30 years since the closure of BSB

I drove to the uplink site to have a look around in preparation for my interview (See above). I think the whole of the Chilworth site was some sort of science park in conjunction with Southampton Uni? Different now of course, I still drive by it occasionally and my wife goes to a health club based there.

Yes, I visited there a few years ago (To see a demo of AdSmart). No mention of Sky on any of signage round there

I know Applemask thinks his hour-long look at C4 pres is his magnum opus, but I think it's Square Peg. Great series.

It's so nice and interesting to hear al of your memories! BTW if you are asking I wasn't around in 1990...but I decided to do this thread mainly because it seemed that nobody else did it, it's an important anniversary and so I thought it would be nice to mark it!

You missed out episode 6. But yes, a very interesting documentary.

Indeed, although of course the BSB set up was based in a portacabin hoisted onto the podium roof rather than anything permanent.

The IBA were doing a lot of research and development work on this in the 70's and many contemporary publicity shots of their place at Crawley Court in Winchester had their 3m receiving dish in shot. The IBA Technical Reviews 18 & 21 cover a great deal of the technicalities - but it is very technical and not for the casual reader, I certainly won't be re-reading it - if I ever did!

I think all the Box Office stuff has ended now. A friend of mine did occasional shifts there and I think she said that they do/did some of the smaller channels like Challenge there too

Thank you for this! I didn't know he'd done a series on BSB

I remember nothing of it, as I was around five years old when it closed.
I do remember seeing some squarials in Edinburgh, up until fairly recently. But that's it.

Edinburgh here too, there’s tons. Nearest to me is a pub in Gorgie.

Funny how many squarials are still around - they can only have been used for about three years at most. (It's got me thinking of other debris of the time like Rabbit and Zone Phone antennae in London, but enough of that diversion.)

Never saw BSB go out, but my parents picked up a squarial from an ex-BSB user who'd transferred over to a Sky dish post-merger - rigged it up in a lean-to in the garden, and it worked perfectly during the period when you got five (I think) Sky channels on it. They eventually transferred over to a Sky dish, but the squarial remained on the lean-to for years after.

You still see VHF TV aerials from the 405 line era on roofs, Squarials are youngsters in comparison!