About us

The Broadcast Engineering Conservation Group is a small association of experienced and motivated professionals dedicated to the survival and interpretation of broadcast history.

We are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), number 1189469. This means that we can receive donations that will help us in our work of conserving historically significant broadcast equipment ranging from TV cameras to outside broadcast vehicles.

Over several decades, our trustees have invested much money and time in many restoration projects. These efforts will continue and grow in order to spread the understanding of this vital area of broadcast history.

Both those hoping to make a career in broadcast engineering and those who appreciate technology may benefit from understanding the evolution of the technology that too many of us take for granted today.

Phil Nott

Phil-Nott

Phil is an experienced business-development professional who has specialised in the media industry, in particular television and broadcast. His roles have included senior management positions at Fox International Channels, Arqiva and Sohonet, his current role is as Commercial Director at PA Media Group, TV Division.

This has led to his interest in the preservation of broadcast equipment, including TV cameras and outside-broadcast vehicles. Phil believes that a major purpose of preservation and restoration is to help current and future generations understand the past.

Jeffrey Borinsky

Jeffrey-Borinsky

Jeffrey’s life in electricity started at the age of three, and he first encountered the technical side of television at 11. Professionally, he has been an R&D engineer specialising in broadcast technology for more than 40 years, and has run his own design and consultancy practice for over 30.

Jeffrey has been a volunteer with the British Vintage Wireless and TV Museum, Dulwich, since 1986, and he is past treasurer of several organisations. He also owns what is said to be the oldest working TV receiver in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Paul Marshall

Paul-Marshall

Paul’s lifelong fascination with television started at the age of six when he was given a TV set to take to pieces. A Marconi student apprenticeship led initially to a career in TV transmitter design but evolved into R&D in the world of flight-simulation visual systems.

What started with the acquisition of a single scrap TV has resulted in him now being the owner of a huge collection of older broadcast equipment and the holder of a PhD in early television history, awarded in 2011.

Martin Pritchard

Martin-Pritchard

Martin joined the electrical distribution industry as an overhead linesman in 1984, spending most of his time rebuilding the 11kV network. After 31 years he moved over to the engineering side, and now looks after the automation of 11kV pole-mounted circuit breakers across Yorkshire.

He has been interested in outside-broadcast trucks and television broadcasting since the age of 14, finally acquiring a BBC Type 5 a few years ago.

Richard Harris

Richard-Harris

Richard has been involved in performing-arts technology since his youth; he trained as an electronics engineer at EMI and was involved with data acquisition and recording systems, eventually becoming a project manager. After many years working in technical theatre, he became a freelance engineer in television and film production.

Richard has an extensive collection of TV and lighting equipment, and is also a fully licenced radio amateur.

Dave Hill

Dave-Hill

Dave started as a student apprentice at Marconi Radar and Research before being seduced by the world of computers and IT. He has worked as a software engineer, but has mostly been involved with IT system administration for companies in the Cambridge and Milton Keynes areas.

He is still happy to get his hands dirty and wield the soldering iron when required, as well as looking after the BECG website.

Richard Lamont

Photo-Richard-Lamont

Richard was into electronics, radio and photography from an early age. His career began in BBC transmitters. He then moved into journalism, working in commercial radio and magazine publishing with his work appearing in over a dozen titles. He also worked as an audio engineer doing project work in various London studios. Later he became a director of a multi-depot company that supplied construction plant to civil engineers, utilities, local authorities and housebuilders. Richard also helped to create the cold war museum at Hack Green in Cheshire.