent firework launch tubes!

Dunno about you lot that had cushy postings to sleepy out stations ,but
at the frantic LAP those on night shift arranged a roster whereby every
body were given a two hour sleep break thru the watch,that meant all us
junior bods were alloted the first break i.e midnight til two,in the
Teleprinter room !
I'll leave the rest to your imagination.....
RonB

When were you at Heathrow Ron? I was there in the 70s and we had a rest
room (actually two, male and female). No peace in the teleprinter room,
especially after the 75 baud teleprinters were put in. Boy were they fast!
Because the two nibbed pens ran out (I too believe they were German), we
experimented with a Rotring pen, with black ink at one end and re at the
other. You plotted all the black info, then the red. Wasn't too bad.

Then there was the guy who plotted a synop - entirely within the station
circle on a Eumed chart. And it was legible. But it took rather a long time!
There was one SO who had to wear rubber gloves when handling fax paper
as it had a bad effect on him. Don't know if he had them supplied.
Anyone remember Archie Clifton as it was he?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Used to receive fax charts at our met station at Plymouth Poly (later Plymouth Uni).I remember the ammonia type smell.
There was a story going that at the local RAF Mount Batten met station, on one occasion they run out of loo paper and had to use fax paper. Left with a sore bum.
:-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, the excitement of FAX rolls has certainly drawn all the ex MetO employees out of the woodwork.

Whilst it's rather endearing that so many could not only cope with the working for a big company (something that proved too much for me), but have fond memories of their employment, it does make posts about cutting the grass seem exciting!

I can only pray that this thread doesn't drift onto 'exciting things I did on the photocopier'.


If you'd like more of this, there is more discussion going on in a
couple of FF groups. ;-)


--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. [Retd meteorologist/programmer]
Web-site: http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear,
or an idiot from any direction! [Irish proverb]