RI
If it is from 1979 then it would imply that CTV possessed teletext production facilities and was producing its own pages prior to the strike as opposed to just retransmitting the received Westward pages.
I assume that Oracle went on strike along with the other ITV programme contractors.
It may well be from '79. Wiki is not the most reliable source.
If it is from 1979 then it would imply that CTV possessed teletext production facilities and was producing its own pages prior to the strike as opposed to just retransmitting the received Westward pages.
I assume that Oracle went on strike along with the other ITV programme contractors.
SC
It’s possible the date is displaying incorrectly. Another screencap I have seen of a teletext page retrieved from a 1985 video recording clearly said Thu 15 Sep, but should have said Thu 5 Sep. Apparently the poor reception caused the space to be replaced by a 1, for technical reasons I don’t fully understand. So the numerical part of the date of that CTV Oracle page may not be accurate.
I don't know what that page from 1979 was then, unless they were broadcast from Westward for Channel's benefit, or they got the year wrong (would have to be either 1984 or 90 for the 25th July to fall on a Wednesday), though the graphics are clearly based on the pre-1980 logo.
It’s possible the date is displaying incorrectly. Another screencap I have seen of a teletext page retrieved from a 1985 video recording clearly said Thu 15 Sep, but should have said Thu 5 Sep. Apparently the poor reception caused the space to be replaced by a 1, for technical reasons I don’t fully understand. So the numerical part of the date of that CTV Oracle page may not be accurate.
NL
If it is from 1979 then it would imply that CTV possessed teletext production facilities and was producing its own pages prior to the strike as opposed to just retransmitting the received Westward pages.
I assume that Oracle went on strike along with the other ITV programme contractors.
That's something I don't know.
It may well be from '79. Wiki is not the most reliable source.
If it is from 1979 then it would imply that CTV possessed teletext production facilities and was producing its own pages prior to the strike as opposed to just retransmitting the received Westward pages.
I assume that Oracle went on strike along with the other ITV programme contractors.
That's something I don't know.
JA
Though obviously there's the question of why Channel's teletext pages would still be using the hexagons logo by 1984 or 1990 when it was ditched in 1980. Who knows?
It’s possible the date is displaying incorrectly. Another screencap I have seen of a teletext page retrieved from a 1985 video recording clearly said Thu 15 Sep, but should have said Thu 5 Sep. Apparently the poor reception caused the space to be replaced by a 1, for technical reasons I don’t fully understand. So the numerical part of the date of that CTV Oracle page may not be accurate.
Though obviously there's the question of why Channel's teletext pages would still be using the hexagons logo by 1984 or 1990 when it was ditched in 1980. Who knows?
JA
How did anyone manage to get a capture of a 1979 teletext page anyway? That's a few years before video cassette recorders became commonplace, isn't it? And even if you did have a VCR, there was a good chance it'd be Betamax instead of VHS, which would be harder to play back nowadays to grab the data from the recording.
JA
Just because they weren't commonplace doesn't mean they weren't around, and if it was Betamax it doesn't mean people don't still have players for them!
TE
tesandco
Founding member
From what I recall of when Jason posted the recovery for this at the time (which came from a Betamax recording), in 1979 the teletext pages existed with logos designed for all of the regions in the Oracle service throughout various numbers in the 300s. So this was all visible nationwide and content wasn't actually being inserted differently by region. It sounds like a bit of a shortlived experiment, possibly even gone after the strike as I don't think a close-by recording with them after this point has yet been found, with the truly regional Oracle service only launching later on (and by then definitely devoid of any recreated regional ITV logos).
Last edited by tesandco on 31 July 2019 6:50am
MA
There was no Oracle service broadcast, remember the ITV companies were disconnected from the transmitters during the strike, so an empty VBI. That said it did reappear at about 4pm on the afternoon of ITV's return. There was still an IBA generated caption, but presumably by then the IBA were feeding the caption to Thames as an OS, and the ITV network was up and running again through the regional studios
Did Oracle go blank then or just get stuck with the same news for 3 months?
There was no Oracle service broadcast, remember the ITV companies were disconnected from the transmitters during the strike, so an empty VBI. That said it did reappear at about 4pm on the afternoon of ITV's return. There was still an IBA generated caption, but presumably by then the IBA were feeding the caption to Thames as an OS, and the ITV network was up and running again through the regional studios
Last edited by Markymark on 31 July 2019 6:58am
MA
If it is from 1979 then it would imply that CTV possessed teletext production facilities and was producing its own pages prior to the strike as opposed to just retransmitting the received Westward pages.
I assume that Oracle went on strike along with the other ITV programme contractors.
That's something I don't know.
I do dimly recall the IBA mentioning a local Oracle service on CTV around that time (late 70s early 80s) It may well have been an IBA funded experiment.
It may well be from '79. Wiki is not the most reliable source.
If it is from 1979 then it would imply that CTV possessed teletext production facilities and was producing its own pages prior to the strike as opposed to just retransmitting the received Westward pages.
I assume that Oracle went on strike along with the other ITV programme contractors.
That's something I don't know.
I do dimly recall the IBA mentioning a local Oracle service on CTV around that time (late 70s early 80s) It may well have been an IBA funded experiment.
IS
How well did the Oracle data fare on the way over to Jersey? Presumably it was a bit hit and miss depending on weather conditions.
Maybe that's why they got a regional service first, and even when Oracle closed, still had a bigger local text service than the rest of the country
Maybe that's why they got a regional service first, and even when Oracle closed, still had a bigger local text service than the rest of the country
MA
The IBA and BBC regenerated teletext data on long or 'dirty' RBL paths, so that would have helped, but the rule GI-GO still would have applied !
Further reading, scroll up a page for local text insertion, and down a page for the Clock Cracker
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OJqjBQAAQBAJ&pg=SA60-PA8&lpg=SA60-PA8&dq=teletext+regenerator&source=bl&ots=EKgI29ArJ1&sig=ACfU3U0OLNF4VB_5KonOTU49lmWnHJ5Nsg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNiL61y97jAhWZQkEAHVDiBrEQ6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=teletext%20regenerator&f=false
How well did the Oracle data fare on the way over to Jersey? Presumably it was a bit hit and miss depending on weather conditions.
The IBA and BBC regenerated teletext data on long or 'dirty' RBL paths, so that would have helped, but the rule GI-GO still would have applied !
Further reading, scroll up a page for local text insertion, and down a page for the Clock Cracker
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OJqjBQAAQBAJ&pg=SA60-PA8&lpg=SA60-PA8&dq=teletext+regenerator&source=bl&ots=EKgI29ArJ1&sig=ACfU3U0OLNF4VB_5KonOTU49lmWnHJ5Nsg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNiL61y97jAhWZQkEAHVDiBrEQ6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=teletext%20regenerator&f=false