Early British TV

[Robert Grant]

Originally Posted by Mikey405

Hi Carmine.

The numbers were not in order so that the 2 channels that we used to have on bands 1 and 3 would tend to fall next door to each other on the dial. For example, from one transmitter in Devon in the South West, we used to have BBC on channel 2 (band 1) and ITV on channel 9 (band 3). Other places in the UK had a similar arrangement with BBC and ITV on their respective band 1 and band 3 channels. (Ignoring regional differences, there were only ever 2 channels on VHF, so we could have the luxury of having the numbers next door to each other.)


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That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw that, especially Greater London, with BBC (later BBC1) on 1 and Rediffusion (later Thames) on 9.

Not merely convenient, but saves the mechanical tuner from considerable mechanical wear.

As for the unused channel 14. I had not known that B14 had never been used. Some literature of the day did show a channel 14 in the UK bandplan, but others did not.