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The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz

Simply Paul
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The Forester

+The Forester

Posted
Posted

All of 'em.

 

It's the standard title for any Ambassador to the UK.

 

It's something to do with the fact that traditionally a Royal Court was quite mobile, so an Ambassador's title would have to change dozens of times a year. They (whoever "they" are) decided to simplify by making one single Court the designated location to which ambassadors were, err, ambassadors. They chose the oldest Court, which was St James's.

 

The reason why I know is that my first ever bank account was a Post Office savings account which I proudly opened at the delightfully quaint PO at the Palace of St James at the age of 7, with a shilling which my great-aunt Phoebe gave me to start me off at my first term at boarding school. I still remember those flint-lined walls today! As a kid I always thought of my money in that account being held somewhere deep inside St James's, carefully guarded by enormously tall Guardsmen in red tunics and huge bearskin hats. Whenever I heard the name of St James I always paid close attention in case it might affect my precious shillings.

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Guanajuato

+Guanajuato

Posted
Posted

The Russian equivalent of NavStar GPS is Glonass.

 

What was the name of Russian equivalent of the now obsolete US Navy Transit satnav system?

 

And for a bonus point, describe its operating principle. How did the thing work?

 

Usual rules: no Googling etc.

Along the lines of the Space Pen/Pencil myth...

 

The SEXTANT? :laughing:

 

I've never studied how it worked, never having had need. But I know its to do the position of the stars & sun.

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The Forester

+The Forester

Posted
Posted (edited)

There are spacecraft which can measure their own co-ordinates by measuring angles between stars, but this satellite system wasn't/isn't one of them. The Shuttle Orbiter uses that optical system, as do Trident misssiles and other ICBMs.

 

The satellite system in this question is still in use, albeit using its priniciple of operation in reverse. It is part of the Search and Rescue satellite system. Instead of indicating position of receivers on the ground, it now measures the position of transmitters on the ground, specifically emergency locator beacons such as are fitted to trans-oceanic aircraft and ships.

 

Its former counterpart, USN Transit, is also still in use, but not for direct position fixing. Its signals are used to measure ionospheric effects and those measurements are used to tweak GPS data.

 

Edited to delete two grocer's apostrophes which had smuggled themselves in.

Edited by The Forester
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The Blorenges

+The Blorenges

Posted
Posted

If you sum the total IQs in that pub, do you reach triple digits?

 

This sarcastic remark adds nothing to this thread.

 

The Russian equivalent of NavStar GPS is Glonass.

 

What was the name of Russian equivalent of the now obsolete US Navy Transit satnav system?

 

And for a bonus point, describe its operating principle. How did the thing work?

 

Usual rules: no Googling etc.

 

I agree with the comments that others have made: I consider this question to be too difficult for "Pub Quiz"

standards.

 

MrsB

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The Forester

+The Forester

Posted
Posted

I doubt that the locals in the pub in my local village would be able to answer any question that isn't about football or tv soap-operas. They're type of people who say "Ooohh!" when ever they hear someone pronounce a trisyllabic word.

 

The denizens of another pub three or four villages away, however, easily beat the kids on University Challenge every time.

 

I suspect that even in the dumbest pub you'd find someone who could guess the name of a very loud insect though. :shocked:

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The Forester

+The Forester

Posted
Posted

I'll accept that (the spelling of the answer, not the bar order).

 

The Russians actually called their SatNav system Tsikada. It worked by transmitting a constant tone which rose and faded as it passed your location like the sound of a passing train. Knowing its orbit and by timing the exact time that the tone's frequency nulled (known as the Doppler effect) you could calculate a line of position along which you were situated. Match several of those satellite pass measurements and you had your co-ordinates on the ground.

 

It worked quite well, but was as cumbersome as the American equivalent and lacked the sophistication of the US Imperial globe-spanning tracking network to tweak the orbital parameters.

 

They're still up there and they're still doing useful work, but unlike their American counterparts they're now integrated into the worldwide SARSAT (search and rescue satellite) system for the saving of human life at sea.

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drdick&vick

+drdick&vick

Posted
Posted

If you sum the total IQs in that pub, do you reach triple digits?

 

This sarcastic remark adds nothing to this thread.

 

The Russian equivalent of NavStar GPS is Glonass.

 

What was the name of Russian equivalent of the now obsolete US Navy Transit satnav system?

 

And for a bonus point, describe its operating principle. How did the thing work?

 

Usual rules: no Googling etc.

 

I agree with the comments that others have made: I consider this question to be too difficult for "Pub Quiz"

standards.

 

MrsB

 

Thanks Mrs B, great minds think alike.

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Simply Paul

+Simply Paul

Posted
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Posted

I believe Tenant has now been voted more popular than Baker (Tom, not Colin) in Dr Who Magazine, or wherever. It may be regarded as cheating, in which case please ignore me, but the best selling (most popular?) Dr Who episodes on Amazon is 'Dalek War' (1973) featuring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. If that's not the one, my personal favourite is Genesis of the Daleks, with Tom Baker, but I'm pretty old skool... :D

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MartyBartfast

+MartyBartfast

Posted
Posted

I believe Tenant has now been voted more popular than Baker (Tom, not Colin) in Dr Who Magazine, or wherever. It may be regarded as cheating, in which case please ignore me, but the best selling (most popular?) Dr Who episodes on Amazon is 'Dalek War' (1973) featuring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. If that's not the one, my personal favourite is Genesis of the Daleks, with Tom Baker, but I'm pretty old skool... :)

 

Sorry, wrong. And as a hint no-one's even mentioned the right doctor yet, so that narrows it down a bit.

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FourQ

FourQ

Posted
Posted

Genesis of the Daleks was brilliant. The whole race coming from the genetically modifications of Davros's race - the Kaleds.

Just think how much easier life would have been had the Doctor stopped him back then.

I loved the Three Doctors and later the Five Doctors, they are probably my favourites from the classic series'.

 

(I have all of the Doctor Who's from An Unearthly Child to Planet of the Dead.)

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Sharpeset

Sharpeset

Posted
Posted

I was in Tesco this morning, and there was Doctor Who magazine....right Doctor, wrong story!

 

Anyhoo....

 

One British senior football club has a letter in it's name which no other has. Which Club?

 

Crewe Alexandra?

 

Nope.

I'll see off your Crewe Alexandra with an Oxford or a Wrexham...

 

Sorry, thought you said senior teams....:)

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chizu

+chizu

Posted
Posted

Chocolate bar

 

City & Guilds 706/1 706/2 706/3 NVQ2 & 3 all catering & food qualifications so I knows this one sir I really does.

Plus before I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes I was addicted to the stuff I love it love it, just cant have it now. cry1.gif

 

Chocolate bar

 

DING!!! Milk chocolate bar to be exact.

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