2 Oct
2008
2 Oct
'08
7:24 a.m.
Adam Sampson wrote:
Jules Richardson <jules.richardson99 at
gmail.com> writes:
*that's it*, thanks. I remember now that the doc I have is a copy of a spec
document, titled something like "A Redefinable Telesoftware format for the BBC
micro" - I seem to recall the one I have was a preliminary release rather than
a final version. I'll have to check later that I didn't bring a scanned copy
across the pond with me, but I'm pretty sure the paper copy is all I have.
(My brain wants to say it transmitted as part of
the Teletext signal
for use with the various Teletext adapters - Morley, Acorn etc. - but
I'm not certain).
Yup -- the Advanced Teletext System manual refers to it as
"telesoftware". There's a PDF of the ATS manual here containing some
screenshots and a brief description of how the data was transmitted:
http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/~bbcdocs/hardware/ATS_Handbook.zip
Mike Brown's web pages have lots of pictures of the Ceefax Telesoftware
service, and the text of the shutdown notice:
http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/telesoftware/
Those were the days... sadly I got rid of my teletext units late last year
before moving - they'd be even less useful in the US than they were in the UK!
Hmm, did anyone ever transmit computer programs via satellite? I remember
there was a brief period (at least in the UK) where home computer satellite
decoders were very popular; it didn't need a lot of circuitry, so homebrew
receivers existed alongside commercial units.
I don't think anyone's mentioned program data stored on Laserdisc (Domesday
etc.) yet...
cheers
Jules