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25 years since ITV Schools ended.

(May 2018)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
MK
Mr Kite
At primary school, which was early 90s, we had one TV, one of those massive things on a trolley with the TV in a lockable wooden cupboard that was wheeled from classroom to classroom.


Pretty sure every primary school had that exact same TV across the land. In mine, initially, they didn't have a roof aerial and so they had one that sat in the telly, although it looked like a normal aerial, not one of those hoop ones you used to get on small portables (which were pretty awful in my experience). The teacher would then orientate the aerial until the picture was watchable, so we would glimpses, usually of the ITV Schools on 4 roto all snowy and the picture going mad for a few seconds, as the teacher adjusted it. A year later, they rewired the school and this involved roof aerials with sockets in each room so the telly could just be plugged straight in.

We actually watched 3 different programmes from ITV schools in the first year of primary school per week. I can't remember the programme we had on Monday but it was quite serious and boring. Our World, My World was on Wednesday and Lets Go Maths was on Friday. The next year, we got Stop Look Listen and Stop Go. Didn't watch much after that year. Watched How We Used To Live in the last year of primary school by which point it was Channel 4 Schools with the haunting nautical music.
MA
Markymark
Did S4C work from a dirty feed the rest of the time?


I asked about that some years ago. Up until the end of 1992, S4C only had the same ‘dirty’ feed the rest of the UK was fed with. Post 1993, C4 switched to BT 34 Mb/s dist, this allowed for a clean feed to S4C ( and a direct fibre feed to Fremont Point)
MA
Markymark


Pretty sure every primary school had that exact same TV across the land. In mine, initially, they didn't have a roof aerial and so they had one that sat in the telly,


I bet it was this one:-

http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/albertsattic/154.shtml
MK
Mr Kite
It's a long time ago now (I was 5 years old) but that looks about right.
MA
Markymark
It's a long time ago now (I was 5 years old) but that looks about right.


Although no self respecting engineer or rigger should ever endorse any form of 'indoor reception' solution, I'm told that particular model of set top aerial still remains unbeaten to this day in terms of performance.
IS
Inspector Sands
I've got one of those Antiference Setsquare aerials somewhere, a 'Setsquare 2' in fact as it was especially for BBC2 according to the box (no idea what is different about it or whether when it was produced there was only BBC2 on UHF ). Used it all through my renting and student days including with an Ondigital box. It was last used to view the dying moments of analogue
JA
james-2001
I can only presume it was made in the 1964-69 period when BBC2 was the only channel on UHF, there's nothing else special about it that would make an aerial just good for BBC2 and nothing else. It's not like BBC2 was only in a certain frequency band that aerial might have been good for, as where it was varied from transmitter to transmitter.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
That's a good point - set top aerials probably aren't helped by being wideband.
MA
Markymark
I can only presume it was made in the 1964-69 period when BBC2 was the only channel on UHF, there's nothing else special about it that would make an aerial just good for BBC2 and nothing else. It's not like BBC2 was only in a certain frequency band that aerial might have been good for, as where it was varied from transmitter to transmitter.


Some of the early outdoor UHF aerials in the early to mid 60s were optimised for only the BBC 2 transmission in a particular area, here's another pamphlet from Bill Wright's site

http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/albertsattic/041.shtml
IS
Inspector Sands
Yes the one I have is group C/D if I remember correctly. My parents lived in the London area
MA
Markymark
Yes the one I have is group C/D if I remember correctly. My parents lived in the London area


CP is (or was until this year) a group A station. However Reigate and Hertford were early (1966 ish) BBC 2 relays, both Group C/D
RI
Riaz
I only watched them at school, and at my primary school (1969 to 75), we only watched BBC school programmes.


https://forums.doyouremember.co.uk/threads/20637-Watching-schools-programmes-at-home

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