We’ve been busy with some more work on Project Vivat, See the Vivat latest news page for more details.
Southern extra distribution amplifiers
One of the problems that we have always noted with Southern is the lack of space for distribution amplifiers, for both video (VDAs) and pulses (PDAs). Rack space is in very short supply after accommodating four Marconi MkVII camera control units with power supplies, aperture correctors and coders, plus the space required for monitors and the mixer electronics, so we had only fitted one set of distribution amplifiers.
ABC/Thames Italian documents part 1
When we received the vehicle from the previous owners, it came with lots of documentation, including some items in Italian. We know that when Sony Broadcast owned the vehicle it spent some time in Italy with the state broadcaster RAI, so we were intrigued to find out whether these documents shed any light on the time spent in Italy.
ABC/Thames strip-out video
Here is a short (5 minute) video showing some of the activities during our strip-out of the vehicle.
ABC/Thames strip-out starts
We have made our first foray into restoring our latest acquisition – the ABC/Thames Outside Broadcast Unit “GNF951E”. As detailed on the Project Page, this vehicle was converted into a mobile home by the previous owners, so we had to start by removing the modifications. A project team consisting of Paul, Richard, Martin, Jeffrey, Dave, Phil, Dicky, Jill, Margaret and Ruth assembled to start the work.
Burton Waters Boating Festival
See our restored Southern Television Outside Broadcast vehicle with working period equipment dating from 1968 at Burton Waters Marina near Lincoln on Saturday 15th June.
See the “Events” page for more information.
Background Articles
We’ve started adding some articles on various topics including the history of the technical and practical aspects of television.
These are all available under the category “Articles” and the last few are available from the “Articles” menu.
GNF951E ABC Unit 5
Our latest project is the restoration of ABC TV’s “Unit 5”. This was one of three new vehicles ordered by ABC in the mid-sixties. It passed to Thames and then to Sony before being converted into a domestic vehicle.
Please see the Project Page for further information.
Projects Page Added
Hello, thanks for looking! We’ve started to upload some details of the projects that we have been involved in,
Please see the Projects page for further details.
Wanted
Do you have a copy of the BBC/ITV booklet entitled “World Cup 1966 Television Broadcaster’s Handbook“?
If so, please get in touch with us at contactus@becg.org.uk
Thanks!