Designs Department - Reminiscences |
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| The Virtue of a Goniometer by Peter Tingey (ex BBC Designs Department) With the adoption of the PAL Colour Television System it was necessary to produce a vectorscope to display the colour signals. To rotate and align the vectors on a display, a subcarrier phase shift device was needed. Research Department had produced a differential variable capacitor that gave a conforming phase shift with rotation, but it was ten times bigger than the front panel space available on the Imperial Chassis of that time. The solution was a small Goniometer. This comprised a small rotatable coil in a split copper box with a pair of coils in quadrature on the outside. At Equipment Department the first production goniometer was made by Reg Morgan, who was in charge of the coil winding department. An assistant technician, a newcomer to the department, completed the full production. Later Reg Morgan noticed a vacancy advertised for a laboratory technician at Kingswood Warren, and he persuaded the technician that he should apply for the post. He duly attended the interview board and the first question asked was;- 'can you describe a Goniometer?' He was delighted in accepting the post offered. A perfect ending to a unit tricky to design and difficult to assemble. |