Enterprises Signs Olympus Satellite Agreement

EN I NF

AUTUMN 1989 No 38 ENTERPRISES SIGNS OLYMPUS SATELLITE AGREEMENT BBC Enterprises has signed a five- The BBC Olympus service - to be ,):ear agreement with the European known as The Enterprise Channel- "pace Agency (ESA) to provide them will be based initially on the existing .vith eight hours of television and BBC TV Europe service, which is a CONTENTS other programming per day. The pro- simultaneous relay of BBC 1. Ulti- grammes will be carried at prime mately however, and certainly within ASCENSION time on the European Channel of the the first year, Enterprises intends to - new control system 7 recently-launched Olympus 1 satel- develop a new schedule to reflect the BIRMINGHAM lite. This is a large multi-purpose, innovative, experimental and Euro- high power, communications satel- pean nature of the channel. - Studio 5 refurbished 12 lite which was built for ESA by a con- The Olympus project is described in BROADCASTING HOUSE sortium led by British Aerospace. some greater detail on page 4. - new network switcher 11 - new Travel Centre 8 BUSH HOUSE - new information display system 7 CCD - cameras for the future 6 D&ED - stabilised power supplier 2 ELSTREE - Studio D refurbished 15 ENGINEERING SAFETY PAPERS - GP4 and GP6 13 HDTV - at Wembley, Wimbledon and Berlin 14 LICENCE AGREEMENTS 2 The Olympus 1 satellite (photo: British Aerospace) MAIDA VALE - Studios 4 & 5 refurbished 3 Char lie Sandbank honoured by the NOTTINGHAM - new Broadcasting Centre 15 SMPTE OLYMPUS SATELLITE Deputy Director of Engineering, Charlie The Los Angeles Technical Conference PROJECT 4 Sandbank, has been awarded a Fellow- will commemorate a hundred years of RADIO WM ship of the Society of Motion Picture and film and fifty years of television in Television Engineers (SMPTE). America. - the 'Heartlands' project 16 He will receive his award at the SMPTE's Among the speakers will be another for- TRANSMITTER NEWS 2 131st Technical Conference, to be held in mer Director of Engineering - Sir James Los Angeles in late October. Also receiv- WOOD NORTON Redmond - who will deliver a presenta- ing a Fellowship will be former Director tion on the history of broadcasting in - switchgear training 13 of Engineering, Or Bryce McCrirrick. the UK. LICENCE AGREEMENTS ENGINF Two licence agreements have been equipment is with a new company struck since the last issue of Eng Inf. called Foster Dene Ltd, which has been set up specifically to handle Edited and designed by EID, these items. Room 707A HWH. Tel: LBH 4316 The first of these, with Eddystone Radio, broadens their range of ancil- Phototypeset by lary equipment for Band 11installa- The staff who have formed this com- Townsend Typesetter Ltd, tions. The deal encompasses the pany know the units well. They had Worcester MNl/15 Programme Failure Monitor formerly bought them from the two Printed by ETD, Woodnorton and PS2/163A Stabilised Power Sup- other licensees - Digi-Grade Sys- plier (see below), along with two tems Ltd and Digi-Tel Systems (UK) * * * unequipped Equaliser Chassis, Ltd - for installation in telecine The closing date for stories to be CH2/3 and CH2/4. machines based mainly in the United included in the winter issue States. (Cintel also holds a licence for (No. 39) is 24 November. The second licence covers the set of the Shot Change Detector.) enhancements for Mk III telecines, Mike Meyer comprising the 'Festival' Burn and For further details of these or other Shading Corrector (UN26/604) and agreements, or for information or P.E.C. Head Amplifier (AMl/616) as advice on any aspects of licensing~ well as the RP3/511 Shot Change please contact the D&ED Liaisc Engineer, Peter Jefferson, on AH 375. TRANSMITIER Detector. The agreement for this NEWS

The following services opened between 1 July and 16 September: PS/163 Stabilised Power Supplier Television This unit was originally designed in This 'new' unit, which is coded PS2/ Highland Arisaig 1974, specifically to power the AM7/ 163A, is now available through Highland Aviemore 11, 12, & 13 series of audio amplifiers. Design and Equipment Department. Powys Castle Caereinion Since then, it has undergone a num- It supersedes the original design and N. Yorkshire Castleton ber of modifications, albeit of a fairly will automatically be supplied Highland Taynuilt minor nature. Thus, the 1989 model is against existing or future orders for substantially the same as the fifteen- the PS2/163. However, drawings for FM Radio year-old original design. the latter unit will remain available Haslingden Lancashire through the usual channels, in order Despite its advancing years, the to allow for continued maintenanc'\ * * * design's popularity has continued. of the three thousand plus original units in the field. Note that circuit ref- In late July, the new digital pro- Over two hundred and fifty were erences have been maintained, so the gramme feed to the Channel Isles ordered last year alone, and there same handbook (DDHB 3.144) may entered service (see the previous Eng have been no obvious signs that this Inf). About the same time, Rowridge level of demand will significantly be used for both generations of the (Isle of Wight) started broadcasting decrease in the immediate future. As design. from a new directional aerial system, a result of this, and because the orig- which offers mixed polarisation. inal design has become less economic For further information, please con- to produce, D&ED has recently com- tact the D&ED Liaison Engineer, On 30 August, the frequencies of pleted a major reappaisal of the Peter Jefferson, on AH 375. Radios 2, 3 and 4 from the Bath relay Power Supplier. were each increased by 200 kHz. This is to allow further FM services to be The outcome is a revised unit which, added over the next few years. And although at least as good in terms of on 31 August, the Radio 4 FM trans- performance, features a much- RADIO PB mitter at Limavady, Co.Antrim, improved mechanical construction. began broadcasting in stereo. This allows the design to be produced The Autumn 1989 edition of the On 13 September, Pontop Pike more simply, as well as providing for pocket booklet 'BBC Radio Trans- started transmitting from a new easier maintenance in the field by mitting Stations' is now available aerial system, also offering mixed virtue of its simplified construc- from EID. Please telephone LBH 5040 polarisation. tion. to order your free copy(ies).

ENG INF Autumn 1989 2 MAIDA VALE - Studios 4 and 5 refurbished BBC's standard music recording desk all areas to provide comprehensive The newly-rebuilt Studios 4 and 5 at _ mood lighting. Maida Vale will take Radio's record- the 'E' series SSL of which there ing facilities into the 1990s. For the are seventeen in BBC service. The complex entered service in July first time, a BBC Radio project has Other features of the new control 1989. The variety of Radio 1 and 2 ses- been completely designed by exter- room are: comprehensive effects and sions using the facilities so far nal consultants to a brief produced by processing equipment; Boxer 4 main include: solo Classical guitar; 3-piece Radio Projects. monitoring loudspeakers; alternative Heavy Metal band; 20-piece African monitoring via Yamaha NS10 and band; mixing of Gilbert and Sullivan The first planning meeting was held Auratone speakers; MIDI routeing operas, and MIDI-controlled elec- in July 1987, when it was decided that matrix; video switch er allowing tronic pop. Everyone has learned a a leading firm of studio design con- colour CCTV monitoring of studios; great deal and the end result has been sultants would be commissioned to two Studer A800 24-track tape fairly well received. Currently, the design the entire facility. Jon Gibbs machines, chase-synchronised to facilities are booked at least twelve (Manager Operations, Music provide 48-track capability; DAT hours a day, seven days a week, into Studios) and his assistant, Bob Con- the foreseeable future. duct, then found out which commer- and 1/4-inch mastering recorders. Martin Bravery, Project Leader cial studios were preferred by studio Dimmer-controlled low voltage operational staff. After visits to halogen lighting has been installed in Radio Projects. several London studios, a short list of three studio designers was compiled. r-"he three designers were then asked to submit an outline design, based on a brief produced by Martin Bravery of Radio Projects. Following interviews, Neil Grant of Harris Grant As- sociates was awarded the contract to provide the complete design package. This involved all architectural, acoustic, stuctural, technical, mechanical and electrical works.

The Studios Previously, Studios 4 & 5 were identi- cal 40-channel SSL-equipped facilities. However, in 1985, Studio 4's cubicle was redesigned by Tom Hidley, an acoustics consultant, to provide a commercial-type environment. Unfortunately, the size of this cubicle was such that there was little ,r"oom left for any extra equipment or ,1Usicians! So when Maida Vale 5 required modernising, the need for a larger cubicle was obvious. Because of the existing studio structure, it was necessary to swap the cubicle and studio roles, thus creating a very large cubicle (or control room) and a small studio. Studio 4 was also included in the refurbishment which resulted in an integrated complex, allowing either cubicle to use any or all studio areas. The final design also includes a vocal booth, a mezzanine floor in Studio 4 and a machine room-cum-apparatus room.

The Technical Features The sound desk chosen was an SSL 4000 'G' Series with forty-eight mono and eight stereo channels, and computer automation. This is the latest Top: Studio 4 at Maida Vale version of what has become the Bottom: The Control Room of Maida Vale 5

3 ENG INF No 38 THE OLYMPUS SATELLITE PROJECT

As featured on page I, BBC Enterprises million, to its development. The UK's from the integrated freely-trading has signed a five-year agreement with contribution has been £175 million - Europe of 1992. the European Space Agency (ESA) to almost 44% of the total cost. Programme sources for the Enterprise provide a range of television and other Encouraged by the experimental ethos of Channel are now being explored and are programming on the Olympus satellite's the Olympus project and, in particular, likely to include business and commer- European Channel. Here, Wayne Duns- its relevance to the question of direct-to- cial organisations in Europe as well as ford of Enterprises describes the new home television broadcasting, BBC European broadcasters such as Canal service. Enterprises has been very keen to play a Plus and, of course, BBC Television and Research carried out by ESA in 1979 major part in its development. The World Service. Education and training identified the need for a large, high-pow- agreement with ESA was negotiated programmes, natural history and science ered, multi-purpose communications with the assistance of the British features, drama and documentaries will satellite for experimental purposes. The National Space Centre (BNSC) and be available; all will carry subtitling or Olympus programme has been designed allows us the ideal opportunity to add- simultaneous translations in the main to meet this need and over the past ten ress the pan-European distribution pos- European languages. Enterprises also years, eight countries (United Kingdom, sibilities of a wide variety of broadcast- intends to explore the BBC Datacast and Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, ing materials by DBS. Similarly, Olym- Videocast (downloading) opportunities Italy, Netherlands and Spain) have com- pus is an excellent platform for address- offered by Olympus. mitted themselves, and some £400 ing the business opportunities arising Enterprises will utilise one of two channels on the Direct Broadcast payload ~ Olympus, launched on 11 July 1989 (tk other will be for pre-operational Italian use). Other payloads include a 12/20/30 GHz Propagation package, a 12/14 GHz Specialised Services payload and a 20/30 GHz Communications payload for point-to-point and multi-point telecon- ference and other experimental applications.

The technical specification of Olympus is:-

Frequency Band 12 GHz Downlink Channel 20 Output Power 230 watts Peak EIRP 63 dBW Orbital Position 19° west Enterprises will be encrypting their service but are still reviewing the best stan~~ ard available. It is likely that the tran mission system will be D2-MAC.

Outside BBC prime-time hours (1700- 0100 hrs Central European Time), the channel will be used by a large number of small experimenters geared to providing pan- European educational and distance- learning programmes. Combined with the Enterprises service, the viewer will therefore receive a multi-dimensional and novel service from Olympus.

As the flagship for the wider application and use of communication satellites in the future, Olympus represents an excit- ing opportunity for all concerned. Cer- tainly, BBC Enterprises aims to deliver a service that reflects the importance and value of this project.

Wayne Dunsford Olympus Project Co-ordinator Olympus 1 Thermal Model (photo: British Aerospace) BBC Enterprises

4 ENG INF Autumn 1989 OLY1\1PUS 1

Coverage of the Olympus Direct Broadcast Service (DBS) Payload

Coverage of the Ol.vmpus 20/30 CH:: Advanced Communications Payload

Coverage of the Olympus Specialised Services Payload

Some of Olympus 1's footprints 5 ENG INF No 38 CCD - cameras for the nineties It is tempting to say that it all began in reduced weight... perfect geometry when it came to pixel count and was April '84 with the lanch by RCA of the and registration (lens permitting!) . .. bound to produce in-band aliasing. CCD1 solid state lightweight camera. improved movement rendition Moving on, and missing out a great Of course it didn't. Research into the improved corner sharpness. deal of steady development, our next use of the Charge Coupled Device glimpse of the snowball was at IBC (CCD) as an image sensor had had a And now the list that appealed to the 88. Every major manufacturer's stand ten year history by that time. But this accountants - lower capital and was dominated by solid state cam- was the first serious attempt to break MOBP outlay. . . greater reliability. . . eras. The thermionic warhorses were into the world of boadcasting and minimal line-up requirements. Not there too, but the delegates knew might very well have succeeded, if everyone welcomed the impending what they'd come to see - pixel only RCA had been able to solve their change but most realised its inevit- counts approaching 800 ... optical manufacturing problems. ability. If your head is buried in the sand, the giant snowball has quite a anti-alias filtering greatly- Cameras were not my interest then as target! improved highlight overload protec- I was too busy installing Sypher tion, etc. Electronic shuttering was suites to worry about pictures. But Moving on from the RCA camera, the everywhere, providing an alternative the demonstration was very impres- next major event was the appearance to stopping-down in bright light and sive, even to a layman. Here was a of the Sony DXC3000. Billed as an enabling spectacular action shots. ~ 'industrial' camera, somehow it camera that produced pictures Perhaps the camera of most interest managed to get waved under the instantly on switch-on - before the to the BBC was the Thomson noses of all the major Broadcasters viewfinder heater had even got out of TTVl647, because it is fully compat- and, to its credit, Sony feigned sur- bed! And not only pictures, but ible with the 1531 family of cameras prise quite convincingly when they 'registered' pictures at that. In many on the Type 6 Scanners. Pictures from all wanted one... or two. .. or ten. ways the camera was not broadcast this camera, and indeed from top-of- For less than the price of a set of quality but even this early pioneer the- range models from all the big tubes, here was a complete camera. It could knock spots off 'tubes' in cer- names, are broadcast quality in every could be bought on a programme tain situations. respeCt. With the exception of the budget, strapped to a motorbike, BTS LDK900, however, there is still Research Department borrowed the taken to fires, riots, even football, and no commitment to what we would prototype for field trials and pro- horror of horrors - into the studio! normally think of as a 'studio' duced a now famous recording of a People apologised for it: "1 know it's camera, if by that we mean a big box car driving round a race track in dull not broadcast quality, but.. .". Yet with all the bells and whistles. conditions. For comparison pur- they used it and still use it, because it poses, the scene was also shot on an always works first time and still looks BBC Scotland has consistently de- Ikegami HL79 tubed camera. Predict- pretty good. monstrated the viability of the light- ably, the CCD coped well while the weight studio and is not alone in th:_____ tubes struggled with the car lights The greatest service provided by the conviction, but many still hankL (and lost!). But the next section of the DXC3000 was to create an awareness after the classic cube. If you are a recording had both cameras pointing of solid state pictures. It gave every- cubist at heart, take comfort from the at a wall with checkered wallpaper one a chance to play with CCD at a fact that studio lenses are not getting and a clock, which revealed discern- realistic cost and it showed up the any smaller and we might just be ible alia sing from the CCD (ie defects as well as the plus points of heading towards the large lens fitted unwanted patterns were visible on the new technology. Although it had with viewfinder, wedgeplate and the picture). The philistine in me much to offer, it clearly told us that camera! Time alone will tell. would have been happy to watch the there were some critical areas where racing but the engineer pursed his substantial improvement was neces- I have merely skimmed the surface of lips and grudgingly agreed that the sary before we could commit our- solid state cameras in these few para- alia sing was unacceptable. selves to any major investment in graphs but space would not allow CCD cameras. To name but two, much detailed discussion. There are The RCA camera never took off, nor extreme highlights could give rise to several information sheets and arti- did the company prosper, but it made an objectionable vertical streak in the cles on the subject available from waves that rocked the industry picture while, in low lighting levels, Wood Norton. Please contact me on nevertheless. No-one doubted that the discrete element structure of the Wood Norton 229 if you would like the future lay in solid state. The device could become visible as a fixed more detailed information. snowball was rolling and growing - pattern of noise. Also, in common no lag, stick, or image burn with most of its contemporaries, the Dave McClure, Training Manager reduced power consumption ... DXC3000 was still 'sub-Nyquist' Audio Engineering, ETD

6 ENG INF Autumn 1989 ASCENSION - new control system --, A new control system has been installed at World Service's South Atlantic relay station on Ascension. It is the now-standard TED/D&ED system, similar to those installed at Rampisham, Daventry, Hong Kong and Seychelles.

Project-led by Monitoring and Control Section of TED, the new system on Ascension provides full automation of all scheduled operations, with the exception of wave changing and tuning the six senders. These are of 1960s vintage and have no facilities. for self-tuning.

A novel digital audio cartridge system ~as been produced by Ferrograph Ltd Jr use with the new control system. It provides fully-automatic replay of local announcements and interval The automatic control equipment on Apcension signals, without the need for staff to lands, which allowed us to effect a full constantly change cartridges each time The system was fully prefabricated and scale mock-up of the apparatus room a different announcement is required. tested in the UK, which substantially reduced the installation time - it was on Ascension. This was vital for the The control system also incorporates accuracy of the prefabrication exercise. Optimod audio processors to boost the actually up and running less than two audibility of transmissions, without weeks after it arrived on site! Chris Harrison the expense of replacing the We are indebted to P&lD Tel for the use Senior Project Engineer transmitters with more powerful Monitoring & Control Section, TED ones. of their excellent facilities at Wood- BUSH HOUSE - new infonnation display system evaluation; BBC World Shop informa- causes each required page to be dis- A new information display system - played in sequence. As the display time tion. Bushfax - has recently been installed in can be adjusted individually for each Media Matters - Media coverage about r~ush House by Tim Wheeler and Alex page, sequences can be made to appear World Service. lajor of the Technical Services section. animated if desired. The system is fed by The equipment is based on a 'Rite Box' People - Visitors to Bush House; people World Service Press and Publicity sec- from lntelfax and uses the local tv dis- going on duty tours. tion, using a highly modified BBC Master tribution system to reach as wide an computer (modified by lntelfax). BBC Wide - DC's promulgations; other audience as possible. Extra monitors corporate news. have been installed in key public areas, The present system distributes the text Bush House premises such as receptions and the canteen. In House - as an in-vision signal and therefore can announcements The Rite Box stores up to 500 pages and be viewed on a non-teletext receiver, but this takes up a whole channel. A Jobfax - Appointments/attachments in true Teletext inserter has now World Service and other staff matters. been purchased from lntelfax to Tuning In - New Broadcasting de- complement the existing system velopments. and will be used to carry the Special arrangements during same and/or extra pages on one Travel - of the other tv channels. travel strikes. It is also hoped that we will be able to Information currently displayed import pages from Ceefax to Bushfax in includes: the near future; for example, the weather Bushline - Promulgations by or the travel information. MDWS or others; MDWS/Direc- torate engagements; MDWS Phi I Lacey Manager, Technical Services ~ points to the Board of Gover- nors; points from programme World Service Alex Major checks out the Bushfax system capabilities 7 ENG INF No 38 BROADCASTING HOUSE - new travel centre For over twenty-five years, the BBC has playing a cassette. Car radios which offer The Travel Terminal provided motoring and travel informa- this enhanced RDS facility are expected tion supplied by the police and other to become available next year.) The first objective was to improve the sources such as motoring organisations. quality of the information coming in to Until this summer, travel information Today this information is broadcast not the BBC. A method of quickly and accu- was handled by the Motoring and Travel only by television and radio (both rately describing a travel incident was Unit on the first floor of Broadcasting national and local) but also by Ceefax. required one that would free the police '1 House. Its facilities were very limited: - and other information suppliers from Much has been made recently of the time incoming information was received by having to make time-consuming phone lost sitting in traffic jams and the finan- telephone, fax or telex and logged on a calls to the Motoring and Travel Unit in cial burdens this places on industry and standard office word-processor, on London and to BBC local and regional the economy. The quality of the BBC's which scripts for the national radio stations. information service has thus been the networks and roadworks information for subject of many discussions with inter- local and regional radio were prepared. ested parties such as the Department of Transport (DTp), the Association of At the beginning of the year, Radio Pro- jects took on the task of creating a more Research by the TRRL Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the ~ motoring organisations. It has been gen- up-to-date Travel Centre with the fol- The Transport and Road Research LabOl erally agreed that the service has not lowing objectives: atory (TRRL) at Crowthorne, Berkshire, been as fast or reliable as it should be, (1) to improve the quality of information had developed a demonstration computer program for an IBM PC compatible, particularly in view of the facilities now sent in available via the Radio Data System which went some way towards solving (RDS). (2) to process this information and distri- this problem. From research they had bute it quickly to where it was needed carried out, they drew up a set of lists (RDS enables a suitably-equipped car from which choices could be made. The radio to receive travel announcements (3) to provide the equipment which choices made on anyone list influenced originated by a local radio station - even would enable the Centre to exploit the options displayed in the following when tuned to a network transmission or the RDS Travel Service features lists.

INFORMATION SOURCES TRAVEL CENTRE INFORMATION RECEIVERS

Printers National Co-ordination Logging: Dot Matrix Scripts: Laser

Network Radio

BASYS MSS G.L.R. Computer Telex Radio Kent System System Radio Beds BBC Essex

Music + Cue Lines to Audio + RDS Routeing Local Radio & BH Router System o Control Fibre Optic Link to R D S Central Computer Voice Booths

TRAVEL INFORMATION FLOW

8 ENG INF Autumn 1989 hoped to automate the procedures BBC Improvements now that a pilot scheme involving local radio stations has started (see page 10). further as the new system settles down, The BBC has now taken this system a using some of the more advanced features built into the Basys computer. step further. In conjunction with Signal The BBC Travel Centre Computing Ltd, of Guildford, the TRRL Electronically, information comes into program has been refined to make it eas- Whereas the first objective related to the ier to use. Messages are created by situation outside the BBC the second the computer in two ways. Firstly, there choosing from each of the following lists: and third defined what was needed are three modems to receive information within the Corporation. from the travel terminals located in type of problem - is it a traffic or police control rooms, etc. Two of the weather problem On the first floor of Broadcasting House, modems are across a special two-line cause - accident, roadworks, etc opposite the old Motoring and Travel number while the third is across a Unit, the new Travel Centre has been backup number on a different telephone delays, lane closures, etc effect - built. It comprises a computer system to exchange. (The travel terminals have road number - a choice is made from receive and distribute information and been programmed to try the backup a list of roads in that area voice booths to enable spoken bulletins number should they fail to establish a to be broadcast. connection on the main number.) between/at - location of problem There are three booths in the Travel allows a second location to be The second electronic source of informa- and - Centre. Each is equipped with its own chosen tion is the telex network, which is fed to terminal on the computer system and the Travel Centre via MSS. The latter advice - speed limit of 30 mph, avoid audio equipment as described below. A plays a fundamental part in the opera- area, etc fourth position also has a computer tion of the Travel Centre as it also takes terminal and is used for preparing the message priority - how urgent is the all the Centre's data output and distri- scripts for national radio. r , information.- butes it to network and local radio studios. finally there is the option of adding some Computer Facilities free text to themessage to help clarify or Information is also still received by tele- give additional information. At the heart of the Travel Centre is the phone, primarily from police and other Basys computer system. It was chosen as Once the message has been completed authorities outside the pilot scheme area it has the necessary telex and modem (and edited if needed), the micro-com- (which is described later), and by fax interfaces as standard and could meet puter autodials a computer system in which is often used for informing about many of the specific information-handl- Broadcasting House to download the long-term roadworks. These types of ing requirements without the need for information. Error correcting modems message are entered manually on to the custom software. It comprises two Wyse are used to ensure reliable transfer of computer and processed in the same way . PCs running under the Xenix operating data. system. A third Wyse PC carries out a as those received electronically. One of the problems experienced has supervisory role on both machines and Travel Centre staff regularly check the been the delay in informing the BBC enables remote diagnostics to be carried files for any new information, particu- when an incident has been cleared and out. Each computer has up to eight items larly if they have been notified that it is that the road is 'back to normal'. Review connected to it; an Ethernet link allows an urgent message. If the message refers screens are used so that the operator is each computer to follow the actions of to an area covered by one of the local continually made aware of those mes- the others, with data being stored on two radio stations in the pilot scheme, a staff sages that have been sent and not separate hard disks for security. member responsible for that area will cleared. The operator has two options: Information from the travel terminals is edit it and send it out to the relevant r-send an all-clear message, or update the received via modem in a format issued by station via the MSS. At the station, the figinal (required for example if the the Press Association Ltd and known as message appears on a screen in front of incident is going to take longer to deal IPTC 7. This allows the system to deter- the presenter and on a silent printer for with than at first thought). mine which source originated the mes- hard copy. The information can be used The program has been developed sage and thus to file it away in the correct in a regular spoken bulletin or, if very primarily for entering road information. 'pigeon hole'. The system can also urgent, in a travel flash. If the message However, the principles can easily be respond to the level of priority set in the warrants a travel flash on the national extended to other forms of transport and message and, for example, inform the networks, the national co-ordinator will lists have been developed in conjunction staff only of urgent or exceptional compile a script for use by the networks with London Transport for use in giving priority messages. on-air; this also is sent out via the MSS, underground and bus information. As direct to the continuities. lists do not yet exist for sea and air Information received by telex and via the authorities, the program allows them BBC's internal Message Switching Sys- Staff also compile longterm roadworks tem (MSS) is put through a 'keyword' just to send free text and priority infor- information for each BBC local and search (which in this case is set up to look mation: these messages can be analysed regional radio station; it is in this area for the codenames of the originator) and at some future date and a sensible list especially that the procedures could be filed accordingly. structure drawn up. automated to a high degree. The format of the Travel Terminal mes- A back-up read-only file of all incoming sage tallies almost exactly with that of information is kept on the system, Audio and RDS Facilities the RDS digital Traffic Message Channel, should it be necessary to retrieve a copy proposed by the European Broadcasting of the original message. A hard-copy of The audio equipment in each booth is Union (EBU). There is thus a lot of each message is also printed (on a dot- made up of the following: a self-operated interest from the rest of Europe in how matrix printer) to allow easy analysis of audio package, a matrix + RDS controller well the program operates - particularly the information flow at a later date. lt is 9 ENG INF No 38 - BROADCASTING HOUSE: new Travel Centre - and a logging cassette deck. The booths computer interface. The matrix was the police control rooms in the South- can be routed to one of as many as eight designed with various interlocks to mini- East part of the pilot scheme area plus destinations by the matrix; at present, mise the effects caused by accidental some in surrounding areas. There are the destinations are four local radio misuse of the RDS controls. also terminals in the Press Office at Lon- stations and the BH router. don Transport and at the Dover Harbour Ceefax Facilities Board. Terminals are soon to be installed The audio package was made by Clyde in the control rooms covering the Electronics Ltd. It has inputs for a micro- A BBC micro, with modem access to the 'world's greatest car park' - the M25 phone and cartridge player plus facilities Ceefax computer, has been installed for motorway - and negotiations are taking for up to three outside sources should the the direct input of travel information. place to install more terminals to need arise. The microphone circuit has (The Ceefax travel pages were previously improve the provision of air and rail an integral compressor. A headphone updated from Television Centre.) In the information. selector allows the choice of either ring- future, it may be possible to update the main or cue from the destination to be travel pages on Ceefax direct from the heard. When the red light switch is on, Basys computer (via a Basys-to-Ceefax The Future the headphone automatically receives interface). In the autumn, feedback will be the cue feed. There is a telephone balance requested from the users of the travel unit to allow the telephone to replace the The Pilot Scheme terminals to see how they could be music or cue lines, if either should fail. improved; any suggestions will be Finally there is a control which can send At present, four local radio stations implemented towards the end of the tone to the music line, for test purposes; (GLR, Radio Bedfordshire, Radio Kent year. Around the middle of next year, th~ this is disabled when the booth red light and BBC Essex) are receiving travel infor- pilot scheme will be reviewed and th. IS on. mation as part of a pilot scheme to last into next year. They are equipped with success or otherwise of the entire system The matrix + RDS controller was manu- Travel screens and printers to receive the determined. Judging by information factured to a BBC specification by Audi- information, and music and cue lines to already received from some of the travel onics Ltd in Sheffield. It is essentially a link them with the Travel Centre. It is in terminals, there will be a several-fold four-into-eight relay matrix with two these areas only that the RDS travel ser- increase in the quantity of information audio levels and five dc levels. The audio vice is functioning (apart from the Radio the Travel Centre will have to deal with. levels route the music and cue lines from WM area which is a separate part of the each destination to the correct voice pilot scheme). booth; the dc levels are used to route the Graham Naylor-Smith RDS signals to the D&ED-designed RDS Travel terminals have been installed in all Project Leader, BBC Travel Centre.

A general view of trze Travel Centre

10 ENG INF Autumn 1989 BROADCASTING HOUSE - new network switcher A network switcher is used by Radio to switch the outputs of continuities and Emergency Outputs Switchers (x 12) some studios to the audio distribution 1-12 chain which, in turn, feeds the transmitter network. It must perform two 1 1 Inputs Source Distribution 1 main tasks: 1-32 Switcher Firstly, it has to switch audio signals 1 without discernable disruption; this 32 12 must be done quickly to enable 'hot switching' at a programme junction. Secondly, it must enable control of 1 1 network-related operations such as Sourc~ turning transmitters on and off. These Switcher 2 functions are controlled from the con- Distribution 12 tinuity and require interlocks to pre- 32 12 ~Tent erroneous switching. It is this source control that makes a switcher slightly different from a normal audio router. Block diagram of the new network switching arrangement In 1985, discussions started on a Commissioning the system replacement for the old switching diagram. The emergency switcher arrangements. These dated from 1970 enables either of the two source The system was completly tested at the and were becoming difficult to main- switchers to be selected (inputs 1 and manufacturers by Steve Urbanek of tain as well as being too small for cur- 2) and also provides two inputs (3 and Technical Commissioning and Kim rent requirements. Following discus- 4) for overnight 'parking tones'. Wallace from the maintenance team sions with a number of manufacturers, responsible for the system. Every para- a contract was placed with Philip meter was tested for each combination Drake Electronics for the supply of a Either switcher can drive a distribution a pains- with the other acting as a hot standby. of sources and destinations - new switcher to fulfill the BBC's taking process that took about three requirements. System monitoring warns staff in the Engineering Operations Centre months. Once testing was completed, the system was delivered and installed The System Requirements (EOC), and all users of the system, of faults on either switcher (programme in pre-wired bays, designed by Peter Newbury of Radio Projects, and more The new switcher would be a 32- comparitors detect any differences in source/12-destination stereo router tests were carried out to check if the the outputs from Switchers 1 and 2). system performance had changed. /'which offered 'redundancy' to allow Jack access is provided around the sys- ior failure and maintenance. It should tem to allow any part to be over- Introduction into service was per- be completely reliable and operate plugged, if major maintenance work is continuously for ten to fifteen years. formed in two stages. Firstly, the required. To cope with any power loss, outputs of the old switcher were con- The system should offer three in- each switcher is fed from two separate dependent master control panels, with nected to spare inputs of the emer- mains supplies, one backed by the sta- relevent information displayed on gency switcher. The next stage was to tion generator, in addition to a supply transfer the dc facilities, one dis- video monitors, and there should be of 50 V (the station battery!) complete system over-ride facilities. tribution at a time. This required the external equipment to be made in- There should be four dc facilities asso- operable, including holding a relay Each control panel can produce up to ciated with each distribution (ie des- closed, until the transfer was complete. tination), to allow several pieces of thirty-one pages of information from As each distribution was completed, it external equipment to be controlled the two switchers, via two separate was then controlled via the switcher. simultaneously. Also, there should be data links running at 250 kbit/s. In- dicators which give a simple display of This work was carried out during the sixteen data acquisition inputs per dis- day, over a period of three weeks, and it tribution, to enable the status of exter- which continuity has been selected, is of great credit to EOC staff that they nal equipment to be displayed. Certain are separately wired to (and powered from) the switchers. Thus, they are not coped with the disruption as well as response times of the system were also fulfilling their normal duties. specified. reliant upon the panel processor. This approach is also used for the execute The System Approach button so that, in the event of a panel losing power, it can still be used in a Nick Bentley The switcher was designed as a 'dual Radio Projects, London Facilities redundancy' system, as shown in the limited manner. 11 ENG INF No 38 BIRMINGHAM - Studio 5 refurbished Radio Studio 5 at Pebble Mill went talkback feeds (selectable to either most advantageous way, depending back into service earlier this year after the cue circuits or the control lines). on what the session requires. refurbishment. It is used primarily Also here is a Probel remote outside The ancillary equipment comprises: for talks and documentary type pro- source switching panel, which con- four l/cinch tape machines (two grammes and, until refurbishment, trols the main routeing matrix in the Studer A80s and two Studer A810s); was mono-only using a type 'D' con- Pebble Mill communications centre. two cassette decks (a Stud er AnO sole with dedicated channels (which The Studio Manager selects his/her and a Nagamichi Dragon); a Sony restricted its use for other types of own outside sources from pre- DTC 1000 R-DAT machine; a two- programmes). With the new facili- viously-assembled radio packages, stack Sonifex cart machine; two EMT ties, it can now host a variety of ad- or from any other studio within Peb- 948 disc players and two Technics ditional programmes, such as the ble Mill using this panel. This equip- SLP 1200 CD players. Charlie Chester Sunday Soapbox, ment was rebuilt by Calrec into two Aural monitoring is on a pair of LS multi-way phone-ins, General Elec- units, to enable it to fit neatly into the 5/8s and via a small domestic-quality tion coverage, music compilations, main frame of the console. speaker, while visual monitoring etc. utilises three stereo PPMs which can The console has an extension on the One of the more radical steps has be selected to display standard A+B, left-hand side which houses the been the changing round of the con- M+S or AUX A+B. insert jackfield, the record/replay trol room and the studio. Thus, what There are comprehensive facilities fr--, had been a rather unsuitable shape of matrix and an AMS digital reverb unit. The matrix allows for up to four- live and recorded telephone inte_ studio (long and thin) is far more views, which service the whole Peb- suitable as the control room; like- teen replay sources to be pre-mixed ble Mill complex. Two Studer dual- wise, the rather more square control onto one of four busbars and pro- telephone hybrid units enable up to room of old is much better now as a vides feeds of desk output, tone, or four calls to be on-air at a time while a studio. The new control room is two miscellaneous record sources to third unit, built into a flight case, can around 5.4 x 8.9 metres while the the fourteen record outlets. be taken to whichever other studio studio is 4.9 x 6.4 metres. Flexibility has been one of the main requires a phone-in facility on the approaches in the design of the day of the booking. The Control Room installation. This is what led to the The main part of the installation com- apparent anomaly of having a record The Studio . prises a Calrec M series mixing con- button on the remote starts for the In the studio itself, there is a pair of sole, with eighteen stereo channels grams and CDs. None of the outlets LS 3/5s driven by a Quad 521 ampli- feeding into four stereo groups are dedicated, nor are the console fier, while a Calrec talkback box pro- which, in turn, feed the main output. channels. This means that the Studio vides headphone monitoring for a Within the desk control surface are Manager has to build the required presenter and two guests, together facilities for ten stereo outside set-up on each occasion, but it does with reverse talkback to the control sources, with associated cue and enable things to be grouped in the room. A pair of Beyer M 201 mics provides the normal coverage althougp~ PGS and a Sony C48 have bee.. retained from the original installation for those occasions when a different approach is required. A second talkback box, with sound and vision tielines, is installed in the lobby area to provide a link with the control room when a phone-in programme is using the area. This would enable a computer link, giving information about callers, to be estab- lished. The refurbishment was co-ordinated by Nick Sharwood-Smith of Radio Projects who also placed the con- tracts. My thanks go to all those who were involved in bringing this project to a very successful conclusion.

Ray Lee, Services Engineer The refurbished control room of Pebble Mill 5 Pebble Mill

12 ENG INF Autumn 1989 WOOD NORTON - switchgear training The development was carried out as a sor system which is widely used for BBC staff who are authorised to joint project between ETD and the control applications. The Wood Nor- operate high-voltage (hv) power Power Systems section of TED, who systems may have attended an hv ton PLC reads the condition of the switchgear, via auxiliary contacts, and arranged the supply of the new circuit switch gear course at Wood Norton in processes this along with data about breaker and the mimic. The PLC the past. The course has always had an system was designed, built and pro- the supply sources etc. Ultimately the operational bias, as staff have limited grammed by ETD staff. The software PLC can determine which of the final opportunities elsewhere to develop development was remarkable for its circuits on the Iv board are live. familiarity with this type of equip- ease - it took about one man week ment. A further feature of the PLC is that it only, including time for self 'training'. controls some of the mains power sup- The project has certainly demon- The first course in 1975 utilised a plies in the training area. The result strated the ability of PLC systems to single-panel oil circuit breaker, as the is that certain switching operations provide low-cost and flexible solutions sole training facility. As time went on, (and the grosser kind of errors) will to otherwise unique problems. various bits of new and redundant plunge the area into darkness. Recent equipment were added, including a course members will be aware of the complete low-voltage (Iv) switch- mind-concentrating effect of this Dave Yates, Training Manager Transmission Unit, ETD board. By 1986, the ancient Iv switch- feature! board had been re-engineered with one purloined from Sutton Coldfield. ""--"1:le result was to create a simple ~ystem on which exercises were mounted, emphasising the operational demands put on the authorised staff.

The basic policy from the start has been to treat dead equipment as if it were live and in service. Experience has shown that operational staff do not have any difficulty in coping with the fake nature of the arrangements.

The latest development of the system was completed earlier this year. A new vacuum circuit breaker has been added, in line with current practice for new installations, and the complete hv switchboard has been rebuilt on new strong and level foundations. The operation of the system has been r""Teatly improved by adding a mimic The mimic control panel (left) and the PLC equipment Jntrol panel.

The mimic presents a clear plan of the system layout and current condition, including metering. It also permits ENGINEERING SAFETY PAPERS remote control of the hv switchboard which is desirable because of the - GP4 and GP6 hazards involved. The Wood Norton Iv switchboard, like many others, is All electrical equipment powered by It should be noted that Guidance Paper entirely manual so the provision of the the mains must have Engineering No. 6 (GP6), which deals with non- remote controls required fairly con- Approval before being brought into ionising rf radiation, is no longer in siderable modifications and rewiring use by the BBC. accordance with the latest advice on work. this hazard. Therefore, it should not be The Engineering Management Safety given to contractors and others as a A particularly difficult area of the Committee (EMSC) has just published statement of the BBC's position. simulation is the meters on the mimic, a revised version of their Guidance as there are no real voltages or current Paper No. 4 (GP4) which deals with the A new up-to-date version of GP6 is in to measure. The problem has safety evaluation of locally-produced preparation but may not be available been effectively solved by the addition electrical equipment. Copies can be for quite some time: anyone seeking of a PLC (programmable logic con- obtained from Secretary to EMSC, immediate advice on this topic should troll er) . Room 238, Henry Wood House contact Dennis Turner on LBH 2978 or Peter Condron on Warwick 3750. The PLC is a dedicated microproces- (LBH 2245).

13 ENG INF No 38 HDTV - at Wembley, Wimbledon and Berlin Earlier this summer, the Research Department HDTV OB Unit recorded programmes at the Wembley FA Cup Final and at the World Champion- ship Lawn Tennis competi- tions at Wimbledon. These recordings were part of a 'feet- wetting' exercise, designed to increase operational awareness of HDTV and to find out more about the inherent problems. The recordings were sub- sequently demonstrated in public, at the IFA exhibition in Berlin.

Wembley and Wimbledon

Two HDTV cameras were used at Wembley and Wimbledon, with recordings being made on the Research Department digital system which uses four D1 recorders to make one HDTV digital recording. The programmes were recorded with surround sound and in four Recording the 1989 Cup Final at Wembley, in the 1250-line HDTV format languages, to exploit the pot- ential of the HD-MAC transmission system. or digital form and many facilities which At the exhibition, Eureka built an HDTV The pictures have been judged outstand- are normal for a 625-line production do drive-in studio in which Portugese, ing by those who have seen them. The not exist yet at the 1250-line standard. French, German and Dutch broadcasters bright sunlight allowed us to operate the produced HDTV programmes destined The problems of dealing with multiple- cameras at a low gain and this, in con- for down-converted transmission on language transmission, coupled with junction with the digital recording mode, their 625-line national networks. surround sound, are also quite formid- ~ has produced remarkably noise-free sig- able. Sypher facilities and the limitations However, it was the BBC's HDTV pI nals. HDTV has about four times the res- of the D2-MAC chain, in terms of sound ductions which formed the major part of olution of 625-line television and this, quality and synchronism, have to be the public demonstrations. For the first coupled with the wider 16 x 9 aspect taken into account. time, we were able to demonstrate HDTV ratio, provides a realism that is new to slow-motion replay, special football and most viewers. New production tech- tennis effects plus multiple-language niques are emerging to exploit this The Berlin IFA exhibition commentary selection by the viewer. The experience. BBC recordings were the only ones The Wembley and Wimbledon record- which were able to demonstrate all of At Wimbledon, Research Department set ings were used as a major part of the these features. up displays in a portacabin so that visi- Eureka HDTV programmes on display at tors could judge the pictures for them- the Berlin IFA exhibition, held in late Our considerable contribution to these developments has been made possible selves. The response from the visitors - August. both broadcasters and non broadcasters by the combined efforts and skills of staff alike - was very encouraging. The pic- IPA (Internationale Funkaustellung) is a in Research Department, Television tures sold themselves. very large biennial trade fair, covering Sports and Events Group, Television radio, television and associated new OBs and Television Studios, Network There are of course problems associated technologies. It occupies about ten acres and Recording Group. Thanks are due to with this type of operation. The equip- of West Berlin and comprises some them all for their cooperation and en- ment is either laboratory-made or, pre- twenty-five large exhibition halls, four thusiasm. production and experimental in nature. live television studios and two radio The vision bandwidth (about 30 MHz) stations. It is open to the general public Brendan Slamin creates problems of cable size and and some 500,000 people attend the ten Special Assistant to DE length. The signal is either in component day event. Eureka 95

14 ENG INF Autumn 1989 NOTIINGHAM - new East Midlands Broadcasting Centre autumn 1989. Each area will then have a Two years of planning and preparation area to around 90 sq metres. It has three Sony DXC3000 cameras, two of which pair of SP machines, as well as a U-matic finally bore fruit in May when East Mid- for playing in library material. lands regional television programmes carry prompt monitors, and a simple were originated from York House in scaffold grid for lighting. Future Developments Nottingham for the first time. The vision mixer is a Grass Valley 1680, Since 1967, the BBC had had a tv studio with sixteen channels and two effects At present we daily originate seven news banks. The preview matrix was made by bulletins on BBC 1 and opt out of Mid- in Willson House, on the other side of the city. When separate news bulletins for Probe!, with thirty-two sources and six- lands Today for a few minutes. We also the East Midlands began in 1983, the staff teen destinations, while the sound mixer contribute stories to the main part of numbers grew quickly to thirty-five over was made by Amek, with sixteen chan- Midlands Today and to national news programmes. However, we are hoping to the next four years. It was clear that no nels and four groups. The lighting con- more could be squeezed into the limited trol system was made by Lee Colortran, expand our output in autumn 1990 by transmitting a full half-hour regional space available. with twenty-four channels and three groups. Slidefile, Aston 3 and other magazine programme every evening. A search was started for suitable al- items were transferred from Willson This will require improvements on some ternative premises and, after looking at House. of the compromises we made with ~,'tfious locations in and around the city, Two picture-editing areas are at present equipment, and some extra staff. Also, as e decided on a ground floor site in York equipped with U-matic pairs, for editing mentioned above, we plan to change House - the home of BBC Radio Not- material from our PSC crew, and a Beta- from U-matic to Betacam SP this tingham since it opened in 1968, The autumn. advantages of a shared building would cam player for editing material from our be considerable. 'mute' cameraman. Linking consoles were designed and built by our own staff, Richard Crawley Negotiations to acquire the lease took with the design taking account of the Senior Television Engineer rather a long time but were completed in planned change to Betacam SP in East Midlands August 1988 and the builders moved in the following month. They constructed a new studio and gallery, plus editing and - Studio D other areas, on the ground floor, and a ELSTREE new newsroom on the first floor to be shared with Radio Nottingham. The local radio staff were shunted around during this phase of the building work refurbished and had to put up with a great deal of noise and dust, not to mention incon- The enhancement of Network Produc- handover period to meet the service venience (as did their audience!). tion facilities at Elstree continues with date. P&ID Tel worked closely with The main technical installation work the recent refurbishment of the Sound Philip Drake and Calrec Audio to al- r~gan in March of this year and was car- Control room in Studio D. leviate any problems, as even the 2d out, under contract, by Ian P Kinloch smallest delay would have jeopardised the first programme, of Reading, a company which has The twenty year old Neve desk has been acquired a good reputation for this type retired to the Bradford Museum of Film During the out-of-service period, the of work. and Television and has been replaced by opportunity was taken to enhance the All the technical equipment was trans- a Calrec M Series desk, based on that environment of the Sound Control room, ferred safely from Willson House during previously supplied for TC5 at Television particularly from an acoustics viewpoint. a weekend in early May - and most of it Centre. It comprises thirty-six channels, A new ceiling was installed and the split- worked! However, British Telecom failed eight groups and ten auxiliary outputs level floor was replaced by a modern to provide on time the fibre-optic cables and has been designed to work fully in computer-type. Flimsy internal walls for getting our television signals in and stereo, with provision for 24-track were replaced by full camden partitions out of the building. With a few days to recording. and external walls were acoustically go, they installed four temporary radio treated. All this work was carried out by links between our roof and their build- Phi lip Drake Electronics, of Welwyn Building Engineering Services, ing, half a mile away. After encountering Garden City, supplied the desk under some technical problems, the circuits contract together with replacement In addition to the Sound refurbishment, were finally accepted about midnight on sound systems, gram decks and studio P&ID Tel was also able to complete the the Sunday and the first programme wall boxes, The contract was placed in installation of the Thompson 1531 went out on schedule, just before 0700 on January and a series of 'Going for Gold' cameras, which had been delayed from the Monday. was scheduled to begin on the 1st Sep- an earlier phase due to software tember. The manufacturing period for problems. Technical Facilities the sound desk meant it could not be Graham Brewer, Project Manager The studio is about 110 sq metres but delivered until mid August, which Studio and OB Section, P&ID Tel acoustic treatment reduces the useful resulted in an intensive acceptance and

15 ENG INF No 38 RADIO WM - the 'Heartlands' project

Radio WM Heartlands - a BBC Mid- Denon cassette machines; two cartridge while the radio microphones were sup- lands response to the Government's machines (a Sonifex single-stack and a plied by Beyer Dynamic Limited. inner-city iniative - recently began Spotmaster triple-stack); a telephone The project was conceived last December regular broadcasts from its own studios balance unit, and outside sources. by Radio WM's Manager, Tony lnchley. in Saltley, central Birmingham. A radio Gerry The production area is equipped with The joint Project Managers - station in its own right, it opts into Radio two Revox PR99 tape machines and a Heeley (Manager, Engineering, Local WM's 1458 kHz mw transmissions from Denon cassette machine. Radio) and Tom Horsfield (EiC Radio Langley Mill - between 8 am and noon, WM) - had to anticipate a totally differ- six days a week. Its programming is an PBX and phone-in requirements have ent broadcasting style by putting entirely new strand, targeted at a very been combined in a single unit by the use together a specification that struck a cor- specific audience and encompasses daily of an Austin Taylor sprite exchange with rect balance between a 'Delbert Wilkins' outside broadcasts from its Radio Bus. Telecaster software, supplied and style of community radio and full broad- installed by Wiltshire Telecom. cast grade facilities. It had to take place The Studio Area within tight budgetary constraints yet The studios centre is on the third floor of The Radio Bus provide all the facilities that studio St Peter's College, an ex-teachers train- operators normally expect. ing college and best described as an oasis The Radio Bus, formerly the 'Action for The success of creating a new BBC radio in a desert of inner-city deprivation. It Jobs' bus, was originally fitted out by station, in a record ten weeks, has only comprises a studio, a production area MBI of Brighton for the Department of been made possible by the dedication ~ and office accommodation. Trade and Industry. It is now on second- ment to WM Heartlands from the all the staff involved - too many to mer. The self-op studio is equipped with a Department of Employment. tion individually here. However, credit nine channel MBI mixer. It has multi- must also go to the many manufacturers source input switching which allows The bus is equipped with an MBI Series and suppliers who rose to the challenge each channel to be configured with up to 12 mixer, two EMT gram decks, a Revox of supplying equipment to meet an three sources including three micro- PR99 tape recorder and two Sonifex car- extremely tight timetable. phone inputs. Other inputs provide for: tridge machines. Transmission facilities two Revox PR99 tape machines; two from the bus to the studios are provided Tom Horsfield, EiC Technics gram and CD players; two by a Wood and Douglas uhf transmitter Radio WM

The WM 'Heartlands' bus

16 ENG INF Autumn 1989