Re: Bind and Sendmail problems

First,

TM> pop.abertron.co.uk IN A 69.10.141.84
TM> ns1.abertron.co.uk. IN A 69.10.141.84
TM> ns2.abertron.co.uk. IN A 69.10.141.84
TM> abertron.co.uk. IN NS ns.abertron.co.uk.
TM> abertron.co.uk. IN NS ns2.abertron.co.uk
TM> pop.abertron.co.uk. IN MX 10 69.10.141.84
TM> smtp.abertron.co.uk. IN MX 20 69.10.141.84

and then, later,

GM> I've worked it out it was the dot at the end [...]

but then, after that,

GM> pop IN MX 10 abertron.co.uk.
GM> smtp IN MX 20 abertron.co.uk.

and then, later still,

GM> pop. IN A 69.10.141.84
GM> smtp. IN A 69.10.141.84

You're flailing around at random. Stop it. "Shotgun debugging"
(to use the term from the Jargon File) is counterproductive and
wrong.

You had an insight about trailing dots halfway down this thread.
Stop posting, and stop prodding things haphazardly. Sit down,
read about fully qualified domain names and the significance of
trailing dots, and then apply that knowledge to your "zone" file,
in a uniform, orderly, and consistent manner.

<URL:http://www.menandmice.com/online_docs_and_faq/glossary/fqdn.htm>

_Then_ fix your delegation information so that it concurs with what
the owners of the enclosing superdomain are publishing, and fix the
owner names of your "MX" resource records.