Television

[Guest skeets]

Hi all ,Who remembers having early TV, when all the nieghbours were coming in, to see this wonderful thing ,as the old ones were saying, l had mine in 1948 , my favourite programme about that time, was about a doctor, he specialised in plastic surgery, he was supposed to be sightseeing round the globe , he was always seeing somone he could help ,and if a worthy case free gratis, anyone recall this programme, cheers skeets. SORRY FOLKS WRONG CAT;

[DaveH]

Hi all ,Who remembers having early TV, when all the nieghbours were coming in, to see this wonderful thing ,as the old ones were saying, l had mine in 1948 , my favourite programme about that time, was about a doctor, he specialised in plastic surgery, he was supposed to be sightseeing round the globe , he was always seeing somone he could help ,and if a worthy case free gratis, anyone recall this programme, cheers skeets. SORRY FOLKS WRONG CAT;

Hi skeets, see you have got your avatar working, although the picture is not the "lovebirds" one I expected.

I have no idea what the TV programme was as it was way before my time.

There is another thread somewhere about Sheffields oldest radio station (I think it was called 6LO or something like that in the 1920's but you can look it up in the thread)

1948 is before most people had a television, most people getting their first set in the 1950's, so this raises the next question...

How long have television broadcasts been available in the Sheffield area?

OK the history books will tell you about TV in 1936 before the war broadcast by the BBC, but that was only in the London area. When exactly did television become something that a Sheffielder could watch?

[Waterside Echo]

Hi skeets, see you have got your avatar working, although the picture is not the "lovebirds" one I expected.

I have no idea what the TV programme was as it was way before my time.

There is another thread somewhere about Sheffields oldest radio station (I think it was called 6LO or something like that in the 1920's but you can look it up in the thread)

1948 is before most people had a television, most people getting their first set in the 1950's, so this raises the next question...

How long have television broadcasts been available in the Sheffield area?

OK the history books will tell you about TV in 1936 before the war broadcast by the BBC, but that was only in the London area. When exactly did television become something that a Sheffielder could watch?

We got our TV in 1951 when the nearest transmitter to Sheffield was Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham. To get a better picture we had to wait a few months until the Holme Moss transmitter started broadcasting. The telly was a 12" model made by KB and cost 99 Guineas. My Dad was on £6-17-6d a week then.

[DaveH]

We got our TV in 1951 when the nearest transmitter to Sheffield was Sutton Coalfield near Birmingham. To get a better picture we had to wait a few months until the Holme Moss transmitter started broadcasting. The telly was a 12" model made by KB and cost 99 Guineas. My Dad was on £6-17-6d a week then.

I suspect that reception in Sheffield from Sutton Colfield would be quite weak and poor.

I didn't know that Holme Moss, a BBC transmitter first started in 1951 but this could be the answer to the question.

ITV of course didn't start broadcasting until 22/9/1955 and they used their transmitter at Emley Moor.

[Waterside Echo]

I suspect that reception in Sheffield from Sutton Colfield would be quite weak and poor.

I didn't know that Holme Moss, a BBC transmitter first started in 1951 but this could be the answer to the question.

ITV of course didn't start broadcasting until 22/9/1955 and they used their transmitter at Emley Moor.

Regarding the the opening of Holme Moss. I don`t know the exact date but I do remember watching King George the Vl`s funeral being broadcast from this transmitter.

[POPPYCHRISTINA]

Regarding the the opening of Holme Moss. I don`t know the exact date but I do remember watching King George the Vl`s funeral being broadcast from this transmitter.

Most people in those days got a television set to watch The Coronationof Queen Elizabeth.A wet ,dreary day. I can remember lots of kids crowded around the tele.

[DaveH]

Most people in those days got a television set to watch The Coronationof Queen Elizabeth.A wet ,dreary day. I can remember lots of kids crowded around the tele.

The Kings funeral and the Queens Coronation in 1952 and 1953 respectively would be very consistent with the Holme Moss transmitter opening in 1951 and so could be the time of the first television broadcasts to Sheffield.

All I can remember of TV in the '50's (I was very young at the time) was endless test cards and intermission films. Programmes only seemed to be broadcast for a few hours each evening, not starting until 5 o'clock with the childrens hour and ending around 10 with the National Anthem and the little dot in the middle of the screen when these valve powered dinosaurs were finally turned off for the night.

[Guest skeets]

The Kings funeral and the Queens Coronation in 1952 and 1953 respectively would be very consistent with the Holme Moss transmitter opening in 1951 and so could be the time of the first television broadcasts to Sheffield.

All I can remember of TV in the '50's (I was very young at the time) was endless test cards and intermission films. Programmes only seemed to be broadcast for a few hours each evening, not starting until 5 o'clock with the childrens hour and ending around 10 with the National Anthem and the little dot in the middle of the screen when these valve powered dinosaurs were finally turned off for the night.

HI DaveH, Sorry all . got my wires crossed, 48 was when we moved into our first house in Alderson rd ,it was a good while after, nearer 50 ,and the reception was very poor , when it broke down, that was the signal to make about half a doz cups of tea, when the programmes ended ,!{ and l came back from the pub }!`,the wife would say that was nice , as l was saying you'll soon get fed up with that performance, but she never did [much more tolerable than me] l wonder how many folks had that occurence nearly every night , but it soon went, as soon they had their own sets. As for the avatar saga, l put this one up till l get this thing adjusted. Cheers Dave. Skeets.

[DaveH]

HI DaveH, Sorry all . got my wires crossed, 48 was when we moved into our first house in Alderson rd ,it was a good while after, nearer 50 ,and the reception was very poor , when it broke down, that was the signal to make about half a doz cups of tea, when the programmes ended ,!{ and l came back from the pub }!`,the wife would say that was nice , as l was saying you'll soon get fed up with that performance, but she never did [much more tolerable than me] l wonder how many folks had that occurence nearly every night , but it soon went, as soon they had their own sets. As for the avatar saga, l put this one up till l get this thing adjusted. Cheers Dave. Skeets.

In those early TV days when reception was poor and it could not be corrected by adjusting things like horizontal hold and vertical hold which modern TV's no longer have, because it was due to a poor signal the thing most people did was fiddle about with the aeriel. When TV used Band 1 VHF 405 line the aeriel was either a rod (called a dipole) which could be either horizontal or vertical polarised, a double dipole which looked like a letter H, again either horizontal or vertical or a nonpolar omnidirectional dipole which looked like a letter X. When ITV came along in 1955 with Band 3 VHF 405 line they added the directional dipole with any number of "directors" in front of the dipole, usually mounted vertically. It was only with the comming of UHF 625 line TV in 1964 with BBC2 that we got the grid based directed dipole which is still very common on rooftops today and which digital freeview aerials are only a slight development of.

When walking post older buildings in Sheffield today I still sometimes look to the roof to see what sort of aeriel they have. It's amazing that although 405 line went years ago how many of these older types of aeriel can still be seen on city rooftops.

[Waterside Echo]

At a private show in a hopital today, 150 sick children will get the TV thrill of a lifetime, they will watch the Coronation procession IN FULL COLOUR. And yesterday, as a test, the first outside telecast ever made in colour in Britain was flashed to two TV sets at the Childrens Hospital in London`s Great Ormand street. The three cameras which made TV history were perched on the roof of a Foreign Office building in London overlooking Westminster and views of the pre-Coronation crowds below were sent by portable transmitter. The demonstration was given by the Pye Company of Cambridge. [Daily Mirror. June 2nd 1953.]

[DaveH]

At a private show in a hopital today, 150 sick children will get the TV thrill of a lifetime, they will watch the Coronation procession IN FULL COLOUR. And yesterday, as a test, the first outside telecast ever made in colour in Britain was flashed to two TV sets at the Childrens Hospital in London`s Great Ormand street. The three cameras which made TV history were perched on the roof of a Foreign Office building in London overlooking Westminster and views of the pre-Coronation crowds below were sent by portable transmitter. The demonstration was given by the Pye Company of Cambridge. [Daily Mirror. June 2nd 1953.]

Officially colour broadcasting in Britain began in 1967 using the 625 line PAL system introduced in 1964 with the new UHF channels introduced with the start of BBC2. However in America colour broadcasting did start as early as 1951 using their "inferior quality" 525 line NTSC system. As soon as America introduced this European networks and of course the BBC started to experiment with colour broadcasting of their own. The Coronation itself in 1953 would have been one of these early experiments, hence the very limited and privelidged audience and the quote "The demonstration was given by the Pye Company of Cambridge".

It would be nice to know though :-

1) What system the Pye company were using in this test broadcast, and

2) How successful the broadcast was in terms of both technical quality and audience reaction.

[Stuart0742]

Whilst scanning copies of the "Green 'Un" from 1951 I noticed the Cann's on Dixon Ln are now advertising Televisions

[DaveH]

Whilst scanning copies of the "Green 'Un" from 1951 I noticed the Cann's on Dixon Ln are now advertising Televisions

I assume with the start of broadcasting by the BBC from Holme Moss, giving Sheffield its first decent recption of television broadcasts, the market would be wide open for the sale of television sets in this area and local companies like Cann's would be the people to provide the goods.

The diagram shows a typical 1950's 17" screen "wooden box" television receiver with no indication of the price, but look at that list of available manufacturers models!!

Not one Japanese name amongst them, - and hardly any of them left in business today!

[Guest tsavo]

I don't think that the drawing can be of a 17" screen as at that time there were only 9" or 12" screens with just possibly the odd 14" model. Tubes at the time were mostly round as opposed to the modern (!) 'squared' CRT sets. You were right about Holme Moss though, gave us what the south had had for some time.

[DaveH]

I don't think that the drawing can be of a 17" screen as at that time there were only 9" or 12" screens with just possibly the odd 14" model. Tubes at the time were mostly round as opposed to the modern (!) 'squared' CRT sets. You were right about Holme Moss though, gave us what the south had had for some time.

If the screen was only a 9" then judging by the size of the cabinet it would measure roughly 1ft wide, 1 ft deep and 3 ft high. That would be a small TV by 1950's standards when electronic goods were powered by thermionic valves (although the transistor had been invented and developed in America in the late 1940's). For its day this must have been almost a "portable" TV set, except possibly for its weight.

Then again it is only an illustrative line drawing and you are of course right about the small screens used on early receivers.

[SteveHB]

Pay-TV - 1960s Style comes to Sheffield, cable TV.

Electromusications

The television magazine from Transdiffusion

[DaveH]

Pay-TV - 1960s Style comes to Sheffield, cable TV.

Electromusications

The television magazine from Transdiffusion

I seem to remember my great uncle Lloyd, who lived up Hillsborough / Wadsley somewhere having "cable TV" in about 1966 and refering to it as "Sheffield Cable". He had 4 Channels, BBC1, BBC2, ITV and "Sheffield Cable" at a time we only had 2, BBC1 and ITV, both in 405 line monochrome. As far as I know we couldn't get "Sheffield Cable" (pay TV) on the Arbourthorne although we did have these mysterious thick black cables running under the gutter from house to house. In the early 1970's when I fixed the downlead from a shortwave radio aeriael around it for support at certain frequencies I could pick up TV sound induced from this cable, but at the time as an avid shortwave listener this was just unwanted interference.

[Stuart0742]

I seem to remember my great uncle Lloyd, who lived up Hillsborough / Wadsley somewhere having "cable TV" in about 1966 and refering to it as "Sheffield Cable". He had 4 Channels, BBC1, BBC2, ITV and "Sheffield Cable" at a time we only had 2, BBC1 and ITV, both in 405 line monochrome. As far as I know we couldn't get "Sheffield Cable" (pay TV) on the Arbourthorne although we did have these mysterious thick black cables running under the gutter from house to house. In the early 1970's when I fixed the downlead from a shortwave radio aeriael around it for support at certain frequencies I could pick up TV sound induced from this cable, but at the time as an avid shortwave listener this was just unwanted interference.

At lot of the estates around Sheffield were cables up for Cable TV, Hackenthorpe had the same black cables slung from house to house, there is was nether used, but the cables are there to this day.

My in-laws who lived in Rawmarsh had Redifusion Cable TV when I 1st knew them in 1979ish, their TV was connected to a rotary selector switch on the windowsill, to change channel you had to turn this switch.

I think they only had the normal channels plus radio channels.

[DaveH]

At lot of the estates around Sheffield were cables up for Cable TV, Hackenthorpe had the same black cables slung from house to house, there is was nether used, but the cables are there to this day.

My in-laws who lived in Rawmarsh had Redifusion Cable TV when I 1st knew them in 1979ish, their TV was connected to a rotary selector switch on the windowsill, to change channel you had to turn this switch.

I think they only had the normal channels plus radio channels.

In the last year the cable that was slung from my mums house to the neighbours across a double car width driveway has been cut by workmen and the loose end unceremoniuosly tucked, half behind my mums drainpipe and the other half behind the neighbours, the rest of the cable is still "in situ" but as the act of cutting it renders it useless I take it that the cable is no longer in use by any commercial company.

(As a a fellow SWL'er, the cable was RTI source of QRM, RST 593, SINPO 55555 if that means anything to you)

[jiginc]

Whilst scanning copies of the "Green 'Un" from 1951 I noticed the Cann's on Dixon Ln are now advertising Televisions

I do not think that the set shown existed it's just a line drawing. As said 9" or at best 12" was the norm.

jiginc

[DaveH]

I do not think that the set shown existed it's just a line drawing. As said 9" or at best 12" was the norm.

jiginc

Thanks jiginc, see my post post #15 above (last sentence) and you will see I fully agree with you.

It is also well known that in the early days of television 1946 - 50's many keen and talented amateur enthusiasts took to building there own TV receivers by using ex- military surplus parts available from a variety of outlets (in Sheffield, Bardwells was such an outlet). The cathode ray tube which was used to create the picture would more than likely have come from an early RADAR system ans so would be small and round, giving a rectangular picture not much more than a few inches across. I image that commercial cathode ray tubes of the time would be similar in size and design as there are problems associated with producing large screen crt displays without making the tube itself excessively long (making the TV set very deep), without putting too much curvature on the screen (which of course should ideally be flat like a cinema screen) and without causing a variety of types of distortion in the resulting picture. Many of these problems were not fully solved until the 1980's but are now not problems at all with the current move towards flat screen displays which no longer rely on crt technology.

[vox]

Only vaguely related I suppose but,

the Ideal Homes Exhibition at the City Hall featured the first public demonstration of Closed Circuit TV. I was in my first band at that time, (or pop group as they were known in those days) We were set up on a podium somewhere in the main display area. (can't remember exactly where) Anyway there was a camera on us which beamed us to all the other areas around the hall. Makes me one of the first people in Sheffield to be seen on CCTV. I think this must have been around 1964.

[DaveH]

Only vaguely related I suppose but,

the Ideal Homes Exhibition at the City Hall featured the first public demonstration of Closed Circuit TV. I was in my first band at that time, (or pop group as they were known in those days) We were set up on a podium somewhere in the main display area. (can't remember exactly where) Anyway there was a camera on us which beamed us to all the other areas around the hall. Makes me one of the first people in Sheffield to be seen on CCTV. I think this must have been around 1964.

Ah, vox!!!

Played in a pop group in the 1960's,

Now I get it, it's VOX

I take it you have taken your online SheffieldHistory display name from a 1960's electric guitar amplifier, a make made popular by the Shadows and the Beatles. By modern standards not fantastically powerfull and very heavy to cart about as the amplifier used radio valves instead of semiconductors BUT, they gave a particular resonant sound which is instantly recognisable as the 1960's electric guitar sound, - what an electric guitar should sound like when played properly. The sound was they produced was probably the reason they were so popular with the top groups.

Am I right about your choice of name?

[vox]

Ah, vox!!!

Played in a pop group in the 1960's,

Now I get it, it's VOX

I take it you have taken your online SheffieldHistory display name from a 1960's electric guitar amplifier, a make made popular by the Shadows and the Beatles. By modern standards not fantastically powerfull and very heavy to cart about as the amplifier used radio valves instead of semiconductors BUT, they gave a particular resonant sound which is instantly recognisable as the 1960's electric guitar sound, - what an electric guitar should sound like when played properly. The sound was they produced was probably the reason they were so popular with the top groups.

Am I right about your choice of name?

You are as right as a correct person sir.

Here's a 1960's AC30

[jiginc]

Thanks jiginc, see my post post #15 above (last sentence) and you will see I fully agree with you.

It is also well known that in the early days of television 1946 - 50's many keen and talented amateur enthusiasts took to building there own TV receivers by using ex- military surplus parts available from a variety of outlets (in Sheffield, Bardwells was such an outlet). The cathode ray tube which was used to create the picture would more than likely have come from an early RADAR system ans so would be small and round, giving a rectangular picture not much more than a few inches across. I image that commercial cathode ray tubes of the time would be similar in size and design as there are problems associated with producing large screen crt displays without making the tube itself excessively long (making the TV set very deep), without putting too much curvature on the screen (which of course should ideally be flat like a cinema screen) and without causing a variety of types of distortion in the resulting picture. Many of these problems were not fully solved until the 1980's but are now not problems at all with the current move towards flat screen displays which no longer rely on crt technology.

Sorry DaveH must read previous posts. I can remember a family friend who had a set with a round CRT must have given about a 9" picture. Our Marconi set had a 9" screen but in a rather large highly polished wooden cabinet. The most common set of the time was the Bush 9" with a Bakelite cabinet. We had two in the workshop at Wigfalls so we could see what was on, if anything, most of the time we were working it was just the test card. One was showing BBC the other ITV.