Transmitter Operations - Reminiscences
Auntie’s 45 Year Love Affair with ET4336
This is a story of the cold war, the 1953 coronation and the start of local radio. It is also a story of bureaucratic vandalism, as well as engineering ingenuity and efficiency.
 |
The ET4336 is a small transmitter with a big history and this article by
David Porter (pictured) is well worth reading. Click picture
for enlargement |
 |
The article is reproduced with permission of Radio Bygones magazine, where it first appeared in issue 87 (Feb/Mar 2004) and issue 88 (Apr/May 2004). www.radiobygones.co.uk The editor's permission is gratefully acknowledged.
Although it was published in two parts it so happens that the page numbers are consecutive (26 to 33) and it is presented here as eight one-page PDF files with file names p26 to p33. Please use the Back button on your browser to return to this page and select the required page of the article.
Page |
Notes on some of the people involved |
| p26 | ''One of the engineers'' refers to John Barry who was an OP4 at Daventry at the time. I accompanied him to the MTT. |
| p27 | [Bureaucratic vandalism is described in the centre of the page. Well, that's what the webmaster Martin Ellen thinks of it!] |
| p28 | |
| p29 | |
| p30 | At Brookman's Park it
was the AEiC Ralph Ramskir who said ''See what you can find in the crypt''. At Woofferton the STM who summoned me into the office was Graeme Burhop who was Acting and transferred temporarily from Sutton Coldfield. |
| p31 | |
| p32 | The strong-arm lads in
the 'Woofferton Antenna Crew'' were AMS Derek Ward assisted by Rigger
Mechanics, Cliff Wilkinson, John Dovey, Pete James and Dorien Legg. The ''young trainee engineer'' who had to dig in the earth mat wire-by-wire was Simon Adams. The ''unlucky engineers'' who had to change the main HT transformer were R Glyn Jones and Harry Field. It was Russ Moorse, the WOF transmitter technician, who 'sussed' the cabling to fluorescent light fitting voltage induction and insulation failure. |
| p33 | It was the late Dave Green [A/STM WOF] who gave 'BBC permission' for the ET's to be sold ''undamaged''. |
After reading the story you might like to see "Television arrives in Northern Ireland" on the Divis page as this video briefly shows the ET4336 at Glencairn.
Abbreviations:
OP4: A designation in the BBC grading system.
MTT: Mobile Transmitter Trailer.
AEiC: Assistant Engineer in Charge
STM: Senior Transmitter Manager.
AMS: Antenna Maintenance Supervisor.
WOF: Woofferton Transmitting Station.