Mileage/kilometerage posts

[Malc]

Having read the discussion fairly recently about checking your speed
using mile posts on the motorway I thought I'd have a go myself. On
the M5 between Bristol and Gloucester I cannot find anything that is a
mile apart. Am I correct in assuming that you use the little white
posts with a blue band around the top that tell you where the nearest
phone is? These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
57/8....57/0, 56/9. Trouble is at an indicated 70 I pass 18 of these
in a minute. However if they are 0.1Km posts then this would give an
approximate speed of 66mph which, given the errors in the experiment,
is about spot on.

--
Malc

[Scott M]

Malc wrote:

> Having read the discussion fairly recently about checking your speed
> using mile posts on the motorway I thought I'd have a go myself. On
> the M5 between Bristol and Gloucester I cannot find anything that is a
> mile apart. Am I correct in assuming that you use the little white
> posts with a blue band around the top that tell you where the nearest
> phone is? These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
> 57/8....57/0, 56/9. Trouble is at an indicated 70 I pass 18 of these
> in a minute. However if they are 0.1Km posts then this would give an
> approximate speed of 66mph which, given the errors in the experiment,
> is about spot on.

And errors in the speedo, which will be over-reading.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

[Guy King]

The message <5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.com>
from malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk (Malc) contains these words:

> These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
> 57/8....57/0, 56/9.

They're 100m posts. The 57/1, 57/2 etc is kilometers and tenths of
kilometers from the start of the motorway.

There are mile posts, but they're rare. You're looking for a disc the
size of a dinnerplate. The first one is solid one colour - blue, I
think. The next has a white quadrant, the next a white half the next is
3/4 white and the mile one is all white.

Personally I use the 100m posts over a few minutes and do the maths -
it's easier, less distracting, easier to find and has the potential for
greater accuracy.

Don't forget you have to pass 11 posts to make a kilometer.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[Will Reeve]

Guy King wrote:
> The message <5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.com>
> from malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk (Malc) contains these words:
>
>> These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
>> 57/8....57/0, 56/9.
>
> They're 100m posts. The 57/1, 57/2 etc is kilometers and tenths of
> kilometers from the start of the motorway.
>
> There are mile posts, but they're rare. You're looking for a disc the
> size of a dinnerplate. The first one is solid one colour - blue, I
> think. The next has a white quadrant, the next a white half the next
> is 3/4 white and the mile one is all white.
>
> Personally I use the 100m posts over a few minutes and do the maths -
> it's easier, less distracting, easier to find and has the potential
> for greater accuracy.
>
> Don't forget you have to pass 11 posts to make a kilometer.

The ones I remember were red, there used to be a full set on tha A41 between
the M40 and Bicester, nice stretch of straight road that. I've not seen any
of the mile ones for ages; at least not a full set of 4. I think they were
specifically put up for "calibrating" speedos in police car's?

Will

[Guy King]

The message <416e75d0$0$59471$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net>
from "Will Reeve" <will@reeve.org.uk> contains these words:

> I've not seen any of the mile ones for ages; at least not a full set of 4.

They're getting thin on the ground - I imagine they're obsolete.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[Malc]

Scott M <smorris_12@delete_this.yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<416E5B0F.CBBC2AED@delete_this.yahoo.com>...
> Malc wrote:
>
> > Having read the discussion fairly recently about checking your speed
> > using mile posts on the motorway I thought I'd have a go myself. On
> > the M5 between Bristol and Gloucester I cannot find anything that is a
> > mile apart. Am I correct in assuming that you use the little white
> > posts with a blue band around the top that tell you where the nearest
> > phone is? These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
> > 57/8....57/0, 56/9. Trouble is at an indicated 70 I pass 18 of these
> > in a minute. However if they are 0.1Km posts then this would give an
> > approximate speed of 66mph which, given the errors in the experiment,
> > is about spot on.
>
> And errors in the speedo, which will be over-reading.

Well yes that's kind of what I was assuming. It's not easy using the
digital clock in the dash to time yourself (wait for the minutes to
change then look for the next post), count posts and keep a constant
speed in fairly heavy traffic. So the result is close enough to tell
me I was making the right assumptions. If I want real accuracy I'll
take a stopwatch monkey with me.

--
MAlc

[Guy King]

The message <5e6ce5ec.0410140740.1b7d15fd@posting.google.com>
from malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk (Malc) contains these words:

> Well yes that's kind of what I was assuming. It's not easy using the
> digital clock in the dash to time yourself (wait for the minutes to
> change then look for the next post), count posts and keep a constant
> speed in fairly heavy traffic.

Sod that - I employ a small boy to do it for me.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[Mark W]

"Malc" <malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk> wrote in message
news:5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.c om...
> Having read the discussion fairly recently about checking your speed
> using mile posts on the motorway I thought I'd have a go myself. On


A GPS is a lot easier!

[Guy King]

The message <416eca14_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com>
from "Mark W" <s@o> contains these words:

> A GPS is a lot easier!

But not necessarily as accurate.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[FatSod]

"Will Reeve" <will@reeve.org.uk> wrote in message
news:416e75d0$0$59471$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
> Guy King wrote:
> > The message <5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.com>
> > from malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk (Malc) contains these words:
> >
> >> These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
> >> 57/8....57/0, 56/9.
> >
> > They're 100m posts. The 57/1, 57/2 etc is kilometers and tenths of
> > kilometers from the start of the motorway.
> >
> > There are mile posts, but they're rare. You're looking for a disc the
> > size of a dinnerplate. The first one is solid one colour - blue, I
> > think. The next has a white quadrant, the next a white half the next
> > is 3/4 white and the mile one is all white.
> >
> > Personally I use the 100m posts over a few minutes and do the maths -
> > it's easier, less distracting, easier to find and has the potential
> > for greater accuracy.
> >
> > Don't forget you have to pass 11 posts to make a kilometer.
>
> The ones I remember were red, there used to be a full set on tha A41
between
> the M40 and Bicester, nice stretch of straight road that. I've not seen
any
> of the mile ones for ages; at least not a full set of 4. I think they were
> specifically put up for "calibrating" speedos in police car's?
>
> Will

You cannot calibrate speedo's in this manner.
Calibration dictates you use equipment 10 times more accurate than the
equipment you wish to check. Example if your speedo has graduation
of 1 mph then you must calibrated against something that is accurate
to 0.1 mph and traceable to National Physics Lab.

Fatsod

[Chris Lawson]

Guy King wrote:
> There are mile posts, but they're rare. You're looking for a disc the
> size of a dinnerplate. The first one is solid one colour - blue, I
> think. The next has a white quadrant, the next a white half the next is
> 3/4 white and the mile one is all white.
>

I've also seen barcoded signs strapped to lampposts. Theses are about
2' high and 6" wide. Any idea what they're for?

--
Chris

[Barry]

Chris Lawson wrote:

> Guy King wrote:
>
>> There are mile posts, but they're rare. You're looking for a disc the
>> size of a dinnerplate. The first one is solid one colour - blue, I
>> think. The next has a white quadrant, the next a white half the next is
>> 3/4 white and the mile one is all white.
>>
>
> I've also seen barcoded signs strapped to lampposts. Theses are about
> 2' high and 6" wide. Any idea what they're for?
>
> --
> Chris

I *think* they are used by road survey teams... They have some doobery
that scans the road and someone scans the barcode so it where it is

That could all be rubbish... But it sounds vaguely familiar!

[Guy King]

The message <416ef0c9$0$20216$cc9e4d1f@news-text.dial.pipex.com>
from Chris Lawson <newsgroups@spamtrap.com> contains these words:

> I've also seen barcoded signs strapped to lampposts. Theses are about
> 2' high and 6" wide. Any idea what they're for?

No - I've wondered that. I've also noticed that the barcode is done in
reflective stripes against white.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[Malc]

"FatSod" <fatsod@fatsodsDIET.com> wrote in message news:<NPAbd.8564$xb.432@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>...
> "Will Reeve" <will@reeve.org.uk> wrote in message
> news:416e75d0$0$59471$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
> > Guy King wrote:
> > > The message <5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.com>
> > > from malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk (Malc) contains these words:
> > >
> > >> These have numbers on them which do count up/down eg. 57/9,
> > >> 57/8....57/0, 56/9.
> > >
> > > They're 100m posts. The 57/1, 57/2 etc is kilometers and tenths of
> > > kilometers from the start of the motorway.
> > >
> > > There are mile posts, but they're rare. You're looking for a disc the
> > > size of a dinnerplate. The first one is solid one colour - blue, I
> > > think. The next has a white quadrant, the next a white half the next
> > > is 3/4 white and the mile one is all white.
> > >
> > > Personally I use the 100m posts over a few minutes and do the maths -
> > > it's easier, less distracting, easier to find and has the potential
> > > for greater accuracy.
> > >
> > > Don't forget you have to pass 11 posts to make a kilometer.
> >
> > The ones I remember were red, there used to be a full set on tha A41
> between
> > the M40 and Bicester, nice stretch of straight road that. I've not seen
> any
> > of the mile ones for ages; at least not a full set of 4. I think they were
> > specifically put up for "calibrating" speedos in police car's?
> >

>
> You cannot calibrate speedo's in this manner.
> Calibration dictates you use equipment 10 times more accurate than the
> equipment you wish to check. Example if your speedo has graduation
> of 1 mph then you must calibrated against something that is accurate
> to 0.1 mph and traceable to National Physics Lab.
>
I suspect that's why he put calibrating in quotes. We're only really
talking about checking speedos here. I think we all appreciate that we
haven't got the kit to really calibrate the speedo.

--
Malc

[Malc]

"Mark W" <s@o> wrote in message news:<416eca14_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com>...
> "Malc" <malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk> wrote in message
> news:5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.c om...
> > Having read the discussion fairly recently about checking your speed
> > using mile posts on the motorway I thought I'd have a go myself. On
>
>
> A GPS is a lot easier!

If you can afford one and have the use for one. Personally I rarely
get lost so I have no need for a GPS.

--
Malc

[@ mail.com]

Chris Lawson wrote:

> I've also seen barcoded signs strapped to lampposts. Theses are about
> 2' high and 6" wide. Any idea what they're for?


Council lampost sale! :))

Pete

[Rich Russell]

malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk (Malc) wrote in message news:<5e6ce5ec.0410142339.6ee3aa12@posting.google.com>...
> "Mark W" <s@o> wrote in message news:<416eca14_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com>...
> > "Malc" <malcolm.white@ubht.swest.nhs.uk> wrote in message
> > news:5e6ce5ec.0410140143.22152607@posting.google.c om...
> > > Having read the discussion fairly recently about checking your speed
> > > using mile posts on the motorway I thought I'd have a go myself. On
> >
> >
> > A GPS is a lot easier!
>
> If you can afford one and have the use for one. Personally I rarely
> get lost so I have no need for a GPS.

And the road survey barcodes went up around 15 years ago, when the
only people who had GPS were the US Military...

A lot seem to have fallen into disrepair now, so I wonder if the
system has been superseded by a GPS related one.

Rich.