The Broadcast Engineering Museum - England

[ppppenguin]

I know that the majority of Videokarma members are in the USA but I thought you'd like news of a new museum that we're creating in England.

The Broadcast Engineering Museum is being created by a charitable trust, the Broadcast Engineering Conservation Group www.becg.tv We have bought 30,000 sq ft of premises near Lincoln, about 150 miles north of London and are working hard to create our museum. We want to display our extensive collection of TV cameras, OB (remote) trucks and much else. Hands-on and working as far as possible.

We've come a long way in the 10 months since we bought the building and are getting ready for our first open days on September 17 and 18.

We're opening under the UK-wide Heritage Open Days scheme: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

On our own website: https://becg.org.uk/2022/07/25/heritage-open-days-2022/

Parked outside our building will be "Southern" OB truck, fully working (see photo) We will also have a new acquisition, an ex-BBC radio car https://becg.org.uk/projects/bbc-radio-car-lt05xan/ plus an ITN links vehicle.

Inside we'll be showing C format VTR working (and 2" quadruplex if we can get it ready in time) and classic telecine machines. Cameras from the 1950 onwards, working where possible, including a camera that was used at the Queen's Coronation in 1953. We're rigging a green screen (chromakey) demonstration and as much other fun stuff as we can manage.

Google maps has caught up with us: https://goo.gl/maps/JuDVW8czfJSc1p1cA

If you're anywhere nearby, please come along and see us. See what we've achieved so far and our plans for the future.

PS: If you want to give us money we've never refused

[Colly0410]

I live 40'odd miles away in Hucknall & will hopefully be paying you a visit in the near future...

[old_tv_nut]

Marvelous!

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by Colly0410

I live 40'odd miles away in Hucknall & will hopefully be paying you a visit in the near future...

We'd love to see you on our open days. We don't yet have the resources to open more than occasionally. Since you're fairly local, would you like to help us create the museum?

[Colly0410]

At the moment I'm having ADT treatment for my prostate cancer & get very fatigued, tired & feeling grob, also getting over covid19. I finish the ADT in May next year so hopefully the the fatigue & tiredness should subside so could probably help out & do something useful even if only mashing the tea at the museum... Wishing you all the best...

[ppppenguin]

Hope all the treatment works out and you're feeling better soon.

It would be great to see you at our open days. No idea when our next open days will be but I hope it's before Heritage Open Days 2023.

[ppppenguin]

We have one of the Marconi Mk II cameras that was used at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. We are making a special display around it for our open days. The photo shows a Mk II camera in the triforium at Westminster Abbey with senior cameraman DRG “Monty” Montague.

In a book written to commemorate Richard Dimbleby, the BBC's TV chief commentator at the Coronation, Montague wrote: "I used to enter with a sort of Groucho Marx straddle and make for the box seat where I could straighten up sitting down – a paradox this, but comfortably true"

[ppppenguin]

It was a really successful weekend. About 200 visitors spread over the two days. There will be much more on our website once we've got our breath back and sorted out the photos.

The first photo is a few cameras clustered round a bar, dressed to be a bit like "Coronation Street", a popular and very long running UK series. All these types of cameras were used to shoot "Corrie" over the years. EMI 2001, Marconi Mk III and IV, Ikegami 323(?)

The second photo is our tribute to the late HM Queen Elizabeth II. A Marconi Mk II camera that was used at the 1953 Coronation, a couple of portraits of the Queen, some Coronation memorabilia and a 1949 Invicta TV. This last was actually a cheat. A modern CRT monitor inside the old cabinet. We have several true period sets but we had far too many other things to do other than make sure a vintage set kept working all weekend. This photo was taken before we had hooked up the set.

I've also attached a PDF of the right hand poster, about TV and the Coronation. We also put a little note next to it saying: "

Then the Queen arising out of her Chair, supported as before, the Sword of State being carried before her, shall go to the Altar, and make her solemn Oath in the sight of all the people to observe the premisses.

This was part of the solemn oath administered by the archbishop and signed by the Queen. The word "premisses" is not a mis-spelling. It's an archaic word. We can understand this as the Queen saying she will observe everything asserted in the oath.

Thanks to television, for the first time in the history of the monarchy, the Queen really was crowned "in the sight of all the people"

[ppppenguin]

We've had our second open weekend, again under the Heritage Open Days scheme. Very successful with more exhibits and fantastic weather. A bit too hot for some of the kit

Come and have a look round:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aUhLLy6Ryg

The cute kid stealing the show is the grandson of the late Michael Cox. He founded Michael Cox Electronics whose first and probably most famous product was the CoxBox caption colouriser from the late 1960s.

[old_tv_nut]

Wonderful! Thanks for posting.

[etype2]

Congratulations on the opening of the Broadcast Engineering Museum!

I wonder if you or others could shed more light on the experimental close circuit Chromatron color telecast of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. We know it was conducted by Pye and Chromatic using the 405 system with a field sequential camera and Chromaton monitors by Chromatic, NYC. Apparently several cameras were set up and the color telecast delighted sick children at the Great Ormond Children’s Hospital, watching on several 22 inch color televisions.

I’d love to see screen shots, but information is sparse. Here are three articles courtesy of Vision4 Magazine. https://visions4netjournal.com/422-2/

https://visions4netjournal.com/wp-co.../IMG_8097.webp
https://visions4netjournal.com/wp-co.../IMG_8098.webp
https://visions4netjournal.com/wp-co.../IMG_8096.webp

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by etype2

Congratulations on the opening of the Broadcast Engineering Museum!

I wonder if you or others could shed more light on the experimental close circuit Chromatron color telecast of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. .......

Thank you.

I don't know any more than you have said about the closed circuit colour televising of the Coronation.

There were a number of "on air" colour tests from Alexandra Palace in the 1950s and 1960s. These variously used 405 line NTSC and 625 line NTSC. In the UK and Europe we had the good fortune to start colour TV after the Plumbicon tube made it possible to design reasonably compact cameras.

[Alex KL-1]

Congratulations!! Happy to see pieces of history being preserved (along with history itself)! Great initiative!

[Gus1969]

Congratulations. Tell me: did TV vans really exist and did they work? For me, the existence of a tax on the TV receiver is extremely strange. Theres some examples of this equipment to see?

[Alex KL-1]

Originally Posted by Gus1969

Congratulations. Tell me: did TV vans really exist and did they work? For me, the existence of a tax on the TV receiver is extremely strange. Theres some examples of this equipment to see?

https://www.cool386.com/tv_det/tv_det.html some explanation here