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Post by markboulton on Jan 12, 2020 23:18:09 GMT
I think around 1969 Ampex relaxed (or it expired) the patent on 2' videotapes, so this meant anyone could start making them which would reduce shortages and bring the costs down, but this would take time and this was still the era of the BBC reusing tapes and yet apparently Australia was spending (property sized) thousands of dollars a week on tapes they just discarded. ..are you sure they were not just Umatics? .in which they would be well sticky now. According to Wikipedia: U-matic is an analogue recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. As the initial repeater stations using videotape all commenced broadcasting between November 1970 and March 1971 u-matic wouldn't have been an option. I think it would have been an option because studios and facilities have often had access to pre-production/prototype equipment before general release, and U-Matic would have been sufficiently developed at that time for the AMC project to be used for field trials.
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Post by Robert Mammone on Jan 13, 2020 10:52:55 GMT
Could I clear something up here, please?
We are talking about the ABC, in agreement with various mining companies (or the peak body) copying programmes for delivery to different mining communities. These videotapes are played in actual broadcast facilities, for transmission over the air, to the homes of mine workers and their families, in the same way we access terrestrial television over the air today?
It's not, as I originally envisaged, a situation where everyone gathers into a large hall to watch playback of these tapes on a single screen as a community event?
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Post by Jon Preddle on Jan 13, 2020 18:36:02 GMT
Yes, that it correct. The larger towns had a transmission tower, while smaller ones had a cable system. (A drawback of cable was that as the population of these communities grew and expanded, it meant more houses, and therefore laying more expensive cable. Tower relay was the preferred option.) There was a paid licence fee per household, which helped fund this system.
In most cases, this set-up was only a temporary measure, as eventually these towns got microwave or satellite connections to the state network, and received the state-wide live transmissions.
IIRC, there were over 20 of these mining communities, scattered around WA, NT and QLD, and on the islands off the mainland. And the "off-air" tapes were 'bicycled' within each state/territory, and presumably returned to the recording centres for re-use.
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Post by Nicholas Fitzpatrick on Jan 15, 2020 18:32:25 GMT
Jon - everything official seems to point to this system starting around 1970/1971, using video.
Was there no older system bicycling film prints?
In northern Canada, they were bicycling old film prints to small remote communities back to the 1910s (or earlier), initially for cinemas, and ultimately the similar TV broadcast as discussed above, until they got domestic northern satellite coverage in 1972/1973.
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Post by Jon Preddle on Jan 15, 2020 23:15:13 GMT
Jon - everything official seems to point to this system starting around 1970/1971, using video. Was there no older system bicycling film prints? In northern Canada, they were bicycling old film prints to small remote communities back to the 1910s (or earlier), initially for cinemas, and ultimately the similar TV broadcast as discussed above, until they got domestic northern satellite coverage in 1972/1973. Since most of the mining towns in Western Australia - such as those at Tom Price and Paraburdoo - didn't get established until the late 60s/early 70s, the TV system did indeed not start until 1970/71. These communities also had cinemas, so feature films did also get distributed. But as far as TV goes, it was all on video, until the late 70s/early 80s, when the installation of co-axial, microwave or satellite feeds enabled them to receive ABC transmissions live.
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Post by Martin Dunne on Feb 1, 2020 4:41:18 GMT
Excellent work Jon and Robert. The Tom Price listings are the only ones I've seen to say what was on, but not give time of broadcast.
I met a guy who worked for the Department of Mines in 1967, delivering video lectures from a class room in Adelaide via phone lines to remote mines. Anyone know more about this system?
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Post by Jon Preddle on Feb 2, 2020 22:43:45 GMT
Excellent work Jon and Robert. The Tom Price listings are the only ones I've seen to say what was on, but not give time of broadcast. I met a guy who worked for the Department of Mines in 1967, delivering video lectures from a class room in Adelaide via phone lines to remote mines. Anyone know more about this system? Sounds like "Open University" using a form of "Skype". There's an item on Video Lectures in the 7 April 1967 edition of The Canberra Times.
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Post by Martin Dunne on Feb 3, 2020 14:01:13 GMT
Thanks again Jon; the citation for the Weedon Report is already proving useful.
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Post by robertboon on Mar 18, 2020 17:30:53 GMT
The following item can now be viewed for free at the NAA website: Title: Television for mining centresContents range: 1969 – 1970 Barcode: 22520837 Series number: C2218 Control symbol: TV23/1/2 PART 1 Access status: OPEN Access decision: 11/02/2020 Sadly it appears they did intend to reuse the videotapes
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