Testcard D - late 60s

[TheUup115]

D for DRUNK

[23565120]

I wish the first piece was complete, as it was one of my favourites. Ah well ! half a tune is better than no tune at all. (Er, I wish I hadn't said that - I think.)

[JohnTheRails]

@23565120 Try 'robinse28' and look for 'Fury Part 2'.  These are the third and fourth pieces in the clip.

[23565120]

@JohnTheRails  Thanks John, made my day finding that - cheers!

[Feisty1967]

Better than the Alan sodding Titchmarsh Show.

[Feisty1967]

The testcards are a damn sight more interesting than the constant stream of shite and drivel delivered by daytime tv these days. Namely, Loose Women, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Dickinson's Real Deal and Coach Trip. The endless stream of boring boybands and "showbiz" people talking about West-End shows that I'll never get to see bores me to death. I'm female btw.

[JFredUK]

@Feisty1967 I couldn't agree with you more. Ironically, when there was, 'nothing on', years ago, it was something that you could watch, Whereas, nowadays, there's, 'something on', but it's something you don't want to watch! Bring back the test card, and give us our sanity back! Who wants to watch endless editions of repetitive shows which, basically, just fill in the air-time during the day? Oh, and give us some of those wonderful tunes that used to be on with the test card, too!

[Feisty1967]

@JFredUK I'd sooner watch this than watch some of the celebrity crap which is aimed at us from all directions these days.

[walliog]

Would anyone here please know of someone who has a Sony CV 2000 video player for sale? thank you

[video1recorder]

the CV-2100 will play tapes made on the CV-2000

[C4atm]

To have a Sony CV2000 in 1965 (year it went on sale)! Its to heartbraking to think of the shows and television in general that could have been preserved. thank you for posting :)

[dillonsbestfriend]

Do we know the name of this particular tape that is playing on this video?

[Feisty1967]

I could watch this all day. Better than the shit they put on telly these days.

[fericitchannel]

nice test card :)

[Feisty1967]

I find this clip very comforting. It reminds me of the good old days when Britain was a nicer, kinder place. Well before today's cynicism set in.

[rtivey01]

the waving in mostly the beginning looks like a flag

[spottydog4472]

What's going on?..the vertical hold seems to be going on my computer!

[homer4556]

music like something out of the second world war

[wmbrown6]

I don't know about WWII . . . late 1950's to mid-'60's perhaps.

[lollygaggle]

Does anyone remember the TV trade test transmission films from about 1968-70? These featured heavily in my early memories.

There was one called 'The White Horses' (I think), which was about power boats and the music for that was fantastic. It was on about 15:50 in the afternoon before 'proper' stuff was broadcast like Jackanory.

Anyone else recall it/them?

[JJPR1959]

Yes, I remember a couple of them, it was just before the start of colour TV in Britain. A good one to see is The Home Made Car, it's a half hour film, it's on youtube in 3 parts.

[lollygaggle]

Don't recall that one - I will check it out.

In hindsight, my favourite was called 'Ride The White Horses'.

[Markgcr]

Yes I used to enjoy watching those films. Some were really good.

[1L6E6VHF]

I see what seems to be at least two selective fades here. Was this being seen by sporadic-E skip? If so, from which transmitting station, to where? 405-line was almost exclusive to the UK and Ireland, and even the longest path within Great Britain (e.g., plymouth to the Orkneys) would be a pretty short E-skip.

[vidpop]

This is very old, I like the ripple of old electrolytics too.

[redsnapper1959]

In reply to bloke43 ... check out the Test Card Circle site ... if you become a member then you can acquire the tracks in question.

[rambo1152]

Do you still have the CV2000? It was the first VTR I ever got to play with, I repaired it for somebody. I think I replaced the static discharge brush on the drum.

Its nice to see something genuine on youtube, a lot of the testcard footage is faked and not always acknowledged as such.

Your video clearly shows a 50Hz hum-bar skewing the verticals and changing the brightness. People actually watched wobbly pictures like that and thought nothing of it.

[ahd2006]

It isn't mine, this comes from a VHS copy. Would love to find one and get it going. I'd have to find a 405line telly too though.

[walliog]

@rambo1152 Hi would you know of someone who has a Sony cv 2000 for sale please? thank you

[Rusbridge1959]

I love these vintage TV clips, where do you get them from ?

[presheaven]

Lots of people swap tapes and DVDs of this kind of thing. They come from old video tapes which people will salvage and fix up old machines to play.

[ghogsy13]

Remember these two tunes well (featured in transmissions mid - sixties), anyone know their titles? Is it possible to hear them played in their entirety?

[redsnapper1959]

The tune titles are "Les Rues De Paris" and "Marie Helene" both by Andre Kerr and his Orchestra. They were used on BBC1 trade tests from 1965 to 1968.

[bloke33]

any idea how i could get ahold of those tunes? the two testcard sites i've come across don't seem to have it.

[JJPR1959]

Hello redsnapper1959, Would you know where these two pieces of music can be obtained ?

[redsnapper1959]

You'll be able to obtain the music if you subscribe to the Test Card Circle first, details of which are on their site. Hope this helps.

[JJPR1959]

Thanks a lot.

[WitzlawTN]

Not to take away from redsnapper1959's suggestion (because I'm thinking of doing that myself), but do a search under cwilliams1976--there seems to be quite a few test card music clips over there. --SJR

[JJPR1959]

I'll try that, cheers.

[EuroAlien]

Daytime television at it's best :) though I don't quite go back as far as D...

[Kargaroc286]

what's a sony CV2000 tape?

[ahd2006]

A Sony CV2000 is an old home video machine from the 60s that used reel to reel tapes.

[Kargaroc286]

so did it only do 405 lines?

BTW i wonder of there's any 525>405 converters

[ahd2006]

Yes, 405/2 only as it only recorded one field in each frame. The output is still 405 lines though, obviously. I don't know that anybody would want to convert 525 to 405. There are 625 to 405 converters around for those that want to watch tv on old 405 line sets in the UK. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to convert 405 to 625 lines so that is why this recording was made off screen from a 405 line tv set.

[Kargaroc286]

if someone exported a old 405 set (i would want to do that).

[computersolutions164]

it is easier than you think you can go from 405 to 625 but you do get some loss of definition. You have to persuade the vertical oscillator to get up to 15.625KHz can be done though. The frame rate stays at 50Hz.

Now multiply 15625 X 50 and that will give you the number of lines

[computersolutions164]

Some importedreceives have both VHF and UHF tuners and will do 405 and 625. The problem with 525 is that that it is not PAL

(Phase Amplitude Line Modulation) 525 is NTSC, yank standard. It is possible to do the french 813 lines thats PAL too I think, you basically have to alter the vertical frequencies about 15.625KHz for 625 lines a bit lower for 405. I think its about 12KHz, hence the old annoying line whistle at the end of programming for the night !

[Kargaroc286]

or you could do it digitally.

[computersolutions164]

Yes if you want to cheat. Personally I prefer the challenge.

[Kargaroc286]

NTSC is the color standard, not the resolution and framerate.

405 never had color (except back in the late 50's when experimental 405 color broadcasts that actually used NTSC)

[1L6E6VHF]

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) and NTSC actually are, in the strictest sense, systems of compatible color (people in the news gathering trade applied the terms to the scanning standard associated with them).

I don't think anyone tried 819-line PAL (819 SECAM, yes).

405x25 = 10125 Hz line rate (many color systems tested, none adopted).

525x29.97 = 15734 Hz line rate (-usually- used with NTSC, though PAL in Brazil - US TVs can be used in Brazil and vice versa, but no color would be seen)

[computersolutions164]

France had 819 SECAM at one stage I believe for a while at least

[computersolutions164]

You can build one with an SPG (Special Pulse Generator) chip or a pic chip of course

[UKSazzy67]

Have you got any more of that mate?

[ahd2006]

Check some of my other vids :)

[Jamiep84]

Did the BBC continue to broadcast a unique testcard on 405 even after 1969, when all 405 programming was taken from the 625-line network via a standards convertor?

[bw1961bw]

Not as a rule; TCF was certainly broadcast from Holme Moss and Sutton Coldfield on VHF after Nov. '69, though occasionally with regional opt-outs which used the modified 625-line version of TCC more often than not. TCD was still used by the 405-line ITA Band III main txs that had not yet gone over to colour; Mounteagle in Scotland was the last on the mainland to radiate it, in 1973.

[Kargaroc286]

no they swiched to test card f for 405 after 1969

[scorpiofootiemad]

Got any more of this?

[ahd2006]

Not of the Testcard, nope.

[mutezone]

Where did you get this?

[ahd2006]

It's been going around on the pres swaps circuit for years. I've got a quite poor VHS copy, and a slightly better DVD copy.