SERVICING THE B.B.C.

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1937, Page 28

SERVICING THE 8.8.C.

436,000 CAR-MILES A YEAR

A "museum" in which apparatus and equipment associated with the history and development of British broadcasting will be preserved is being unofficially established in a 8.8.C. engineering department. . The transmitter of 2LO, the first London broadcasting station, the first dramatic control panel to be used in the British service,'examples of early types of microphones, and the first transmitting valves are among the initial, exhibits of the "museum" which is; in the-care of F. M. Dimmock, head of the 8.8.C.'s equipment department at 'Avenue House in Clapham, South London. Responsibility for, the 8.8.C.'s "museum," however, is only a minor part of the function-of the equipment, department. Its principal duty is-the provision of all technical equipment on the speech-input side of the '8.8.C.'s work—that is to say,' the department supplies air ;the control positions, amplifiers, mixers, gramophones, , valves, microphones and similar apparatus required at 8.8.C. centres, whether in^ London or the provinces. Five departmental sections—designs, testing, experimental workshops, central, stores, and transport—contribute to that work, entailing the employment of a staff numbering 146. Extensive premises are, necessary,.1 of course, to accommodate so considerable a department. "Avenue House? ' consists of a suitably;conyerted private residence in its own' grounds.' 'Around it have grown up'a brick-built ■ building in which are accommodated ; themuseum, the' designs section, its. associated drawing office," and the' test rooms, a capacious gar,age,. tyie. Central Stores, and the experimental work-

shop. ' ' ' ' ' ' ' V ' Stocks -of any; component that .may be needed by the engineering, branch of the Corporation—from' microphones and valves to, insulating tape and solder —are kept in Central Stores, which also supplies the requirements, of; the experimental workshop. Though, as.' far' as possible, commercial firms supply the technical equipment required'by the 8.8.C., whether completed units or isolated components, certain specialised work—and especially experimental work—can be performed to the'best advantage _by the corporation's own-staff and.in its own workshop. In that of the equipment department, ' up-to-date facilities, are available for the modification and renovation: of existing apparatus, the construction of experimental- amplifiers and;the like,' tlie assembly, and wiring of apparatus bays, the winding -of transformers and chokes, and even the application of a-cellulose finish to a completed unit, From the-garage at. Avenue House each day goes out a fleet of vehicles' of many types —private cars, shooting brakes, small vans., pantechnicons—to provide transport for; apparatus and personnel. In addition, there are.available vehicles designed "for special purposes, such as the transmitter lorry and the field-strength measurement vans, which are sent out to test sites for a prospective transmitting station. At Avenue House, too, are garaged and maintained the 8.8.C.'s mobile recording vans and the outside broadcasts control van,'which is used as a-local control-point for broadcasts such as the Armistice Day ceremony from Whitehall, London. The pantechnicons already mentioned are used for conveying from point to point the instruments of the various 8.8.C. orchestras: on the occasion of the performance by the 8.8.C. Symphony Orchestra in Brussels last year, for instance, two-of these . vehicles transported the instruments of the orchestra's 114 players to Brussels and back, to London within 72 hours, no instrument suffering- the. slightest damage. Altogether; the 8.8.C. owns a transport fleet of 52' vehicles, the annual milage of which is in the neighbourhood of 436,000. ■■ ■. Every- component' (even valveholders, grid-leaks, and small condensers) brought by the corporation for service use passes through the testing section-of the equipment • department. The importance of ensuring that-every piece of equipment, however insignificant, conforms to a high standard needs no emphasis:the efficiency of the whole broadcasting service may be affected by one faulty component in the chain of apparatus.. Kigid tests, therefore,; are applied by the test room engineers, who are responsible not only, for test-. ing new equipment but for diagnosing faults in apparatus returned for repair and testing it when renqva.tions . have been completed. What must be the smallest "studio" in the world is to be seen in the B.B.C.|s.test, room: it is .nothing more than a large box, the size of ant ordinary packing case, thickly lined with sound-absorbent material, and is used for testing the. sound response of microphones. The designs section is responsible for designing any speech-input equipment that may be required, whether for installation at new' premises or for the modernising of existing: plant. Drawings of all corporation equipment' (with the exception of transmitting arid power plant, which is the responsibility of another 8.8.C. department), are made in the drawing office attached to the section, and the necessary prints of the drawings—about 37,000 are required in one year—are prepared on the premises by a modern continuous copying machine. One other section of the department —the receiver section—though not directly concerned with ;the main purpose of the Avenue House establishment, has an important contribution to make to the efficiency of the British service. It is responsible for the supply and maintenance of the receiving sets situated at many points throughout a wide area, by means of which the broadcast programmes are officially listened to and checked.; '