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Outside Broadcasts

M

Mark Tooze

master brummie
Thought I would start a new thread looking at TV Outside Broadcasts from Brum over the years.
First lets start with good old ATV. I have only 3 photos of ATV OB's, featuring their old PC60 cameras - none very good:-
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Covering a greyhound racing meeting at the old Perry Barr Dog Track (where OneStop is now), for an insert into ATV Today

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Next, a barely visible pair of cameras covering Star Soccer from Villa Park

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And finally - single camera unit covering Villa's triumphant return to Victoria Square with the league championship in 1981 (more photos to follow from this event, and the "follow-up" gig a year later!!)

However - that world famous newspaper the "Villa Times" did a lovely centre page spread in 1976 of Star Soccer covering the Villa v Blues game - here are scans of this:-
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And then ATV produced their own "Star Soccer / Extra Time" magazine, when the Extra Time program started in (I think) 1976:- Here are scans of this - do not forget to enter the competition!!!
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For info - there is a fantastic interview with Hugh Johns looking back at his ITV / ATV commentary career at
 
When ATV became Central in 1982, they replaced the old PC60's (which dated from the late 1960's) with new lightweight Thomson cameras. Here are some at the Pearl Assurance Half Marathon in either 1984 or 1985 - if it was the latter this was the race in which Steve Jones broke the world half marathon record with a time of 61 mins, 14 seconds. These cameras were with the OB unit by the council house:-
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Camera #1 in Victoria Square

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Camera #2 on the council house balcony

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Camera #3 in Colmore Row, with a huge 42x zoom lens. It is sitting on a portable mount called a proctor dolly - obviously inherited from ATV - may be the same one in the photo at the greyhound track in post #1:-
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Camera #4 was somewhere behind the central library - not 100% sure but the multi-storey carpark looks vaguely familiar - perhaps the Sandpits?
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As well as fixed cameras around the course (using other OB units in various locations), Central also had a mobile camera to cover the race leaders. Nowadays this would be someone on a motorbike - then it was a camera mounted (mostly with gaffer tape by the looks of it...) on another proctor dolly on the back of a hired Bristol Street Motors truck - seen here in Colmore Row and Victoria Square:-
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In a few of the photos you can see the aerial that would have been used to beam the pictures to either a helicopter or a tall building (like Alpha Tower).

Does anyone else have photos of ATV or Central outside broadcasts please - I would love to see them!!
 
Was this van outside the Aston Hippodrome with an 'X' aerial on top an early outside broadcast vehicle. It has the words 'Post Office' on it. Back in 2013 we did comment about it in the thread but were not sure ...
TOPSYTURVEY said:
Can,t make out if the two little boys are having a wee or looking at something.
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Possibly a radio links vehicle - I can see cables going into the theatre from the van. I am not sure - sorry! We need an expert here!!
 
I think ITV and possibly BBC had studios in Aston and perhaps they were relaying something from the Hippodrome directly back to the studios. No easy recording of TV back then so it would be live. The antenna on the van looks sized for a low VHF frequency and as Pedro suggests it may have been for sound only.
 
BBC aerials would typically be Antex 'X' type or yagi 'H' type on channel 2 they were for 405 lines and BBC only. When ITV came out, you had to get the 'toast-rack' bit added.:grinning: The H was a dipole with a slightly longer reflector at the back, the X was a sort of bent dipole with a slightly shorter director at the front. The shorter ITV ones usually had a folded dipole with a reflector at the back & several directors at the front.... the VHF 405 aerials were horizontaly polarised, this was to try & cut down on co-channel interference from verticaly polarised transmitters. E.G. Lichfield transmitted ATV on channel 8 with vertical polarisation for the Midlands.

i had one for ages that i used on 6m low band amature band,but it rotted​

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Random bit of info - the theme tune to Angling Today was called "The Mugwamp" by Reg Hale - it can be found on an album called Top Dog - A retrospective of classic TV and Radio Themes - its on Amazon Music. It also contains the theme tune to another great ATV Birmingham program - The Kids from 47A (Flatrock by Willi Andrea) - this is also on Youtube:-
 
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I remember watching, I think ATV, filming Tiswas in the subway below Alpha Tower. We had a good view from AT. They’d set up a track, like a mini train track down there, along which the camera travelled. On another occasion you could also see in the distance the Tiswas shenanigans being filmed on the steps of the Central Library. Think they were flinging ‘pies’ around. Viv.
 
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a ATV Pye built scanner, parked behind a ‘Post Office’ van, which would be carrying out the ‘Links’ role. And ‘Evenin’ All’ ….that looks like Jack Warner playing the ‘bobby’ part there as well.1644133787270.png:grinning:
 
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Now; if you look carefully you will see a second lightweight OB unit on the roof next to the BBC scaffolding:-
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This unit was in fact from ITN - they used to record the whole days play to show a couple of minutes of highlights each night in News at Ten (presumably the BBC would not sell them footage?)

In an earlier test match, ITN were using their original lightweight OB unit, containing Fernsch KCR40 cameras. This was (incredibly) based in nothing bigger than a Range Rover!
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A fascinating article from Zerb magazine on this vehicle is included below:-
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Found this photo from the England v West Indies test match in 1984 - the BBC cameraman has the best view in the house. I think (not sure on this....) its Alan Lamb doing the fielding:-
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