switching off telecaster meters april 2024

  • garyfrog's Avatar
    Level 10
    i just read that the telecaster meters are being switched off in april 2024
    any body still using them will by then (in the hundrds of thousands i have one as well) will have problems with their bills being all over the place and a lot higher
    can any body on here please tell me more about this as i dont want to find i am getting masssive bills in winter through my economy 7 heating
    also why have eon next not said anything about this to their customers because i have not had any letter or email informing me about this i had to find out through the internet
    its all supposed to be happening april next year that gives us no time to sort this out

    here is the link to it

    https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news...gher%20daytime
  • 2 Replies

  • WizzyWigg's Avatar
    Level 86
    @garyfrog

    This link might be of some help

    https://www.eonnext.com/radio-telesw...0were%20around.

    I would suggest speaking to Customer Services. Ways to contact them in the purple section at the bottom of this web page.
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    The Radio Teleswitch Service currently broadcast on the 198kHz Radio 4 Long Wave frequency from Droitwich, Westerglen and Burghead is being turned off next year.

    Radio Teleswitch meters will no longer operate correctly. If you have one of these, you will either have been notified by your supplier, or you can contact them to arrange a replacement with a smart meter.

    However, with most of the rest of the world adopting a form of Teleswitch and it being the most common form of load switching in most of Europe, it seems like a daft idea to me.

    I can even receive the German 'Telecontrol' signals from DCF39 on 139kHz here in the west of Wales....and decode and monitor the signals!

    Name:  efr139.jpg
Views: 1270
Size:  83.3 KB

    The grey area at the top shows the decoded FSK data - ten second time checks and synchronisation signals, and one line of 'payload' containing meter switching signals.


    So the system has the coverage and the range. The BBC system however has to use a modulation system based on Manchester code and phase changes of the carrier wave so as not to be audible on the AM broadcast signal.

    No reason why the system needs to be switched off other than pure economics. It costs a lot of money to run the LW transmitters!! And the two valves in the output stage of the transmitter have a working life of between 1 and 3 years, and there are only ten spares left in the world.

    Currently, the number of RTS meters in the UK is around 1.6 million.
    Last edited by retrotecchie; 19-09-23 at 18:03.
    Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons.