I collect and trade TV recordings from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. VHS, Beta, N1700, U-matic, and EAIJ format Australian TV recordings have been transferred to DVD. By combining my videos with other collectors' material, I have accumulated a variety of continuous Australian TV recordings from mainly the 1960s-1970s. By combining programs, station logos, test cards, news, and commercials, a fuller appreciation is gained of TV in past years.
This channel also includes highlights from my long distance television reception (DX TV) Beta & VHS VCR video recordings covering 1983-1993.
Video Players:
Sony VO-2630 U-matic 3/4-inch VCR. VO-9800P U-matic 3/4-inch VCR. National NV-3160 EIAJ 1/2-inch VTR.
I'm not sure if Aus was the same but certainly in the UK, clocks were used as a method to genlock the local station's output to the company (generally in London) producing the news output. The clock was produced in the early years by literally pointing a monochrome camera at a physical device, in later years running it through a "Cox Box" to electronically add colour. The use of a camera rather than VT (which would generally be used for promos and ads of course) allowed the transmission controller to nudge the timing forward so it matched the incoming source (this was in the days before frame buffers which did away with this requirement) - if the station didn't do this there would be a "splat" in the video (non-synchronised switch over to the next programme) which would cause a visual disturbance on-screen to viewers. You couldn't do this with a VT source, it had to be optical. Once frame buffers became the norm (in larger ITV companies this happened in the mid 1970s but it wasn't in place until well into the 80s at a few smaller stations), and clock models moved to electronic devices they fell out of favour as companies wanted to get as much branding in as possible, and so clocks started to disappear starting in the 1980s, although there were a couple of companies still using them into the late 90s. The use of static optical slides into programmes, and in-vision continuity was retained for similar reasons. From what I've seen of US local stations they really didn't seem to care too much about technical glitches like this, and I've seen plenty of examples of hard-switching, and splats into programmes on YT. This would have been considered extremely unprofessional in the UK!
30 years ago when i was 12 😢😢😢 i miss the 90s. As i watch this i am taken back in time to my time as a form 2 student and my family members who have since passed, just knowing that at one time we were all seated in front of the tv watching these commercials together. ❤
Fun fact: the male announcer heard at the end of the sign-off happens to be voice of Graham 'Spider' Webb - who is still alive and kicking, and as a matter of fact, is still broadcasting his pre-recorded program "Webby's Golden Years of Radio" and "Webby's Wireless Show" - that voice cannot be mistaken 😊 He is well into his late 80s and is still going strong.
Yes, I recall him on channel 7 in the mid 1970s. In the 1970s and 1980s when ATN7 Sydney closed down for the evening, CTC7 Canberra could be seen if it was airing a special event like the Olympics. Using a 14-el Hills vertical band 3 TV Yagi, CTC7 was a just viewable picture when ATN7 was off air.
I have two DVDs with 1980s TV DX highlights that could be uploaded to my Google Drive. For starters, this 1984 ABMQ4 video could be uploaded as a 720b video. Big difference to 240p.
Well spotted. I have ACMA lists from the mid 1980s which showed what QLD FM was on air at the time. Minimal FM on air at the time which translated to minimal or no herringbone picture interreference to ABMQ4. The female local ABC Mackay news announcer appears to be mixed indigenous, or Indian. She likely doesn't know this recording of her even exists.
It was a totally different era of DXing which was before my time. Born in 1996 I did have the pleasure of TV-DXing from 2000-2013, living on the Central Coast provided three different translator outlets (one site simply had off-air receivers pulling the analog feed from Sydney from a RX a Yagi. Which meant that the translator would re broadcast visual QRM - ah good times. Taree television was never a catch sadly, however I fondly remember the analog VHF TV transmitting from Sydney and NBN3 Newcastle/Mt Sugarloaf received with a VHF phased array antenna, which worked well for FM-DX. UHF CH 31 (community TV) from Sydney was also a catch. Good memories indeed. The only analog TV channel broadcasting on the FM broadcast band was NBN3 (Visual 90.75, Audio 91.75/92.05 (and the audio of NBN on the right channel speaker would often be replaced by 92.1 (transmitting from Sydney). The visual noise on the picture was fun to watch too.
The test card section of this video is from the Sweet Moods tape that was broadcast on BBC2 between June 1985 to June 1986. Which explains the ident being the old style stripy 2, rather than the stylised 2 from the 90's.
I'm not a fan of "Advance Australia Fair", seems underwhelming as an anthem, but this interpretation along with video was superbly done. Signed, a Seppo.
I found this episode on the IMDB website and it was actually a year before in 1974 which makes more sense because colour TV first came to Australia in 1975. The theme for the week was Friends and the episode title was Inclusions.
You were fortunate to see Dr. Hynek live. He enjoyed public speaking regarding UFOs. He also enjoyed TV appearances. He knew that there was a genuine non-human phenomenon that qualified as new empirical observations. But he never believed that the phenomenon was visitors from outer space. In his books he wrote that the real explanation is much more complex.
