21-02-2025, 05:24 PM
From my spreadsheet The BECG unit was re purposed in 1991 from “my local” BBC EAST Norwich COW - crate number 5
The customisation ( as the manual puts it) is archived by swapping 16 EPROMs, 8 on the luminance and 8 on the chroma background image store cards.
These hold the horizontal slice of the image from just under the globe that contains the
BBC1
XXXXXXXXX
COWs also have the ability to blank the ident under the BBC1. The main use of this was so the London “national” COW could display CEEFAX 888 ( originally 170) when subtitles were available, it normally showing just BBC1. The switch to do this is actually marked CEEFAX
The regional COWs could also blank their ident if required. - which has made me think, I’m sure I have seen images somewhere of the mechanical globes having a flap arrangement to achieve the same effect.
Or I could be having a Corporal Jones moment and “heading off into the realms of fantasy”
The customisation ( as the manual puts it) is archived by swapping 16 EPROMs, 8 on the luminance and 8 on the chroma background image store cards.
These hold the horizontal slice of the image from just under the globe that contains the
BBC1
XXXXXXXXX
COWs also have the ability to blank the ident under the BBC1. The main use of this was so the London “national” COW could display CEEFAX 888 ( originally 170) when subtitles were available, it normally showing just BBC1. The switch to do this is actually marked CEEFAX
The regional COWs could also blank their ident if required. - which has made me think, I’m sure I have seen images somewhere of the mechanical globes having a flap arrangement to achieve the same effect.
Or I could be having a Corporal Jones moment and “heading off into the realms of fantasy”
