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BBC Schedula: Difference between revisions
Add Alan's schedula screen shot and some sat decoder guff
(Correct pentium spelling, add subsections, add naming.) |
(Add Alan's schedula screen shot and some sat decoder guff) |
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This system had at it's heart a specially programmed BBC Microcomputer, which controlled the station's audio and video hardware whenever live programs were not being shown, so that the network was kept busy. | This system had at it's heart a specially programmed BBC Microcomputer, which controlled the station's audio and video hardware whenever live programs were not being shown, so that the network was kept busy. | ||
First created | First created in 1994, by [[Dominic Plunkett]] and [[Alan Murrell]]. Dominic worked out how to drive YSTV's satellite receiver by analysing the bit pattern emitted from the remote control, and transcribed this into the BBCs memory to be later replayed as though coming from the remote itself. During 1994-95 it was let loose to the masses, and [[Chris Kwouk]] stepped forward as a keen exponent as he knew it was the answer to many of YSTV's scheduling problems. | ||
[[Image:AlansScheduler.png|left|thumb|160px|An intractable user interface]] | |||
However, some people were slightly baffled by user interface. During a visit to [[Alan Murrell]] sometime later in 1995 [[Owain Davies]] discussed the issue of the user interface with Alan and suggested he could write an alternate but he could never match the excellent work that had been done in device control. Alan offered to substitute the user interface for a serial interface thus allowing another computer to control the BBC schedula. | |||
==BBC Micro and DOS front end== | ==BBC Micro and DOS front end== | ||
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The abbreviation spread to the next monitor along which showed the output of the terrestrial tuners, logically shortened to 'Tuna A' 'Tuna B' and 'Tuna C' certainly by 1997. | The abbreviation spread to the next monitor along which showed the output of the terrestrial tuners, logically shortened to 'Tuna A' 'Tuna B' and 'Tuna C' certainly by 1997. | ||
==Satellites supported== | |||
The satellite channel changer has had 4 incarnations: | |||
* the original [[Dominic Plunkett]] version for the {{unsure|unbranded}} decoder which was replaced when a new larger dish was installed to resolve picture interference | |||
* a Grundig GSR1/MkII which later failed in an electrical storm | |||
* a Grundig GRD150 decoder which later became obsolete when Sky switched to digital broadcasting | |||
* a Pace Sky Digibox | |||
They all work on the same principle, study the remote control codes on an oscilloscope, translate these into timings which are stored in the schedula ROM for later playback. The last 3 versions included some logic gates glued to the circuit board of the satellite decoder to mix the input from the remote (which still worked) with the computer control. In Dominic's version he simply wire-OR'd the computer into the circuit board for a slightly simpler solution. | |||
==End of BBC Micro era== | ==End of BBC Micro era== | ||
In a final burst of enthusiasm in early 2005, [[Dave Baker]] and [[Richard Ash]] moved the database to the main YSTV server and the PHP control daemon to the [[Video Server]] so that the FreeBSD machine could be retired, mainly in the interests of it's space in the rack. Over the summer of 2005, the whole lot was replaced by [[Spider and SchedSeven]], a new from-scratch solution built by [[Rob Humphrey]] and [[Dave Baker]]. | In a final burst of enthusiasm in early 2005, [[Dave Baker]] and [[Richard Ash]] moved the database to the main YSTV server and the PHP control daemon to the [[Video Server]] so that the FreeBSD machine could be retired, mainly in the interests of it's space in the rack. Over the summer of 2005, the whole lot was replaced by [[Spider and SchedSeven]], a new from-scratch solution built by [[Rob Humphrey]] and [[Dave Baker]]. | ||