The Film Sound Transfer Suite
I took the first photo in 1976 shortly after joining the BBC. It shows me (Peter Poole) in the dubbing theatre’s machine room which housed the Perfectone SEPMAG bays. It was also used as the film sound transfer suite when time allowed. As the the number of programmes produced on film increased the dubbing theatre was in constant use. Also a dedicated transfer suite was needed to cope with the increased output. The second photo was taken in 1978 and shows me (Peter Poole) in the new transfer suite. The BBC’s policy was to buy British equipment if possible. This resulted in Pebble Mill being the first and probably the only BBC broadcast centre to buy PAG SEPMAG bays. They were somewhat unreliable. I will never forget pressing the stop button and watching a thousand feet of SEPMAG film being thrown across the room. I was very pleased when the PAG bays were replaced by Perfectone bays.
The photos were taken using a tripod and self-timer.
Peter Poole
Interesting item……I remember as an Engineer in Southampton we had just the one sepmag bay and you had to lock and unlock from the main Pye TK several times during the regional news programme and there was always this threat of a runaway…………….luckily I escaped witnessing the horror you describe!
i remember it well…often popped down there to see peter and collect tapes in those days.
It’s nice to see these photos Peter. Thanks for posting them. I remember the areas really well but I never thought I would see photos of them again. I certainly agree that the PAG machines were very much inferior to the Perfectone bays. It is remarkable looking back how “mechanical” the whole process of film dubbing in those days actually was. I still remember the distinctive sound that a set of bays and reels of mag track made in a rock’n’roll dubbing theatre as they went backwards and forwards during a dub. It was always a slightly “graunchy” crunchy sound of acetate as they got up to speed and we hoped a join wouldn’t come apart!
Many hours spent in G07 !! If you (ever) had a dull moment, one could peer out of the window to see Pebble Mill at One rehearsals in the quadrangle.
Pag bay could throw an impressive loop of mag over an unsuspecting visitor as they entered the room (Roger Waldron was king of this exercise!)