PA system - especially Downsey's microphone

[Denbury Red]

I know this has been raised before - but yet again on Tuesday the clarity of the PA system - and especially Downsey's announcements were absolutely awful.  His voice came across as extremely muffled - I'm not sure if it's the way he uses the microphone or just the system itself!

It seems that no one in the Communications team has ever listened to how his announcements come across - as sitting in the Lansdown Lower we can't understand a word he says.

 

I recorded the match on Sky and when playing it back it was possible to hear the substitution announcements etc but you could hear that his voice was still unclear and you couldn't understand what he was saying - when listening to other PA announcements at other grounds we must be down there with the worst!

 

Come on City - there is much to be proud of about Ashton Gate - but this definitely isn't up to acceptable standards!!

[A Horse With No Name]

When the ref left the field after Bellys goal, and it was obvious something had happened to stop play, an announcement was made over the PA and I honestly did not understand a word of it from the South Stand. It struck me then that if this had been an emergency of any sort, we would all be none the wiser. The club should be very concerned at this.

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by CrackingCheeseGromit

[GrahamC]

7 minutes ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

When the ref left the field after Bellys goal, and it was obvious something had happened to stop play, an announcement was made over the PA and I honestly did not understand a word of it from the South Stand. It struck me then that if this had been an emergency of any sort, we would all be none the wiser. The club should be very concerned at this.

 

Exactly the same thing in the Dolman.

At first I wondered if the goal was being disallowed or something had been thrown at a player or there was some medical emergency.

It is absolutely shambolic & cannot be safe should we actually ever need to know something vital.

Total embarrassment that it has been allowed to go on this long, clearly of no importance to those that run the club.

[A Horse With No Name]

13 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Exactly the same thing in the Dolman.

At first I wondered if the goal was being disallowed or something had been thrown at a player or there was some medical emergency.

It is absolutely shambolic & cannot be safe should we actually ever need to know something vital.

Total embarrassment that it has been allowed to go on this long, clearly of no importance to those that run the club.

To be honest, a certain poster hss been harping on for years about the PA in the Dolman, but the South Stand has generally been not too bad, but this season it is completely inaudible. How it ever passes safety regulations is mind boggling.

[phantom]

28 minutes ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

..... It struck me then that if this had been an emergency of any sort, we would all be none the wiser. The club should be very concerned at this.

The prerecorded safety messages do come through clearly, in addition the screens and stewards would make you aware 

The ground wouldn't be open if that was an issue 

[italian dave]

7 minutes ago, phantom said:

The prerecorded safety messages do come through clearly, in addition the screens and stewards would make you aware 

The ground wouldn't be open if that was an issue 

They don’t come through clearly in the Dolman. Far from it. 

And if they use the font size that they use for most of words they post on the screens (away team, birthdays etc) then it’s too small to read.

Like others I’m surprised it’s not a safety certificate issue. But I take your point that it evidently isn’t a concern to the powers that issue those certificates.

But even leaving that aside, surely a club in our position should be doing better than, for example, leaving supporters completely in the dark about the opposing team’s line up, because you can’t hear it being announced and can’t read what’s on the screen. 

[CodeRed]

4 minutes ago, italian dave said:

They don’t come through clearly in the Dolman. Far from it. 

And if they use the font size that they use for most of words they post on the screens (away team, birthdays etc) then it’s too small to read.

Like others I’m surprised it’s not a safety certificate issue. But I take your point that it evidently isn’t a concern to the powers that issue those certificates.

But even leaving that aside, surely a club in our position should be doing better than, for example, leaving supporters completely in the dark about the opposing team’s line up, because you can’t hear it being announced and can’t read what’s on the screen. 

We should all email the CEO.....oh wait 

[GrahamC]

29 minutes ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

To be honest, a certain poster hss been harping on for years about the PA in the Dolman, but the South Stand has generally been not too bad, but this season it is completely inaudible. How it ever passes safety regulations is mind boggling.

I find him a pain in the arse most of the time but he’s consistently spot on there.

Amateur hour.

[View from the Dolman]

30 minutes ago, phantom said:

The prerecorded safety messages do come through clearly, in addition the screens and stewards would make you aware

What prerecorded safety messages? 

[Roe]

The sound system itself is awful but it doesn't help when the guy behind the microphone doesn't have a clue either

The referee would have told him quite clearly that the game was stopped for a moment while he was sorting the technical issues with his goal line technology. Downsey then mumbles it back over the mic with no clarity at all. It should have been simple. 

At the end of the game he kept saying "see you on Saturday" as if we were playing at home this weekend and not the next

[elhombrecito]

1 hour ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

When the ref left the field after Bellys goal, and it was obvious something had happened to stop play, an announcement was made over the PA and I honestly did not understand a word of it from the South Stand. It struck me then that if this had been an emergency of any sort, we would all be none the wiser. The club should be very concerned at this.

 

I normally have no problem understanding anything over the tannoy in the South Stand, but didn't get a single word of that announcement either. 

I only twigged when the ref took the ball over to the net.

[Wedontplayinblue]

34 minutes ago, italian dave said:

They don’t come through clearly in the Dolman. Far from it. 

And if they use the font size that they use for most of words they post on the screens (away team, birthdays etc) then it’s too small to read.

Like others I’m surprised it’s not a safety certificate issue. But I take your point that it evidently isn’t a concern to the powers that issue those certificates.

But even leaving that aside, surely a club in our position should be doing better than, for example, leaving supporters completely in the dark about the opposing team’s line up, because you can’t hear it being announced and can’t read what’s on the screen. 

An actual emergency PA announcement would come through another system. 

16 minutes ago, View from the Dolman said:

What prerecorded safety messages? 

One such as

“please evacuate the stadium in a calm manner at the nearest available exit”

You wouldn’t have downsy running round screaming into the mic “GET OUT GET OUT WERE ALL DOOMED” 

[View from the Dolman]

6 minutes ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

One such as

“please evacuate the stadium in a calm manner at the nearest available exit”

That would make sense if @phantom has been in the stadium to hear such a message in recent times. Can't say I'm aware of any such event having occurred though. 

[ralphindevon]

Could barely hear anything in the lower Lansdown when the ref was having technical problems.

BTW is @Robbored banned? Not heard from him for a while

[A Horse With No Name]

11 minutes ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

An actual emergency PA announcement would come through another system

so that suggests to me that they know the main PA is crap.

[Med/MadHatter]

1 hour ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

To be honest, a certain poster hss been harping on for years about the PA in the Dolman, but the South Stand has generally been not too bad, but this season it is completely inaudible. How it ever passes safety regulations is mind boggling.

As a Safety Officer in gas plants in Canada, over here all tannoy systems have to be audible during normal operating procedures in case of emergency announcements, you would have thought that in a highly conjested stadium ( that will never apply at the Slumorial!) that would have to be a requisite to get the Safety Certificate, but who knows.

[Street red]

2 hours ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

When the ref left the field after Bellys goal, and it was obvious something had happened to stop play, an announcement was made over the PA and I honestly did not understand a word of it from the South Stand. It struck me then that if this had been an emergency of any sort, we would all be none the wiser. The club should be very concerned at this.

 

I've been banging on about this for ages when it's a full stadium the clarity is shite and yes they should be concerned. To me it should be a priority yes its expensive but the entire lot should be replaced. I personally think they got it all wrong when they done the install when the stadium was rebuilt.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Street red

[BrizzleRed]

39 minutes ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

An actual emergency PA announcement would come through another system. 

One such as

“please evacuate the stadium in a calm manner at the nearest available exit”

You wouldn’t have downsy running round screaming into the mic “GET OUT GET OUT WERE ALL DOOMED” 

So are you saying the problem is with Downsey’s mic then?

Whatever system is used, surely an emergency evacuation message will go through the same speaker system in the stands and if they’re the problem, we’d be stuffed.

[Street red]

45 minutes ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

so that suggests to me that they know the main PA is crap.

Yep and they know the cost to update it all.

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

An actual emergency PA announcement would come through another system. 

Well, if there really is another system, and one that’s audible, perhaps they could start using it for everything else too?

Edited September 21, 2023 by italian dave

[Lewisdabaron]

Maybe Downsy had something in his mouth when trying to talk?

[redsquirrel]

2 hours ago, CrackingCheeseGromit said:

To be honest, a certain poster hss been harping on for years about the PA in the Dolman, but the South Stand has generally been not too bad, but this season it is completely inaudible. How it ever passes safety regulations is mind boggling.

i was at smeatharpe saturday watching banger racing and thought of him when i could hear the commentary crystal clear above 30 odd cars screaming round the track and crashing everywhere. the speakers are outside on poles all year round yet knock spots off a state of the art covered football stadium

[Wedontplayinblue]

1 hour ago, ralphindevon said:

Could barely hear anything in the lower Lansdown when the ref was having technical problems.

BTW is @Robbored banned? Not heard from him for a while

Hopefully, dolly said he was having a rest from posting for a while, his “trolling” in regards to a dying gentleman was a step too far, after he clearly had too much to drink.

You can see he is still visiting the forum, so he’s either stilled barred from posting or is clearly taking the grown up idea of not posting/trolling for a while. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Wedontplayinblue

[ralphindevon]

8 minutes ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

Hopefully, dolly said he was having a rest from posting for a while, his “trolling” in regards to a dying gentleman was a step too far, after he clearly had too much to drink.

You can see he is still visiting the forum, so he’s either stilled barred from posting or is clearly taking the grown up idea of not posting/trolling for a while. 

Oh right, hope he’s ok. 

[phantom]

4 hours ago, italian dave said:

And if they use the font size that they use for most of words they post on the screens (away team, birthdays etc) then it’s too small to read.

May sound bizarre but it would appear so obvious you'd notice 

I would imagine it'd be displayed on the boards around the pitch too 

The stadium HSE would have regular tests (like fire drills in an office) to ensure it works. 

Thinking about it it's a surprise it's not even been mentioned on one of the various clubs websites as in what to look / listen out for 

3 hours ago, Wedontplayinblue said:

An actual emergency PA announcement would come through another system.

This

Everything would kick in on different systems 

 

[phantom]

1 hour ago, ralphindevon said:

Oh right, hope he’s ok. 

He's fine, still posting on https://www.bristolcityforum.co.uk/

Not for me to go into any reasons why, but he'll be back about mid November 

[Dredd]

Remember when we used to get that safety message before each game?

'This is a test of the emergency PA system in the Evening Post Dolman Stand, when you hear this tone *annoying Bing bong*, please wait for a safety steward to direct you to the nearest exit'

[Wedontplayinblue]

11 minutes ago, Dredd said:

Remember when we used to get that safety message before each game?

'This is a test of the emergency PA system in the Evening Post Dolman Stand, when you hear this tone *annoying Bing bong*, please wait for a safety steward to direct you to the nearest exit'

That’s a blast from the past!

[myol'man]

At least display the substitutions on the big screen 

[Homer Simpson]

27 minutes ago, Dredd said:

Remember when we used to get that safety message before each game?

'This is a test of the emergency PA system in the Evening Post Dolman Stand, when you hear this tone *annoying Bing bong*, please wait for a safety steward to direct you to the nearest exit'

We still get it. You have to listen very carefully. It's only broadcast in the chairman's box. When the nest egg starts to deflate.