Last 405 Line Only Area?

[Richard_FM]

About 20 years ago I asked on a forum if there were any areas where only 405 line TV was receivable after the Channel Islands started to receive 625 lines in 1976.

One of the suggestions was somewhere in rural Northern Ireland which was as late as 1978 getting a relay.

On some other threads the area around Bury has been mentioned as a bad reception area even for 405 lines, with Rediffusion installing a cable system to provide a decent picture.

[Restoration73]

I can clearly remember a feature on the "Nationwide" weekday show in 1975 or 76
where a small community on one of the remote isles of Scotland got TV for the first time.
At that time there were still a small number of 405/625 new sets (Thorn 1400) to cater
for the demand. Perhaps another forum member can provide more information.

[Mr Hoover]

Originally Posted by Richard_FM

One of the suggestions was somewhere in rural Northern Ireland which was as late as 1978 getting a relay.

It was the area served by the Brougher Mountain transmitter nearish Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
Info here.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brou...itting_station

[Richard_FM]

Thanks for the feedback.

Bush were still making dual standard sets until about 1975.

[murphyv310]

Hi.
There was a pocket of poor reception from Straiton along the Newton Stewart road into the Galloway forest that could only receive BBC1 on Channel 3 from Kirk-o-Shotts, channel 2 from Carrick hills and Lethanhill on Ch 12 V were impossible. We in Clydesdale had one customer with a Philips 210 that lost all TV after the switch off until she got a sky dish from us a few years later on, after the January 1985 405 line switch off. About 50 households were in the same boat. UHF was and is non existent.

[RMDGuild]

In case it's of interest - the last 405 line broadcast on a 405-line TV (I think from a video recorded played back through a 405 line TV recently)

https://youtu.be/BP-TLlvxRyA

[mickash]

I remember visiting a house in Lea Bridge near Matlock,Derbyshire in the early 1980s. They were still watching 405 line TV as UHF wasn't available due to the hilly area. They were still waiting for a UHF relay to be built.

It was quite a well to do house and they were stuck with a dual standard B&W TV and only 2 channels.

[Hybrid tellies]

We had the same just outside Bath. One small village was completely surrounded by hills which blocked all UHF 625 line signals which meant we had a few RBM A640 dual standard B&W sets running into the early 1980's.
After 405 closed I think they either installed a small cable distribution system or one of those self help low powered UHF 625 line transmitters.

[paulsherwin]

There were lots of places where people stuck with 405 even after the construction of infill relays, as they had little interest in BBC2 and VHF gave a cleaner signal. They only changed with the general adoption of colour and the improvement in TV UHF performance.

[winston_1]

I knew someone like that in London. We’ll get a BBC2 aerial when they have decent programmes they said. Eventually they upgraded to colour and were surprised they had to get that new aerial they could have got many years earlier at a cheaper price!

[Richard_FM]

On previous treads we've mentioned about 405 only sets being used as second sets right up to the switch off because the owners didn't watch much on BBC2 & Channel 4.

I did wonder who much BBC2's market share went up once single standard sets became standard?

[red-duck]

As a teenager in the mid 70's, I used to supplement my pocket money by buying old BW tv sets - mostly ex rentals from local auctions, cleaning/polishing them up (occasionally "repairing" them) and selling them on to family and friends for use as second sets. In some cases as first sets - I remember at least a two old(er) ladies still having single channel sets with a Band 3 convertor as their main set (~1975).
For the main part the ex auction sets were single standard and occasionally 2 standard but without a UHF tuner. Bush TV125, 85 & 95 were common.

[peter_scott]

Originally Posted by red-duck

Bush TV125, 85 & 95 were common.

A picture of our first flat in 1975.

Peter

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by winston_1

I knew someone like that in London. We’ll get a BBC2 aerial when they have decent programmes they said. Eventually they upgraded to colour and were surprised they had to get that new aerial they could have got many years earlier at a cheaper price!

Many Londoners could get decent VHF reception with little more than a bit of wire hanging down from the aerial socket, and resented paying for a UHF aerial on the chimney. I had an aunt and uncle in Streatham who were very late to adopt UHF for that reason, despite being perfectly able to afford the cost.

[Andrew2]

Originally Posted by peter_scott

A picture of our first flat in 1975.

Peter

What a lovely picture. It makes me quite nostalgic!

[peter_scott]

Nostalgic for pulling TV125s out of skips.

Peter

[ntscuser]

Originally Posted by Richard_FM

On previous treads we've mentioned about 405 only sets being used as second sets right up to the switch off because the owners didn't watch much on BBC2 & Channel 4.

The same was true of dual-standard sets. VHF viewing also had the advantage you could run a thin coax to a couple of extra rooms without much loss of signal.

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by peter_scott

A picture of our first flat in 1975.

Peter

I'm intrigued by that light fitting- it looks like a cross between an octopus and a set of bagpipes in the picture! Shadows?

[peter_scott]

I guess it doesn't look quite right because it's lacking its shades. That was back in 1975. It did have shades when we bought the flat but we didn't like them. We took it with us when we sold and I confess that we've never used it since and it is still in our loft.

Peter