Fables from a Cold Field - BVWS journal

[David_Robinson]

For sheer entertainment value this has to be one of the best Journal articles I have read. Like I'm sure most people here, as an engineer working on TV's, monitors and miscellaneous broadcast gear, I've had my fair share of things going bang over the years, but nothing greater than would blow a 13A fuse. I have the greatest respect for these guys who tackled equipment handling tens of kW on a daily basis.

In the 405 days I was a 'customer' of Sutton Coldfield, and I can't say I remember many breakdowns. Having never worked at the BBC (I still haven't), I had a vision of the corporation as a place where everything was technically perfect and was maintained that way regardless of cost. A BBC Test Card was the ultimate reference and any defects observed were assumed to be down to me. It comes as an amusing surprise (have you noticed how many people writing on the web can't spell 'surprise'?) that everything was done on a shoestring and modifications to equipment were an almost daily occurrence.

I did become a little disillusioned with the BBC in the early 70s when the Waltham transmitter opened, and it seemed that with transmitters being unattended, standards were beginning to slip. Ray Cooper's stories of drifting transmitter drives have a familiar ring as I remember writing to the Beeb on several occasions to protest that the modulation depth on BBC1 was about 20% different from BBC2. Each time they would write back thanking me and confirming that they had fixed the error, as indeed they had. A few weeks later it was as bad again. This remained a problem for many years until presumably the drives were replaced.

Mind you, the IBA weren't much better. For many years the ITV signal had a distinctive LF tilt, making the pictures slightly smeary. I can remember in the mid 80s having a tour round the Waltham site IBA installation with the RTS. The IBA guy was very keen to show the Channel 4 installation and proudly pointed to the VITS on a waveform monitor showing the immaculate off air reception from Sutton Coldfield, and the equally clean retransmission of the signal from Waltham. However all requests to have a look at the performance of the ITV installation were mysteriously evaded.

Ray's account of the drastic power reduction on the 405-line service in the 80s does come as a surprise, although I don't think anyone was using it by then. Maybe we should try this today with the analogue service. After all most digital 'refuseniks' I know seem to actively prefer grainy pictures (lights blue touch paper and retires ).

Those who can't wait for the next journal can read the whole of Ray's article here:

http://tx.mb21.co.uk/features/coldfield/index.asp

[Panrock]

Originally Posted by David_Robinson

Ray's account of the drastic power reduction on the 405-line service in the 80s does come as a surprise, although I don't think anyone was using it by then.

Errr excuse me ... I was using it then, receiving Sutton Coldfield with my roof 'X' at 35 miles. Apparently, due to my many telephoned complaints (which achieved little) I was known as 'The Viewer'.

Steve

[Paul Stenning]

That was certainly one of the most interesting and entertaining articles I have read in the Bulletin for a while, and it will get my vote for the best article of the year at subs renewal time.

Thanks for the link to the rest of the series. I think I will be reading that rather than waiting for the next bulletin!

[mickjjo]

I read those online articles some time ago, Very interesting . I liked the bit about local radio, "The Buzz Factories", where it says:-

"Monitoring the output had to be done on a Hacker portable radio (Hacker in those days meant a respected set maker, not a dodgy prime minister nor an antisocial web user)".

Great stuff

Regards, Mick.

[Ray Cooper]

(First posting, so please be gentle... I stumbled across this forum whilst looking for something else, and thought "what ho! looks interesting". After a brief browse, my eyes were dragged irresistibly to this thread...)

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I'm very gratified that you found the article interesting. Sorry these comments took so long to catch up with the thread.

They say that everyone has at least one book in them. Well, this is hardly a book: but it started off merely as a set of rough notes, largely just to find out how much of my murky past I could recall after all those years. And, like Topsy, it just grew - but in fact, it was never finished. I had to call a halt somewhere - the end of 405-line broadcasting seemed as good a point as any. There's lots more stuff in the rummage-bin, and maybe some day...

Having written it, the next thing was to find something to do with it. I circulated copies amongst a few acquaintances, and the response was a bit mixed: though I suppose the worst was 'interesting, but perhaps of limited appeal due to the high geekiness-quotient of its content'. But Mike Brown of mb21 fame offered to air it a little, and you have Phil Marrison to thank for getting it into the pages of BVWS (he provided most of the illustrations, too).

Still, I'm glad you found it of interest.

Panrock:

Errr excuse me ... I was using it then, receiving Sutton Coldfield with my roof 'X' at 35 miles. Apparently, due to my many telephoned complaints (which achieved little) I was known as 'The Viewer'

I remember comments from The Viewer arriving by a rather roundabout route (presumably you 'phoned the Studios, rather than the TX, which was ex-directory...). The studios knew nothing. Probably because we took good care not to tell them anything.

If there's anything in the article that you find obscure (come on, now! there must be) or needs amplification, just ak, and I'll do my best to oblige (within the limits of my fading mental powers, and the laws of libel).

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by Ray Cooper

They say that everyone has at least one book in them. Well, this is hardly a book: but it started off merely as a set of rough notes, largely just to find out how much of my murky past I could recall after all those years. And, like Topsy, it just grew - but in fact, it was never finished. I had to call a halt somewhere - the end of 405-line broadcasting seemed as good a point as any. There's lots more stuff in the rummage-bin, and maybe some day

Welcome to the forum and thanks for some very entertaining stories. Have you read "On Air, A history of BBC Transmission" compiled and edited by Norman Shacklady and Martin Ellen? Your stories would have added to what was already an interesting book. I also seem to remember Norman Green giving a talk to RTS London Centre some years ago which had a considerable amount about the start of Sutton Coldfield.

[Hybrid tellies]

Originally Posted by Paul Stenning

That was certainly one of the most interesting and entertaining articles I have read in the Bulletin for a while, and it will get my vote for the best article of the year at subs renewal time.

Thanks for the link to the rest of the series. I think I will be reading that rather than waiting for the next bulletin!

I totaly agree with Paul here,a brilliant article which I have read through several times. It was very interesting to know that the BBC engineers were using Hacker portables for monitoring transmitter outputs. And the trouble that temporary medium wave transmitter caused. It makes you realise just how much on the cheap the new BBC local radio medium wave network was started.

[chipp1968]

I liked it too

[OldBoffin]

Thanks Ray for a wonderful account of Sutton TV.
I can just remember Belling Lee coming into the area with a low power tx, I presume for the BBC to map out coverage area etc.I was 18 then dabbling in radio. I built a simple Rx with a short dipole onthe top of a clothes prop mounted outside the top story (3rd floor) of our house in Wolverhampton and recieved the test transmissions. Then bought more ex WD equipment with my pocket money - I had a type 62 indicator unit with a VCR 97 (if my memory is correct) with 2kv on it - plus two other ex WD rf/IF units, one with about 6 EF50s, the other with SP61s and a plug-in type 26RF unit with EF54s (vr136?)AND EC52(vr137?) and dial tuning..worked OK ,one for vision the other for sound - saw the opening of Suttgon on the green CRT - opera - I think was Barbara of Seville from memory.
Again many thanks for your story - facinating reading.Hope there's more to come?
OldBoffin

[slidertogrid]

Originally Posted by Paul Stenning

That was certainly one of the most interesting and entertaining articles I have read in the Bulletin for a while, and it will get my vote for the best article of the year

Seconded! I have only just seen this thread but it got my vote!
Thanks Ray for a fantastic look behind the scenes!
Richard.