DV
I believe that the ITCA (Independent Television Companies Association) proposed to the IBA that the transmitters be shut down in mid September rather than continue with the caption. This suggestion was denied by the IBA primarily due to fears that post strike some wouldn’t come back on line properly resulting in more expense and delay in re-establishment of service.
TJ
Maybee also that the IBA continued to chatge rentals to the ITCA's members.....
I believe that the ITCA (Independent Television Companies Association) proposed to the IBA that the transmitters be shut down in mid September rather than continue with the caption. This suggestion was denied by the IBA primarily due to fears that post strike some wouldn’t come back on line properly resulting in more expense and delay in re-establishment of service.
Maybee also that the IBA continued to chatge rentals to the ITCA's members.....
MA
The IBA would have been reluctant to switch off the transmitters, at least not weekdays daytime, aerial riggers needed to have all three channels present to set up aerials and distribution systems properly.
In fact I seem to recall 1979 was about the time BBC 2 shut down their transmitters between 10:30 and 16:00, which the trade weren't happy about. The BBC relented in August 1982, when C4 tests started, otherwise that would have caused a lot of grief.
I believe that the ITCA (Independent Television Companies Association) proposed to the IBA that the transmitters be shut down in mid September rather than continue with the caption. This suggestion was denied by the IBA primarily due to fears that post strike some wouldn’t come back on line properly resulting in more expense and delay in re-establishment of service.
The IBA would have been reluctant to switch off the transmitters, at least not weekdays daytime, aerial riggers needed to have all three channels present to set up aerials and distribution systems properly.
In fact I seem to recall 1979 was about the time BBC 2 shut down their transmitters between 10:30 and 16:00, which the trade weren't happy about. The BBC relented in August 1982, when C4 tests started, otherwise that would have caused a lot of grief.
MA
I'm not sure, I think the IBA had the facility to turn up on site with a genny, if the power failure was long term ?
They did that at Guildford in Oct 1987 for County Sound, that Tx site that also carried TV and BBC National Radio and was off for 4-5 days. I suspect if BBC Surrey had existed back then, the Beeb would have done the same for that (but not the other services)
Didn't the IBA supply backup generators to the early ILR stations for their MW transmitters after a while?
The majority of listening was to MW rather than VHF back then.
The majority of listening was to MW rather than VHF back then.
I'm not sure, I think the IBA had the facility to turn up on site with a genny, if the power failure was long term ?
They did that at Guildford in Oct 1987 for County Sound, that Tx site that also carried TV and BBC National Radio and was off for 4-5 days. I suspect if BBC Surrey had existed back then, the Beeb would have done the same for that (but not the other services)
PP
No. For those of us who were alive in the 70s, we'd had long winter evenings without any power, (the smell of candle wax still takes me back to those days) I'd sat at school in lessons wearing my coat, because the heating didn't work (because there was a power cut and/or the oil hadn't turned up) and my parents had lived through WWII (my mother's house had its roof blown clean off by a bomb) , so quite honestly having no ITV for 10 weeks really really wasn't a disaster.
Oh, grow up, Debbie Downer!
Can't you just be grateful that it’s 40+ years ago? Anyway, I'm nearly finished my mock of the apology caption.
Didn’t the strike cause a baby boom?
No. For those of us who were alive in the 70s, we'd had long winter evenings without any power, (the smell of candle wax still takes me back to those days) I'd sat at school in lessons wearing my coat, because the heating didn't work (because there was a power cut and/or the oil hadn't turned up) and my parents had lived through WWII (my mother's house had its roof blown clean off by a bomb) , so quite honestly having no ITV for 10 weeks really really wasn't a disaster.
Oh, grow up, Debbie Downer!
Can't you just be grateful that it’s 40+ years ago? Anyway, I'm nearly finished my mock of the apology caption.
SH
No. For those of us who were alive in the 70s, we'd had long winter evenings without any power, (the smell of candle wax still takes me back to those days) I'd sat at school in lessons wearing my coat, because the heating didn't work (because there was a power cut and/or the oil hadn't turned up) and my parents had lived through WWII (my mother's house had its roof blown clean off by a bomb) , so quite honestly having no ITV for 10 weeks really really wasn't a disaster.
Oh, grow up, Debbie Downer! Can't you just be grateful that it’s 40+ years ago? Anyway, I'm nearly finished my mock of the apology caption.
Debbie Downer's actually a sketch from Saturday Night Live , if you guys didn't know.
The phrase probably originated from that skit.
Didn’t the strike cause a baby boom?
No. For those of us who were alive in the 70s, we'd had long winter evenings without any power, (the smell of candle wax still takes me back to those days) I'd sat at school in lessons wearing my coat, because the heating didn't work (because there was a power cut and/or the oil hadn't turned up) and my parents had lived through WWII (my mother's house had its roof blown clean off by a bomb) , so quite honestly having no ITV for 10 weeks really really wasn't a disaster.
Oh, grow up, Debbie Downer!
Can't you just be grateful that it’s 40+ years ago? Anyway, I'm nearly finished my mock of the apology caption.
Debbie Downer's actually a sketch from Saturday Night Live , if you guys didn't know.
The phrase probably originated from that skit.
PP
I basically finished my mock.
(If you can't see anything, click this link: https://imgur.com/a/4CX4Idv
I basically finished my mock.
(If you can't see anything, click this link: https://imgur.com/a/4CX4Idv
IS
Would that have been an issue in 1979? The transmitters were switched off every night and always came back on. Probably more of a issue with the older 405 line ones too
It was an issue years later once things went 24 hours. I remember being told that when the original BBC UHF transmitters were replaced they had trouble turning the outgoing ones off as the switches that once were used every night hadn't been used for years and wouldn't turn off. They had to turn the main breakers off instead
I believe that the ITCA (Independent Television Companies Association) proposed to the IBA that the transmitters be shut down in mid September rather than continue with the caption. This suggestion was denied by the IBA primarily due to fears that post strike some wouldn’t come back on line properly resulting in more expense and delay in re-establishment of service.
Would that have been an issue in 1979? The transmitters were switched off every night and always came back on. Probably more of a issue with the older 405 line ones too
It was an issue years later once things went 24 hours. I remember being told that when the original BBC UHF transmitters were replaced they had trouble turning the outgoing ones off as the switches that once were used every night hadn't been used for years and wouldn't turn off. They had to turn the main breakers off instead
DV
Would that have been an issue in 1979? The transmitters were switched off every night and always came back on. Probably more of a issue with the older 405 line ones too
It was an issue years later once things went 24 hours. I remember being told that when the original BBC UHF transmitters were replaced they had trouble turning the outgoing ones off as the switches that once were used every night hadn't been used for years and wouldn't turn off. They had to turn the main breakers off instead
I'm presuming that the worry was a prolonged switch off rather than overnight. Some equipment would have been live during the overnight closure, heating circuitry etc. especially on the high powered ones. A complete shutdown would be different.
Would that have been an issue in 1979? The transmitters were switched off every night and always came back on. Probably more of a issue with the older 405 line ones too
It was an issue years later once things went 24 hours. I remember being told that when the original BBC UHF transmitters were replaced they had trouble turning the outgoing ones off as the switches that once were used every night hadn't been used for years and wouldn't turn off. They had to turn the main breakers off instead
I'm presuming that the worry was a prolonged switch off rather than overnight. Some equipment would have been live during the overnight closure, heating circuitry etc. especially on the high powered ones. A complete shutdown would be different.