Screen images taken prior to 405 line shut down

[peter scott]

I was looking through some old photos and came across this news reader taken when I was still receiving a 405 line service from Kirk O' Shotts. I think it's a young Nicholas Witchell

   

Have you any other screen shots from pre-1984 405 line transmissions?

Peter

[ppppenguin]

I have nothing that I took. For the simple reason that I wasn't especially interested in 405 line TV until I joined Thron-EMI Central Research Labs in early 1986. After 405 had closed down.

[Terry]

I think you are wrong about the name, Peter, and I don't think he is as young as you think.

He wasn't one of the commonest faces on TV but I can't shine any more light on the subject, I'm afraid.

EDIT. Hold on! Is it Peter Woods?

[peter scott]

Thanks Terry, I could easily be persuaded that Nicholas Witchell is wrong but if it is Peter Woods then my photo is earlier than I thought. I bought the HMV901 in 1978 and it didn't take more than a few months to get it working and build a frequency convertor to give it Channel 1.

Looking at the screen shot I think I can see the prominent cheek bones.

   

"Woods went on to work for the BBC in 1960, one of the first print journalists to make a successful transition to the screen, and also worked for ITN during a long and successful career. He retired in 1981 and died in 1995."

Peter

[peter scott]

Here's a couple that I took off the screen of my parents' Philips 1400A. I think I can date this to 15th Feb 1961. The colour photo is not my parents' set but identical to it. I still have the chassis and optics but the screen has suffered rather like that in the photo. Poor dc restoration and frame flyback suppression are rather obvious.

These were taken with a Zeiss Ikon folding camera that took 8 pictures on a 120 film.

Peter

   

Adjustments to the preset controls (the four holes in the front panel) were operated by a small screwdriver with an alloy shaft and a red plastic handle. This was stored by pushing it into a hole in the rear panel fitted with a grommet. The handle had a lip on it to prevent it from passing fully through the grommet. Sadly I no longer have this much used instrument.

   

[Terry]

My first reaction to that was to make a comment about the nasty ion burn, but I thought better of it.

I was puzzled for a moment or two as to why your HMV needed a converter to receive Channel 1 ...

Then it dawned on me that I was looking at it the wrong way round! (No mirror required.)

Perhaps I'll wake up fully by lunch time ...

[peter scott]

Don't you mean retinal burn Terry?

Yes, both sets use a 45 degree mirror but they don't really look that similar.

Peter