Death of TV pioneer
The man who pioneered television transmission in New Zealand, Mr Bernard Tyndall Withers, died in Christchurch last week. The first transmission was made from the School of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, where Mr Withers was a lecturer in electrical engineering. Station ZL3XT began test transmissions in 1951. Mr Withers began experimenting in that year as part of a training project for young engineers in the use of vacuum tubes.
The station had a range of five to six miles to the west and two to the east. Although there was no in-
tention of transmitting any entertainment, some Fendalton and Riccarton residents bought receivers to pick up the signal from the school. Once all the “bugs” had been ironed out, demonstrations of the transmitter were held. A public demonstration was held at the school in 1953 and a receiver was placed in the Students’ Union to give students a taste of television. Mr Withers lectured in electrical engineering and specialised in electronics at the school for 25 years. He retired in 1971. Mr Withers is survived by his wife and a son.
Death of TV pioneer
Press, 23 November 1983, Page 1
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in