BBC1 | closedown, Test Card F and BBC Select handover | 6th October 1992 | Part 2 of 3

[@brucedanton3669]

Although this is now 31 years ago then of course, it is so nice to see. 10 out of 10 of course too-thank you!

[@techtinkerin]

No way, I remember seeing just the scrambled part as a kid!! Thanks again absolutely excellent to see what it was for..😎❤️

[@MikeWalsh-vb3bt]

I was Technical Manager on this project, so can answer any questions. The technology, for anyone interseted, was an analogue, line shuffling version of videocrypt, based on 6 x 47 line blocks....

[@CdEmm50]

I'm looking for a dvd of Testcard F but it's hard to find. I'm restoring three old crt tv sets.

[@RebeccaGunn]

Any interesting/amusing stories from running the Select service? What was the biggest challenge you had with the project?

[@robertpreece7259]

do you think this could be used today to scramble to the bbc and make it a subscription service?

[@gordonm2821]

I think from memory the first hurdle was the getting regulatory approval to encrypt a public service. The encryption unit itself was housed in the Central Apparatus Room on the 3rd floor of television centre and housed in the equipment rack for BBC 1. I think the encryption was on a schedule rather a trigger from Network Control 1 suite.

[@SamuelBlack84]

I remember being woken up very late one night as a kid in the dark to my TV playing the loud beeping noise and as I wasn't used to it I wound up being creeped out 😊 In those days, it felt like the whole world was fast asleep except for me

[@scorelineupdate129]

You fu(king snowflake best tune ever

[@SandraLee-mz2yy]

I would have been 17 then and I still find it creepy till this day

[@Sheffield_Steve]

I remember once getting up one and inadvertently putting this on thinking summat was wrong with the telly, I was going to shout my Mum or Dad, but Ch4 & ITV were working fine. 🤭

[@arserobinson7118]

When this aired I would have been in bed for 3 hours and getting up at 8am on 6th October 1992 for another day at Comprehensive School. LOL.

[@zetametallic]

I'd just left in the July that year. Started college in the September that year.

[@adamh2900]

This is better than Love Island

[@unlokia]

It TRULY is

[@darkenedgold2390]

Yes it is

[@bengigabit2676]

YES IT is

[@j0hnf_uk]

Static would be better than that televisual effluent.

[@AlexAlexon3897]

😅🤣

[@brucedanton3669]

Thank you so much-nice to see Test Card F for sure!!

[@thomaspynchon2871]

ABSOLUTE BANGER.

[@zetametallic]

BBC Select tune was class!

[@SandraLee-mz2yy]

The test card tone was a banger lol

[@michellezimmermann9160]

The test card played for quite a few years. I was in my late teens by this date, and I remember this test card being shown when I was a little girl. That clown thing always used to creep me out 😂😂

[@RobertHellier]

BBC tried to make this as subscription service and failed and they did lose alot of money as no one bought their special decoder....

[@stickytapenrust6869]

Yup, that’s John Birt’s running (ruining) of the BBC, for ya!

[@xXBeefyDjXx]

If you can, please keep hold of the original VHS of this or at least a 1:1 digital copy... There's data that your VHS could have recorded that can be used to understand and rebuild encoding/decoding functionality for the encryption used on Select, and there is a couple communities out there focused on just that. You can see the data squashed partially into view at the very top of the image (the static looking stuff) since Select had no choice but to put it in the "overscan" area or cut out Teletext/Ceefax, which wasn't done presumably because it wasn't allowed/decided against!

[@stickytapenrust6869]

I never keep VHS tapes unless it’s something particularly special to me. This one wasn’t kept. I do have it as an MP4 file at full 768x576 resolution though the nitrate is probably lower as it’s not professional capturing software. The full resolution files still look much better than the version after KZbin compresses it.

[@jamesdelboy]

The Test Card used to bug me as a kid with the mono tone and I hated that it was used during ceefax pages from time to time if music was played it was a bit more enjoyable and better to watch

[@brucedanton3669]

You are so right-it was better to watch for sure-thank you!!

[@jamesdelboy]

@@brucedanton3669 I though so too

[@SandraLee-mz2yy]

it was creep when it used to change from the ceefax pages to the test card

[@jamesdelboy]

@@SandraLee-mz2yy That was the norm back in those fays

[@gary.h.turner]

A handover is when the continuity announcer says something like "Well, that's it from BBC1 for tonight. Now it's time for BBC Select." An hour of the Test Card in between hardly counts as a "handover"!

[@stickytapenrust6869]

No, a handover is where a channel hands over to another channel, regardless of whether the announcer mentions it or not. They’re still handing over from BBC1 to BBC Select, even if there is an hour of testcard separating them.

[@Sheffield_Steve]

Was it ever mentioned in TV listings? 🤔 If not, then I suppose you could argue it was a ghost programme although, they used to advertise the service in trailers.

[@brucedanton3669]

I am not sure there though. Test Card F was not mentioned at all ever, from what I can remember; so who knows of course?@@Sheffield_Steve

[@ClydebridgeStation]

@@Sheffield_Steve BBC Select was mentioned in the TV listings, as the genome bbc project shows it on Radio times listings. It was also shown on Ceefax, and there was a dedicated page on Ceefax for BBC Select. Not all programmes were scrambled. RCN Nursing update, VCTV, were examples of free to air BBC Select transmissions.

[@SandraLee-mz2yy]

Sone of these comments are so funny

[@Happyinmyautotrail]

Miss this. The world used to make sense.

[@TheSerpentGallery]

A key part of the current craziness was hiding in plain sight in that seemingly innocent image. The "Test Card Girl '" is a boy in a wig. There's more. It's explained in a video called Hidden Meaning Of Test Card F

[@grahampearson5670]

Most of the programmes aired during the BBC Select slot were scrambled.

[@ceefaxbbctv8788]

I sadly can’t play the video

[@stickytapenrust6869]

Works fine for me.

[@tehzeebkabir8901]

IAM SWAPNO

[@SandraLee-mz2yy]

What??

[@邱華嶽]

真的假的