BBC Television Interference Suppression Demonstration Film

The BBC Suppressor Film, made in the early 1950s by the BBC on behalf of the trade association BREMA, illustrated how fitting a suppressor to a car's ignition system eliminated the interference menace on television screens.

Every location used in the film were all in north-west London, presumably for the convenience of a film unit based at Alexandra Palace, and few have changed much in the last forty-something years.

Opening shot -- Heath Street, Hampstead
Services lorry -- Stoneyfield Lane
Scammel Scarab -- East End Road (cottages now demolished)
GPO mail van -- emerging from Vivian way into Deansway
Triumph Renown -- Hale Lane
Standard Vanguard -- West Heath Road
Electrical shop -- corner of Edgwarebury Lane and Station Road, Edgware
Austin car, passing modern flats -- Belvedere Court, Lyttleton Road, Barnet By-pass

The identity of the electrical shop at 1-3 Edgwarebury Lane, has also been identified - it's now a dry cleaner's shop but in those days it was Norwest Services Ltd (telephone STOnegrove 6655).

This film footage is from Archive Collection held and administered by the Alexandra Palace Television Society.

http://www.apts.org.uk

~ APTS ~
Preserving the televisual past for the digital future

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• apts
• simon
• vaughan
• interference
• suppression
• alexandra
• palace
• bbc
• television
• history
• ally
• pally

[aptsarchive]

Couldn't agree with you more. How nice it would be to walk in to a radio dealers like this now days!

[yue107h]

I remember this alright. In those not many had cars. In fact I have a 1946 Hillman Minx dhc as featured and this is brought back the nostalgia and charged me into progressing it. Brilliant. Thank you!!

[aptsarchive]

@yue107h Glad you enjoyed the upload and that it brough back good memories

[redsnapper1959]

The shop featured in the film was in Edgware, Middlesex, corner of Edgwarebury Lane and Station Road.

[aptsarchive]

That's correct if was Norwest Services Ltd (telephone STOnegrove 6655), and is now a dry cleaner's.

[dowdingnet]

Superb! I never thought I'd see this one again!

[aptsarchive]

Glad you enjoyed it - it does make for fascinating viewing!!

[vinylseat]

What a great film! The problem was not so much that we used positive vision modulation. Unfortunately the ignition coil in most cars of the period had a natural tuned circuit around 45mc/s the vision frequency of the original Alexandra Palace transmitter in London. The A.M. sound easy demodulated the strong pulses from the spark ignition, [41.5 mc/s]hence the 'pops'. The further you moved up band 1, the less of a problem it became. Happy days! J.

[mubd1234]

3:47-That guy now has to spend his year's pay, 5 pounds, on a new TV.

[raymondgarfield8]

The jolts of memory this film clip created. I grew up in Edgware. The service and expert help one got in mid 20th century was so much better.

[wa5iyx]

When I was in the UK 1952-54 as a USAF dependent we didn't have our own TV (London at c. 70-mi may've been the closest station then). We got to see some of the Coronation coverage at a set in the NCO Club at RAF Shepherds Grove. Anyway, I still have a Comet comic book issue from that era where a sci-fi story has interference to a TV (from a UFO) and a character comments that they were too high above the street for it to have been from an auto!

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

How does some idiot smashing a TV screen cause someones car to explode? Was it an EMP or something?

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

Those European television broadcasting systems, especially the now obsolete 405 line and 625 line systems were always inferior in my opinion.

[gentil79]

looking at the shop assistant in this footage, it reminds me how good was the service compared to today's B&Q and Halford

[LDC02]

i need one of those for my austin mini.