IBA Engineering Announcements BSB Startup - D-MAC DMAC - 27 March 1990

[@DavidPaulMorgan]

I remember this from back in the day. It was a very exciting time. Plus, I had my Fergusson 3v23 VHS retro-fitted with a nicam card, waiting for digital-stereo to be switched on for Mendip & Wenvoe Transmitters! BSB connected by RGB/SCART to my Philips TV - It was the bees knees :-) I was a BSB launch club member, but I only had a squarish dish, not a squarial :-(

[@robster773]

I thought it sounded in NICAM Digital Stereo, sounds great! I know the IBA Had a few problems when they broadcasted for the first time from Emley Moor in Nicam Stereo but no problems from Crystal Palace in 1989.

[@johnrml2960]

There were some problems when BBC NICAM started - the picture would look like you'd pulled your aerial out, a click then the aerial would be plugged in again! It happened repeatedly for several days. I don't know what they were up to... I have another Engineering Announcements video here where NICAM is discussed.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

The first Engineering Announcements in NICAM Stereo was plagued with problems in the Yorkshire area as the Emley Moor transmission kept dropping from stereo to mono and back to stereo again, but the Crystal Palace transmission was flawless with no technical problems and sounded good.

[@johnrml2960]

Also worth watching is the 1988 Royal Institution Christmas Lecture "The Home of the Future" which mentions D-MAC but also discusses future television feautres such as 5:3 widescreen and 1250 line HD. The section on television begins about 40 minutes in. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2SbgHhmjJVpaaM

[@stephenholmes1036]

Pat Hawker much missed

[@RobertHellier]

Cool video... I remember ITV start up's with transmitter infomation when i was waiting for 9 am kids tv

[@johnrml2960]

Robert Hellier This is the one I remember when I was a kid... kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKenZqqGfpWihKc

[@johnrml2960]

Another one... either never officially used or I was too young to remember it - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKXGe3mVfsiee9E

[@Bret-kf8uw]

Why did BSB receivers have a coax input rather than f type as with other sat receivers of the time?

[@rmbflk]

D MAC - the Betamax of satellite television: technically better, but a commercial flop!

[@CNash85]

+Ronnie MacLennan Baird A real shame, too. I think it was down to BSB's management decisions rather than any problem with the D-MAC format itself. Just think, if things had gone the other way Sky could've ditched PAL and adopted it... I'd love to see a live side-by-side comparison of PAL vs D-MAC. Grainy, compressed KZbin videos can't really capture it...

[@sheldonspock5566]

Actually Beta wasn't technically better. it was just the same as VHS.

[@testcardsandmore1231]

@@sheldonspock5566 Yes. Did you watch Technology Connections comparison? kzbin.info/www/bejne/laCtpGtjfp6KqqM

[@testcardsandmore1231]

DMAC and D2MAC lived on for many years in Scandinavia.

[@fungo6631]

By the time it took off DVB-S was around the corner, which was digital. With 4.4 dB C/N ratio it offered a single 1080i HD channel even with MPEG-2 with the same bandwidth. An equivalent analog signal would be grainy and full of spikes.

[@Old_Hickory_Jackson]

That song at the beginning is a banger

[@goodolgranite8247]

What were the special announcements on that day. I have a feeling that Stockland Hill was on reduced power, much like most other editions of the engineering announcements.

[@MrNinjaFish]

D-MAC, the greatest bounty hunter of them all!

[@anthonyperkins7556]

D-MAC was an excellent system with flawless component RGB camera to satellite pictures and crystal clear digital stereo sound that used a similar sound format to NICAM Digital Stereo but it wasn't NICAM format sound as used in terrestrial transmissions. Not all cable operators offered the BSB 5 night pre satellite launch week schedule, my local cable system East Lancashire Cablevision Limited didn't offer the pre satellite launch week programmes.

[@fungo6631]

Component wasn't RGB tho, but YPbPr or something similar.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

​@@fungo6631The cameras used for bsb studio and video tape productions were coupled up in component for the studio broadcasts and recording direct to tape to give the high quality pictures.

[@notsorandumusername]

@@fungo6631 Technically that's correct but in everyday practical use they're very much the same and both far superior over the composite system used in PAL. The first time is saw digital television over SCART-RGB on a 50Hz CRT set without any picture manipulation I was quite stunned what a difference that made. So much clearer, sharper and much better colors. 50hz CRTs could really shine with digital feeds via RGB and SCART.

[@fungo6631]

@@notsorandumusername Can confirm. Cheaper TVs benefited the most. I had some no name brand Soundcolor CRT TV and switching to RGB SCART made a BIG difference in image quality, it was much sharper!

[@G7LWT]

Hi John, thanks for posting this video. Do you happen to have the next two instalments that cover D-MAC?

[@johnrml2960]

I did record but seem to have lost the next episode which covered the data part of the broadcast and the alternating 'digital sync' pulses and the final part which wasn't really about D-Mac as a system, it dealt with BSB's conditional access system (Eurocypher as far as I know). I didn't see all of that one, but it showed an engineer with what looked like a prototype circuit. The colour image of the ship used in this episode was then shown scrambled, then the picture cleared back to the ship.

[@CNash85]

14:30 - What was a "Link Line"?

[@PhilReynoldsLondonGeek]

An 0800 (free) or 0345 (local rate) telephone number.

[@CJT80]

More info here: www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/1984onwards/1985.htm

[@thought-drops]

Very interesting info. Worth remembering Murdoch out-manoeuvred the sclerotic IBA and BSB by going cheaper and quicker with PAL rather than the superior but costlier and delayed new standard.

[@aink9106]

Choice FM 96.9 MHz BCR FM 96.7 MHz FTP FM 97.2 MHz Isle of Wight Radio 1242 kHz KCBC 1530 kHz

[@radiovgr1055]

I used to have a BSB Satellite - and had some brilliant channels & shows until SKY swallowed them up.

[@Timothy-San]

Columbia, 1984, tristar 1984, paramount, 1975, warner bros., 1984, universal, 1963, orion, 1979 , MGM/UA ENTERTAINMENT CO., 1983!

[@johnrml2960]

That looks interesting, but I don't understand it!

[@CJT80]

He's referring to the brief section from 2:07 to 2:15 which show's a number of film distributors logos