Scrapbook 3: Transatlantic TV Relay by Telstar Next Week
TRANSATLANTIC TV RELAY BY TELSTAR NEXT WEEK
SATELLITE TO LINK BRITAIN AND 7 NATIONS WITH U.S.
By L. MARSLAND GANDER, Daily Telegraph Television and Radio Correspondent
EIGHT European countries will contribute to the first east-west television programme relayed across the Atlantic by means of the American satellite Telstar. The satellite is due to be launched from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Immediately after the firing, attempts will be made to show brief flashes on British screens of a test card from the United States’ ground station at Andover, Maine. Mr. Peter Dimmock, of the BBC, said yesterday that if the launching came at a reasonable time programmes would be interrupted. If it were in the small hours a recording would be taken for showing later.
For Transatlantic communication, the satellite’s broadcasts must be in a mutually visible position to the ground stations in Europe and America. The only one ready in Europe is the £750,000 Post Office station at Goonhilly Down, Cornwall.
15-MIN. PROGRAMME
Provisional date
A programme of only 15 minutes will be possible and eight countries will therefore have slightly less than two minutes each. They are Britain, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Mr. Aubrey Singer has been seconded by the BBC to produce the European programme, which is under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union. The provisional date is July 23, but there are many uncertainties.
Mr. Singer said a change of plans had switched the probable timing of the programme from daylight to night-time, with the exception of the Swedish part.
It had been necessary to think again about the nature of the items, which were intended to show something of the wonder and diversity of Europe.
OTHER USES
Picture transmission
Television is only a small part of Telstar’s function. There will be extensive experiments in telegraph, telephone, teleprinter and facsimile picture transmissions.
The BBC has installed television cameras at Goonhilly Down to show pictures from there as opportunity presents. It is estimated that the American Telephones and Telegraph Company has spent more than £4 million in producing Telstar and its Andover Earth Station.
The British Post Office has not only spent much less on its ground station but also completed the only European receiving centre in good time for the first experiments.