Really interesting nations opts and network chatter.

We did. It was not very stable and only provided the BBC-1 CEEFAX pages. Mostly we opted out on BBC-2 and took a more stable network feed of BBC-2 Ceefax.

Topic split, but do keep going its fab reading!

Unlikely as the maps are from 1994 and the SuperLeague Show didn't start until 5 years later. I'm not sure what difference having a direct rather than an indirect circuit would have on staffing in Newcastle?


The maps take me back to when I was first at the BBC and needing to book and establish circuits from all over. They never just appeared, despite the bookings system keeping everyone to the same hymn sheet. So you'd end up phoning every point inbetween to get them to switch their incoming out to you.

The network that replaced it (and the one that replaced that last year) are a hub and spoke system so anywhere can be routed to anywhere and centrally controlled. So something like The SuperLeague Show just goes from Leeds to the hub then to Newcastle and Manchester or wherever. Much nicer but you don't get to say hi to all the various CTA engineers up and down the country

What's the story with Carlisle? I wasn't aware of any BBC presence there except for Radio Cumbria

BBC Scotland's PM5544 generator was left running in a rack whose fans had failed so eventually it died. There was really no further need for it, as by that time we'd gone widescreen, so the useless piece of junk was given to me as a souvenir - some of the lads from the Test Card Circle painstakingly repaired it and it now works again. There was only ever one generator, but a front panel toggle switch could either insert the BBC 1 ident in the top black box or BBC-2 in the bottom black box.

I don't have any first hand knowledge of the mysteries of the 1980s distribution, but I have heard many stories that seem to back up the idea that Glasgow's PM5544 was sometimes radiated by Divis. It is, of course, possible that it was on a roll of videotape.

Carlisle ( Caldbeck) was attached to the BBC North West region for a few years in the 90s, and had a sub opt for northern Cumbria presented for a single camera booth there. I imagine it was also a DTL interview position, as well, but the opt would have required a loop through and switching with local ends to the Carlisle BT NSC ?

Oh, and to go back to the prehistoric days before anoraks had been invented, Northern Ireland's programme vision feed in the early '50s was an RBL from Kirk o'Shotts, and in the very early days of Glencairn (the temporary site for Belfast before Divis was completed) Ko'S* had to radiate Test Card 'C' out of normal hours to give Glencairn some pictures for their test transmissions. Initially, the first NI programme "Ulster Mirror" was shot on film (NI had no studios), then sent to Glasgow for playout via KoS. So Scottish viewers saw the programme as well. Audio, however was distributed by BT.

*Until UHF came along, most main 405 line stations had either a slide scanner or a monoscope to radiate their own test card. Shotts initially had a Cathodeon Monoscope, especially necessary as they only took network programmes in afternoons and evenings and didn;t take any Trade transmissions in the mornings until the South - North link was properly completed.

Assume SLS is played out from Leeds. Leeds send a feed of their output on a contribution circuit to Manchester CTA with the usual soft-opt arrangements. Before the opt, Manchester CTA switch the dirty feed from Leeds (carrying network) to Winter Hill and on the distribution feed to Newcastle.

Leeds opt out for the programme and this goes to transmitters in all three regions without the Manchester and Newcastle galleries being involved.

There was no BBC TV presence in Carlisle other than this remote controlled switcher, and an interview position which I think was in a portacabin over the road from Radio Cumbria with an optical link back to there. If anyone stomped around the "studio" it caused noise on the vision link.....
I don't know where the remote switcher was, but I guess it would have been in the BT exchange and not Radio Cumbria.
Certainly when it did fail it was a bit of a faff to get it sorted or over plugged.
I would have to contact old colleagues who would have worked in Manchester CTA back in the day to confirm.

I had never been aware of any equipment at BBC 625 line transmitters generating their own test signals, and this is one of the problems with any discussion covering a distant period. Things do change as working practices and equipment is modified. I can see why 405 line transmitters would have some means of doing so, but maybe by the 1980s the links feeding the UHF Tx were more reliable, and the small number of times where the feed wasn't available didn't justify the cost of the kit to cover that.
My time in the BBC was from 1985, so opting out BBC 2 distribution for programme feeds wasn't generally done during test transmissions, although I think I can remember it happening once or twice(?). Certainly BBC 1 during opt outs was fair game though.

That generator must be at least 40 years old at this stage? Any idea when it was brought into service?

Only the one generator then. Presumably if BBC Scotland ever needed to use it on both channels at the same time a caption overlay would be required to display the channel ID on one channel, just like network? Or, did the switch allow for a third option of displaying no channel ID at all?

I am convinced that I have a valid recollection of network displaying 'BBC1' in the top black box of TCG. Do you happen to know if network's generator had a similar switching mechanism for the channel ID? I know they generally just overlaid a 'BBC1' caption on TCG, to cover up the 'BBC2' - just like they did with the slide version of TCF. I know there's a late-70s VHS recording on the internet showing a grey 'BBC1' overlay on TCG - my only recollections of that TCG overlay was a black background.



You make a very good point about videotape. The only reason I have ever gone down the route of some weird reconfiguration of feeds is that various people over the years have claimed that they recollect seeing what was believed to be Birmingham's TCG + music (Sunflower?) radiated in parts of England outside of BBC Birmingham's normal transmitter catchment area.

I witnessed a fairly large number of "programme transfer" TCG transmissions live, in Northern Ireland. The switch to and from TCG was actually quite tidy - no picture roll/audio distortion of any note. Which makes me doubt that a switching of feeds occurred. As one other contributor noted earlier, if the feed from Carlisle was altered, there would probably have been quite a messy picture/audio disturbance.

I have a few e-mails out with some people at the moment, to see if I can get some definitive info on what exactly went on here - countrywide, not just in NI.

Your videotape comment got me thinking. I don't think it was videotape actually - the tape would've been well worn. The quality of the test card itself was quite crisp. But another thought: BBC Northern Ireland relayed BBC Scotland children's programmes during the early part of the school holidays in July (English/Welsh schools didn't break up until later in July). This happened for a number of years, up until, I think 1985? It was always in the morning and the BBC Scotland announcer used to say hello to viewers in NI. So, I'm wondering - what if Glasgow put out their TCG, BBC NI then took a feed of BBC Two Scotland through their continuity desk and opted in on BBC Two in NI?

The BBC Scotland generator came into service in early 1970 I think. The choice of ident was a BBC modification, so I don;t know if other PM5544 generators were similarly modified. Yes, you could turn both idents off and run without an ident.

It's entirely possible that BBC NI took the test card on a line feed. But I don't have any direct evidence that it happened.