Headends.
 

Might sound a daft question but with all this talk about NGTV upgrades and headends but what do these headends look like are they like a cab or like a big building?.

Re: Headends.
 

I have often wondered the samething, I just imagined them to look like somekind of server room.

Re: Headends.
 

I am absolutely sure Google will know. I searched for "cable headend" and chose images and well...mystery solved.

*cough*

Re: Headends.
 

A fairly big building. Think of an average-sized supermarket.

Re: Headends.
 

Used to walk past the Hemel Headend on my way to work. Three large sat dishes and a mast with an array of TV and radio antennas. Looks in a bit of a state now, and I think VM will probably de-commission it now analogue is switched off. All the digital kit is in an office building about 1/2 mile down the road.

Re: Headends.
 

as spiderplanet said there more less the size of big tesco store, ive been in one it quite impressive

Re: Headends.
 

I saw the Cardiff one from the outside and went actually in to another one in Cardiff just big rooms with lots of servers.

Re: Headends.
 

Many years ago, in the days of Cambridge Cable, I had the opportunity to visit inside our Cambridge headend and very impressive it was too. Outside there was a fair size dish farm nestling between the building and the railway lines.

The most impressive bit of kit inside was the telephone switch, rows and rows of shiny cabinets – took me back to the late 1950s when mainframes were the size of squash courts!
--John

Re: Headends.
 

The one in Leeds (as was Jones Cable, Bell CableMedia, C&W Comms, NTL, and now presumably VirginMedia) was just in the same room as the servers (DEC Alphas and WinTel, mainly), just like a big server room full of cabs and cables (in '94, we had to switch our mobile phones off if we went into the room).

Re: Headends.
 

My knowledge may be a little rusty and out of date, but..

Lewisham

Croydon


Bromley

Re: Headends.
 

A couple of shots of Virgin Baguley in case the Google map camera thingy doesn't work. :dunce:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=...EclKFqZFxH3lUQ

Re: Headends.
 

Interesting reticule on the first photo, I wonder if someone was lining up a shot?

Re: Headends.
 

Naw, it's just the Google cross hairs. Any of our members working there need have no fears that it was the sight on any thing more lethal that my inability to move it out of the screen shot. :D

Re: Headends.
 

Langley. The centre of Virgin's universeAttachment 19812

Re: Headends.
 

Be careful! The CIA might be on your case.:D