[jmann99999]

For those in the UK at the time, how was the code consumed? It sounds like the BBC Micro was somehow hooked up to the same "cable" as a TV. Is that right?

Did it decode the data automatically, or did programmers at home have to build something on top of it?

It just sounds incredibly ingenious on both ends. First, to invent the process and second, to use the data. I'd appreciate any knowledge that can help with the latter.

[shakna]

The video of the Four Buffs might help you understand this better. [0]

There was an extra cable, containing a photo diode, that you just stuck to the screen itself.

[0] https://youtu.be/xxo1Gs46ti0?si=fqPIaxaHGFFFJmpF

[jmann99999]

OMG, I just watched that. Amazing. I get it now, and it is supremely simple but jaw-droppingly so.

When would a show like this be on? I don't remember anything like in the States in 1985 (I was rural though).

This video is like today's YouTube.

[hakken306]

Apparently it was on at 17:30 on Channel 4, listed as "4 Computer Buffs" [0]. Channel 4 was an independent TV station, and one of only four over-the-air channels.

From another site [1] the show was one of a short series of 7 programmes, probably hosted by a professor on a sabbatical. You can cross-reference the time slot on the first site. In the same time slot, at other dates, are other computer-related shows like Me and My Micro [2].

In the UK, it was an era of affordable home computers and hobbyist activity in the media. There was a large variety of microcomputer systems, with one or more hobby-level magazines dedicated to each manufacturer. Television programs would often partner with magazines to present a column, recap, or serve as a reference for more detailed work. You see some screen time dedicated to building hardware, as I/O was very primitive and you had to do the grunt work yourself. Made to order PCBs and surface mount was quite a way off.

[0] https://tvrdb.com/listings/1985-02-11 [1] https://epguides.com/4ComputerBuffs/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSzIXg6jmZQ

[jmann99999]

This is so great. Thanks for the context.

What a wonderful time.

[shakna]

That particular show was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, at 6PM. So when most people were watching the news on a Channel 1.

Channel 4 was mostly just advertising, at the time. This show is selling you on computers. It's just that what they were selling was awesome.

[rahimnathwani]

EDIT: Sorry! I answered without first reading the article. What I'm talking about below is different from TFA.

You could record the audio to an audio cassette tape. If you had a good enough cassette deck, you could use acoustic coupling (holding up the tape deck to the TV speaker).

The BBC Micro had a 7-pin DIN socket for audio in/out and remote control of an external tape deck.

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-google&sca_e...

[jmann99999]

Thanks for that! That makes sense and is very cool. In the US in the 80s we did something similar from the radio (the UK probably did too). So, I assume it was a similar principle.

Love it.

[rzzzt]

Data broadcasting companies did use scanlines originally intended for Teletext/Ceefax in the 90s to transmit public information (e.g. weather forecasts, water levels): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datacasting

In that case the "antenna in" signal did go to an ISA decoder card in the PC, but it appears that the BBC Micro also had an adapter for receiving classic Ceefax pages, some of which also contained software: https://www.teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/telesoftware/

[timthorn]

Yup, one of these: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/32523/Acorn-Teletext...