Remember these.? All our yesterdays

[myglaren]

When we moved here in 1978 all new houses in Washington had phone lines as standard, just pay BT and plug one in.
Also there were TV sockets. TV and radio aerials were forbidden so every house had radio and TV on tap, there was even a 'Washington TV' program with someone waffling on about somethingorother. Never watched it though.
Satellite dishes put paid to all that.

[CitroJim]

Also there were TV sockets. TV and radio aerials were forbidden so every house had radio and TV on tap, there was even a 'Washington TV' program with someone waffling on about somethingorother. Never watched it though.
Satellite dishes put paid to all that.

Milton Keynes was the same back in the early days. All cabled, all aerials banned and we too had our own local TV station. Channel 40. Strictly you needed a decoder box for it but in reality it was easy to get around as the vision modulation was reverse polarity to the standard. Arrange a switch to reverse the vision detector diode and away you went!

Even Paggers once had a cable TV system and in some parts the distribution cabinets are still extant. My first house here was so wired although by the time I bought it, the system was defunct. It was provided as this area was (and still is) in a 'fringe area' for TV reception. This situation improved a little when all channels moved to 625 line UHF but in the old VHF 405 days, huge aerials were needed, some which still exist on older properties in the town to this day.

Even now, terrestrial TV reception is difficult, especially in my area of town as we are so low-lying and have no line-of-sight to our nearest transmitter, Sandy Heath, some considerable distance away.

VHF radio was similarly difficult, our nearest transmitter being at Oxford, right up until the 90s when a new transmitter at Bow Brickhill was built to serve the MK area. As all the new city was cabled, a TV relay transmitter there was not provisioned...

Medium Wave radio was never an issue as Brookmans Park was - by MW radio standards - just down the road... It still does us proud for Radio 5 Live.

I well remember the joy we all shared when Bow Brickhill came on-line. The formerly redundant FM band on our car radios became usable! Radio 1 on FM sounded much better than it did on Medium Wave

[NewcastleFalcon]

247 Radio 1, 208 Radio Luxembourg

TOH

Neil

[CitroJim]

247 Radio 1, 208 Radio Luxembourg

TOH

Neil

'Radio 1 is Wonderful 2-4-7!'

Ahh, Radio Luxembourg brings back some very good memories... Due to my early activities on the technical side of radio I could enjoy listening to the radio from a young age. Caroline by day and Luxembourg under the sheets by night Both those stations helped shape my lifelong musical tastes...

The final shaping of those tastes where made listening to prog rock on 8-Track cartridges and later, on the latest technology of the time, an auto-reverse cassette player, in the TV service van in the company of my TV and Radio repair mentor when we toured the area carrying out TV repairs in peoples houses...

Very happy and formative years in more ways than one... I really fancied the shop owner's youngest daughter who was a around my age and went to a much posher school than I did Way out of my league but gosh, did I ever lust after her

[NewcastleFalcon]

Quality reminiscing there Jim

Channel 40 hasn’t entirely disappeared thanks to the Internet. Some of the content is still available. You would have to be very interested to enjoy it

This is just a page about it

http://www.mkheritage.org.uk/archive/dm ... /05/03.pdf

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

In Watford we had a company called Jones Cable who installed our first cable service and it was later taken over by a bigger company whose name I cannot recall for love or money, although I have a feeling it began with 'H' . Later still their network was bought up and included in the Virgin Cable roll out as Virgin began to amalgamate many local systems around the country into the Virgin Media we know today.

[NewcastleFalcon]

In Watford we had a company called Jones Cable who installed our first cable service and it was later taken over by a bigger company whose name I cannot recall for love or money, although I have a feeling it began with 'H' . Later still their network was bought up and included in the Virgin Cable roll out as Virgin began to amalgamate many local systems around the country into the Virgin Media we know today.

Did you get the Watford observer delivered Mick

This may help

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/ ... rtainment/

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

My parents had it but I didn't not a newspaper fan at all!

It isn't Homer that I am thinking of, it may come to mind later!

[bobins]

For all you old radio listeners - Johnnie Walker has announced he's retiring from radio and his career at the end of this month.

"The BBC radio presenter Johnnie Walker has announced he's hanging up his headphones after a 58-year career because of ill health.
He will step down from presenting Sounds of the 70s and The Rock Show on BBC Radio 2 at the end of this month.
The 79-year-old made the announcement live on air on Sunday, telling listeners that he would make his final shows "as good as I possibly can".
He will be replaced on Sounds of the 70s by Bob Harris,
Walker began his radio career in 1966 on Swinging Radio England, an offshore pirate station, before moving to Radio Caroline.
He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969, and joined Radio 2 in 1997 where he has remained ever since.
Walker has pulmonary fibrosis, which is scarring of the lungs. The condition makes breathing difficult."

More at the Beeb: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8j26816ygo

[NewcastleFalcon]

Always enjoy Johnny Walker's shows on the radio and quite remarkable that he has been able to be carry on broadcasting in recent times, with what is a debilitating and progressively distressing condition.

From the "Driving Music" thread

The February 2024 version of Falcon in-car entertainment is entirely good old-fashioned Radio. The usual fare is Radio 2/Radio Newcastle/ Classic fm when the other two can't come up with anything decent.

Our driving about coincides with regular tune ins to Elaine Page/Johnny Walker Sounds of the 70's on Sunday.
Saturdays Rylan Clark/Liza Tarbuck who comes up with some surprisingly interesting tracks and during the week just the general daytime fare and occasionally a bit of Jezza for me to enjoy a bit recreation getting irritated with the discussions.

Undoubtedly Johnny Walker's show is the most appropriate from a musical preference point of view.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Ahh, Radio Luxembourg brings back some very good memories...

Bit of a Radio Luxembourg aircraft connection here on one of the FCF's newest threads

One for the Air Buffs

viewtopic.php?p=816505#p816505

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

In a charity shop window. Price tag on Thunderbird 2 diecast £1.50. Has to be a bargain

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I sold my Tracey Island for £55 in 1990 after retiring from BT Mobile and clearing out my hobby shed which was to become my Car Supplying office!!

[MattBLancs]

In a charity shop window. Price tag on Thunderbird 2 diecast £1.50. Has to be a bargain

Neil

Some one had to say it

Spoiler: show

that bargain was F A B

[Rp0thejester]

Has the Thunderbird....gone...de de de der