HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY

Wireless pictures and the FultographR.W. Burns, M.Sc, Ph.D., C.Eng., M.I.E.R.E., M.I.E.E., M.lnst.P.

Indexing terms: History, Picture processing and pattern recognition

Abstract: Ideas for the electrical transmission and reproduction of drawings, maps, printed matter and thelike date from 1843. Several attempts were made from 1862 to 1872 to establish a commercial facsimiletelegraphy service. Later, much work was undertaken on phototelegraphy and in 1907 a Paris-London servicewas inaugurated. By about 1925, the principles of wireless picture transmission and reception were wellknown and several large companies in the USA, Germany, France and the UK were developing commercialsystems. In addition, several persons considered that the time was opportune for the introduction of a picturebroadcasting service for the domestic market. The paper examines the factors, technical, commercial andpolitical, which led to the establishment of such a service in the United Kingdom and advances reasons whyit failed to be a success.

1 Introduction

In May 1926 W. Watson and Sons Ltd., a highly reputablefirm of manufacturing opticians of High Barnet, wrote tothe British Broadcasting Company [1] and suggested thatthe Company should transmit still pictures by radio using asystem, invented by T. Thorne-Baker, known as the IzonWireless picture system.

Watson offered to supply apparatus for the BritishBroadcasting Company's Daventry transmitting stationwhich would allow it to broadcast Izon wireless picturesand invited the Company to set aside a time, two or threetimes a week when broadcasting was not normally in pro-gress, (say, between 11.00 p.m. and midnight) for the abovepurpose. Watson's mentioned that, in their opinion, attach-ments which would allow domestic radio receivers toreproduce the transmitted pictures could be manufacturedand sold for approximately £30. They considered that theBritish Broadcasting Company should engage speakers, totalk about particular broadcast pictures, and enquiredwhether the Company would be willing to pay half theengagement fees.

This proposal was soundly based and represented anatural development in the progress of facsimile repro-duction which had commenced with the pioneer ideas ofAlexander Bain in 1843 and which had been pursued byBakewell (1848), Caselli (1855), Meyer (1869),d'Arlincourt (1872), Cowper (1879), Senlecq (1879),Edison (1881), Gray (1893), Amstutz (1893), Ritchie(1901), Korn (1902), Carbonelle (1907), Berjonneau(1907), Belin (1907), Thorne-Baker (1907), Semat (1909)among others [2]. By 1926, the principles of picturetransmission and reception were well understood andwidely known and with the rapid expansion of radiobroadcasting and the ready availability of wireless receivingsets the time perhaps seemed opportune for the introduc-tion of a wireless picture service for the domestic market.

Thorne-Baker, the designer of Watson and Sons' appar-atus, claimed no originality in his system 'as a system' as ithad been developed on 'general lines which had long beenknown' [3] . Essentially, his system involved an amalgam ofideas which had been advanced by Bain, Bakewell, andAmstutz. Unfortunately for the proponents of a wirelesspicture service, developments in television broadcastingwere taking place contemporaneously with developments

Paper 1098A, first received 30th April and in revised form5th September 1980The author is with the Department of Electrical & ElectronicEngineering, Trent Polytechnic, Burton Street, NottinghamNG1 4BU, England

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0143-702X1811010078 + 11 $01-50/0

in still picture transmission and as the potential of tele-vision seemed so much greater than the latter the broad-casting of still pictures was not to enjoy a great success.

2 Historical background

2.1 Alexander BainThe first proposal for transmitting facsimiles electricallyfrom one place to another was contained in a British patentdated 27th November 1843 [4]. In this, Bain put forwardseven different ideas for developments in electric tele-graphy: the sixth related to his 'improvements for takingcopies of surfaces, for instance the surfaces of printer'stypes, at distant places'.

Bain's inventions were well based and eminently practi-cable for the period during which he lived. Highton [5]mentions that Bain's telegraph was one of the three mostcommonly employed in America about 1850, coming afterthat of Morse in general use, although in rapidity of signal-ling it was the fastest. The Times, in a report [6] on theoperation of one of Bain's printing telegraphs, describedBain as 'a most ingenious and meritorious inventor of avery novel and efficacious instrument'. There is no doubtthat Bain's 1843 thoughts on a facsimile transmissioninfluenced many later inventors [7] and his proposalsfor reproducing transmitted images and for synchronisingthe transmitter and receiver were basically those whichThorne-Baker and Fulton incorporated in the Fultographmachine of 1928.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the arrangement Bain put forwardin his 1843 patent. Essentially, the oscillatory motion ofthe pendulum combined with the vertical controlled motionof the metal frame to cause the stylus to scan, indirectly,the surface of the type. The transmitting and receivinginstruments, which were similar in construction, weresynchronised by arranging that the two pendulums actuatedan electric circuit so that if one preceded the other by aslight amount in its swing it was held until the other hadreached the same position, when both then started a newstroke. The two pendulums were thus the basic synchron-isers of the system, an essential feature of any facsimilescheme.

At the transmitter, the metal frame was filled with shortinsulated wires, parallel to each other and at right angles tothe plane of the frame, so that they made contact with theraised surface of the metal type on one side and the movingstylus, attached to the pendulum, on the other. Thus as thestylus moved across the frame an electric circuit containingthe stylus, frame and type was continually being made andbroken according to the arrangment of the type.

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The receiving frame contained 'two thicknesses of damppaper previously saturated with a solution composed ofequal parts of prussiate of potash and nitrate of soda, andat the back of the paper a smooth metal plate pressed thepaper into contact with the ends of the parallel wires',

pendulum

Fig. 1 Bain's apparatus as shown in British patent 9 745, dated27 November 1843

M line

current-actuated« release

) &

battery1

earth

Fig. 2 Scanning motions of parts of transmitting and receivingequipments of Bain's system: these were to have been synchronisedby means of interactive pendulums

which filled the frame, as in the transmitting frame. Bychemical action it was intended that the making andbreaking of the current in the system should discolour thepaper at the receiver and so reproduce a copy of theoriginal surface.

Such then was Bain's invention: it did not contain anyradically new discovery or even new electrical principle,other than that of scanning a plane surface, but was basedon a sensible application of the technology available at thetime to the solution of a new problem. His proposals rep-resented a natural development of the science of electrictelegraphy and were made apparently realistic by theadvances which had occurred previously in this field. Thus,his use of electrochemical marking followed the practicewhich had been put forward in a patent [8], in 1838 byEdward Davy for a chemically marking telegraph whichutilised a fabric moistened with a solution of hydriodate ofpotass and muriate of lime.

The discolouration of certain chemically treated paperswas not new, for in 1800 a Mr. Cruickshanks of Woolwichhad noticed that the colour of litmus paper was changed'by the galvanic current' (Reference 5, pp. 13, 14 and 29).Cruickshank's discovery was made while he was repeatingand extending the experiments on electrolysis which hadbeen initiated by Nicholson and Carlisle in the same yearas Volta's discovery of the voltaic pile (Reference 5, pp.27—29). Following this observation, much work was under-taken on electrolysis by various workers, culminating in thegreat work of Faraday in 1834. Davy's, Bain's and laterBakewell's use of the above effect really represented anextension of the employment of the electrolytic cell whichSoemmering had used in 1809 as a detector of electricity[9], although in a different form.

The other feature of Bain's invention which was knownin 1843 was the need to synchronise the receiver to thetransmitter in certain telegraph systems. Ronalds,Wheatstone and Cooke and others had evolved synchronoustelegraph systems, but it was Wheatstone and Cooke whoshowed three years before Bain's 1843 patent, the import-ance of having a locked synchronous system, rather thanone based on the free running of the transmitter andreceived mechanisms. Bain's scheme utilised this principle,although he used a different mechanism to the oneemployed by Wheatstone and Cooke.

The novel concept incorporated in Bain's invention wasundoubtedly the principle of automatically scanning atwo-dimensional array and transmitting also automatically,signals dependent on some variable characteristic of thesurface. Various previous schemes of telegraphy haddepended upon a regular scanning of, effectively, a one-dimensional array, (e.g. a line of symbols as in Chappe'ssynchronous clock type of optical telegraph), but noneof these had automatically transmitted signals, dependingon the intelligence to be transmitted, to a receiver. In Bain'sinvention the presence or absence of a metal type wasdetermined without intervention from the operater.

2.2 Frederick Bakewell

It is rather surprising that Bain did not extend his inventionto include the transmission of drawings, maps and the like.This was left to F.C. Bakewell to achieve in 1848 [10] and,as a result, some controversy took place in 1850 [11] as towho was actually the first to propose the facsimile trans-mission of handwritten letters and sketches.

Bakewell's instrument was the first to be practically

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A.No.l, JANUARY 1981 79

demonstrated for sending facsimiles, and incorporatedideas advanced in a patent, dated 2nd December 1848.It was well presented and differed from that of Bain in anumber of important points.

First, the original communication, a copy of which wasto be sent to a distant place, was written with varnish,or some other non-conducting substance, on tin foil or asimilar conductor and the tin foil then wrapped round acylinder at the transmitting end of the telegraph link.This cylinder was rotated at a uniform speed by meansof a weight and a clockwork type of mechanism and wastraversed by a metal style which was carried in a traversingnut mounted on a lead screw. At the receiver, an identicalcylinder, carrying chemically treated paper, and associatedmechanism were used. Thus, whenever the transmitterstyle pressed on the exposed tin foil, the circuit was com-pleted through the moistened paper and a mark wasrecorded. The preparation of the master surface from whichcopies were to be transmitted was consequently muchsimpler in Bakewell's apparatus than in that of Bain.Furthermore, the system of rotating cylinders and associ-ated linearly moving styles was the precursor to mostmodern facsimile transmitting instruments.

Secondly, whereas Bain had employed a mechanism tocheck the motion of his pendulums at each swing, Bakewellmade use of freely swinging pendulums. He was aware thatsuch a simple control might not have the desired effect andutilised a reference or guide line on the cylinder of thetransmitting instrument. 'By means of this 'guide' line',he wrote, 'the person in charge of the receiving instrumentis enabled to regulate it exactly in accordance with thetransmitting instrument by regulating the pendulum andadjusting the weight' [10].

Neither Bain's nor Bakewell's designs formed the basisof a regular facsimile service in the United Kingdom duringthe nineteenth century but Bakewell's instruments success-fully received autographic messages transmitted fromBrighton to London.

2.3 Early commercial ventures

L'Abbe Caselli's apparatus [12], which bore a considerableresemblance to that of Bain, was successfully tried out inItaly in 1862. The Times of 22nd February noted: 'It (theinvention) transmits autograph messages and drawings withall the perfections and defects of the originals. An inhabi-tant of Leghorn wrote four lines from Dante and theyappeared in the same handwriting at Florence. A portraitof the same poet was painted at Leghorn and it was repro-duced at Florence line for line and shade for shade' [13].

The first despatch transmitted in France was made on10th February 1862 from Lyon to Paris [14]. Later,Le Corps Legislatif ordered the establishment of the'pantelegraph' on the railway between these two cities andfrom 16th February 1863 the public was able to sendmessages. In 1867, the director of telegraphs, M. de Vougy,sanctioned the installation of a second line on the Marseille-Lyon route and his department provided the necessarymetallised paper for the facsimiles. The charge was calcu-lated at the rate of 0.2 fr. for each square centimetre ofsheet transmitted, but unfortunately the public did notappreciate the importance of the system, and after a fewyears the State abandoned its enterprise [14].

A similar system to Casselli's was employed by a Frenchtelegraph engineer named Meyer, except that he used

synchronously running metal cylinders similar to thoseemployed by Bakewell (Reference 2, pp. 79—81). Meyer'sapparatus was put into operation between Paris and Lyonin 1869, but after a short time was taken out of service.

D'Arlincourt was not discouraged by the lack of successof the Casselli and Meyer equipments, for he carried outsome experiments between Paris and Marseille in 1872 witha similar type of apparatus but, although it was a success atthe Vienna Exhibition of 1873, it was later quickly aban-doned like its predecessors [15].

Nevertheless, notwithstanding these setbacks to thecommercial advancement of the art, inventors continuedto make progress. In particular, new ideas were put forwardin the last quarter of the nineteenth century which led tothe electrical transmission and reproduction of half-tonephotographs, as a newspaper service, in the first decade ofthe twentieth century. Much work was carried out byProfessor A. Korn of Munich on phototelegraphy [2]during this latter period and this led to the successfulreception in October 1907 of a photograph in the Frenchoffice of the weekly paper L 'Illustration which had beensent from Berlin [15]. Then on 7th November 1907 aParis-London service was inaugurated when a picture ofKing Edward VII was sent electrically to the Londonoffice of the Daily Mirror [15]. This service was laterextended to Manchester but was not an unqualified successfor the two systems of telegraphy then in use, Morse andBaudot, gave marked induction effects on the lines andat times it was possible for experts actually to read messageson some of the photographs which were transmitted [15].

The manager of the Daily Mirror photo-telegraphic depart-ment during the early years of the above venture was Thorne-Baker. He had studied with Korn in Paris in 1907 [16]and on his return had developed an apparatus which hecalled a telectrograph. This was first employed by theMirror in July 1909. Subsequently, many hundreds ofphotographs were sent by the instrument on the Paris-London and London-Manchester routes but, like its prede-cessors, its period of utilisation was short; the very highcosts of hiring the necessary telephone lines led to a term-ination of the service [17].

3 Wireless pictures

3.1 Thome-Baker's apparatus

The apparatus [17] designed by Thorne-Baker for Watsonand Sons was similar to his telectrograph [18]. Both thetransmitting and receiving instruments were essentiallyalike and each comprised a brass cylinder driven by aclockwork motor and a fine pitch lead screw to traversethe transmitting or recording stylus along the cylinder.The picture to be transmitted was printed photogra-phically as a negative onto a sheet of copper foil by thegum/bichromate process commonly employed in theproduction of halftone printing blocks, but instead of usinga crossruled screen, a screen ruled with parallel lines in onedirection only was employed. The object or picture wasphotographed by placing the lined screen in front of thecopper foil. As a consequence, the high lights consisted ofwide black lines with very narrow spaces between themwhile those parts of the picture which were to appear blackin the finished image consisted of wide white linesseparated by thin black spaces.

The prepared copper foil was wrapped round the trans-mitter cylinder so that the lines of the image were parallel

80 IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. 1, JANUARY 1981

with its axis and a steel point, moved longitudinally by thelead screw, traversed the rotating surface of the cylinder.An intermittent current was consequently produced in anelectrical circuit as the point moved over the copper foil,the hardened gum/bichromate emulsion acting as an insu-lator. This current could then be passed by a land line tothe receiving apparatus, or made to operate the keyingsystem of a continuous wave transmitter.

In the receiver, the copper foil was replaced by a sheetof moist paper treated with starch and potassium iodide.The platinum receiving stylus moved synchronously withthe steel transmitting stylus by the use of pendulums and,when a current flowed through the moist paper, a bluestain was produced by the iodine which was formed. Thesubsequent image changed colour to a brownish tint asthe paper dried but 'was reasonably permanent if notexposed to bright light'. 'Very pleasing results, the noveltyof which will doubtless appeal to a considerable sectionof the public could certainly be produced in this way. [19].The pictures measured about 5 inches by 4 inches and thetime occupied in the transmission was about six minutes.

3.2 Watson's proposal

Watson's proposition was the first of its type which theBritish Broadcasting Company had received, and so J.C.W.Reith, the Company's managing director, wrote to theGeneral Post Office following an investigation of Watson'sscheme by P.P. Eckersley, the Company's chief engineer,and requested permission to experiment with the Izonprocess. Reith mentioned that Eckersley was 'apparentlysatisfied that pictures (could) be transmitted with somemeasure of success'. On the question of engagement fees,the Managing Director's view was that not only shouldthe Company not be required to pay half the fees but thatthere was a considerable case for expecting a fee for thetime occupied, or some royalty on sets sold by Watson's.Reith thought the best arrangment would be to allowWatson's to conduct experiments for a period of two orthree months entirely at their charge [1].

The Post Office's reply [20] was one of caution. Theywere currently dealing with an application from TelevisionLtd. for two private experimental stations and felt that thetransmission of pictures had scarcely emerged from theexperimental stage and that further investigation wouldbe necessary before it could be determined which of theseveral rival systems of wireless transmission of pictureswas the best and whether it should be linked up with thenational broadcasting system. The danger was that if theBritish Broadcasting Company gave facilities for the trans-mission of pictures from Daventry using the Throne-Bakersystem, the proprietors of the system would be placed ina strong position and would endeavour to sell their specialreceiving apparatus. If members of the public were theninduced to buy this expensive equipment, argued Murraythe GPO's secretary, it might be difficult for the Companyeither to discontinue the transmission of pictures or tochange over to any other system for which the Thorne-Baker receiving apparatus could not be used.

In view of these arguments the Post Office informed theBritish Broadcasting Company it should not undertake thebroadcasting of either still or moving pictures for thepresent. A further point was, that this issue was one whichshould be left for the new British Broadcasting Corporationto consider and nothing should be done in the meantimewhich would prejudice their freedom of action. The British

Broadcasting Company became the British BroadcastingCorporation on 1st January 1927.

Two days after Murray sent his letter to Reith, a Mr. I.H.Crawshaw, radio engineer, applied to the Post Office forpermission to establish an experimental wireless sendingstation at the premises of Watson and Sons [22]. Crawshawasked for a licence to transmit on a wavelength of 200 m or'any other suitable wavelength' at a power of 10W. Apermit was offered but this did not please Reith [22].

In a lecture on photography [16], given on 23rdFebruary 1927, Thorne-Baker mentioned that a largenumber of 'most successful demonstrations' had beengiven with his apparatus, yet he had 'found it absolutelyimpossible to get any pictures broadcast in this country',although every amateur who had seen the machine atwork seemed to have been intensely interested. He thoughtit rather sad that Austria was going to be the first countryto operate the machine and told his audience that, as soonas the necessary arrangements were completed, three pic-tures a night would be broadcast by the Ravag in Vienna.These arrangements had been initiated by Captain OthoFulton, a colleague of Thorne-Baker.

Both Watson's and Thorne-Baker continued to pressthe BBC for a trial service of telephotography and, inJune 1927, Reith again raised the matter with the Secretaryof the GPO [23]. The BBC seemed prepared to allow sucha service to be started, provided they were satisfied tech-nically and financially with the arrangements. Their pro-posal was that, when the Daventry experimental station wasput into service, the Corporation should allocate a workingperiod for a trial telephotography service. They appreciatedthat comparatively few people would be interested to startwith and that the use, even limited use, of one of theirwavelengths would be much more beneficial to the pro-moters of telephotography than their listeners but toldMurray; 'our financial terms might not commend them-selves'.

In addition to receiving representations from Watson'sand Thorne-Baker the BBC was also being pressed by theBaird Television Company for experimental facilities oftheir system [24]. However, in this case, the Corporationhad agreed to the use of their medium so as to allow Baird'san opportunity to experiment for a limited period afterbroadcasting had ceased at night, on the distinct under-standing that their motive was solely the forwarding ofthe scientific aspects of television, that no publicity was tobe given to the experiments, and that these were not inten-tionally or unintentionally exploited for commercial pur-poses, for example, as an 'inducement for investment' [25].

3.3 View of the Post Office

Following the BBC's notification of this policy to thePost Office on the 8th July 1927, the Post Office toldReith that, for certain reasons, it was considered that theBBC stations should not be used in connection with theexperiments by the Baird Television Company and thattherefore the arrangements which had been made to thatend should be cancelled [26].

These reasons, as they related to the Thorne-Bakerrequest were as follows:

(a) The system only represented an elementary stage ofdevelopment, and in the case of the wireless transmission ofpictures the results obtained with the Thorne-Baker appar-atus did not compare favourably with those which had beenobtained by other systems using more elaborate and precise

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. 1, JANUARY 1981 81

apparatus. (Reith agreed to some extent with such a view,but believed that an elementary stage might be sufficientjustification for giving facilities and might be sufficientfor the needs of such a part of the public as was interested.Also the BBC's engineers who had carried out some testsrelating to telephotography were of the opinion that linedrawings could be quite easily produced [27].)

(b) The Postmaster General could not conceive 'thatany public demand of such magnitude would arise forthe reception of (still) pictures as would justify the estab-lishment of a separate broadcasting station for that purposealone'. He felt that if a system should emerge which wascapable of giving satisfactory results on a commercialbasis it should be developed commercially as an adjunctof the broadcasting system.* (The BBC's proposal was,not that they should put even a limited service into being,but that they should conduct experiments.)

(c) The Post Office thought that the use of the powerfulstations and organisation of the BBC for such experimentalpurposes would afford preferential facilities to one system,'not necessarily the ultimate best', which could not beenjoyed by others. Also there was a fear that the potentialbacking of the BBC might be used to attract capital and 'tofoster the sale of partially developed receiving apparatuswith a consequent risk of disappointment to investors andthe purchasing public' (As owners of several transmittingstations, the BBC thought that they could be 'of some help'to Baird's, Thorne-Baker and others in developing theirsystems.)

(d) The PMG felt that development should be left inthe hands of the owners of the patents until their systemswere capable of giving continuously reliable results overdistances comparable with those which they would haveto cover under normal commercial broadcasting conditions.However he was willing to afford wireless experimentalfacilities on equal terms to the owners of all such systemsor to arrange for the use of line wires in such experiments.Although the BBC had not received any requests for the useof its stations, other than from Baird and Watson, therewere a number of other picture systems in development,(the Ranger, Belin, Karolus, Wright and A.T. and T.systems).Reith seemed unhappy with the Post Office's decision andtacitly sought leave to issue a public announcement on thematter in the event that the Corporation was put 'into anawkward position if pressed for an explanation [27]'. ThePost Office view was that they would have no objection tothe BBC stating that 'they regarded the policy of non-assistance as being essential in the general public interest',and further: 'the Postmaster General feels sure that theannouncement would be received with general appro-bation.'*

Both Watson's and Baird continued to press the PostOffice to reconsider its attitude and on 14th September itwrote to Reith and told him the Postmaster Generalthought the time had arrived when it was desirable toconsider the conditions which should be imposed on BairdTelevision Ltd., or other companies experimenting in tele-vision or in telephotography, for the use of a BBC stationfor the purpose. Six points were suggested for discussionbetween the Corporation and Post Office [28].

Captain Eckersley discussed these points with a MrLeech of the Post Office on 20th September 1927. They

•Postmaster General: Draft letter to REITH, J.F.W. (not sent). PostOffice, post 33/2371, 10060/1928, file 3

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both agreed that no experiments would be carried out untilthe Television Company and the Thorne-Baker Syndicategave satisfactory demonstrations of their apparatus to theengineer-in-chief of the GPO (Lee) [29].

Subsequently, Lee visited the works of Watson toinspect the Thorne-Baker system of picture transmissionand observed: 'I think there are distinct possibilities of acertain amount of popularity for an instrument of thiskind in broadcasting. The price of the receiver apart fromthe wireless receiving part is expected to be £25. Messrs.Watson is a firm of high standing in the optical industry.The process of transmission as applied to broadcastingwould be equivalent to high speed ICW and it is notthought that any injurious interference would be causedby its transmissions' [30]. (In the transmission system,the signals corresponding to black and white modulated a1 kHz subcarrier to give an ICW signal which was then usedto amplitude modulate the RF carrier wave. Consequently,at the receiver, the output of the detector, and loudspeakeroutput transformer, consisted of an interrupted 1 kHztone, and so large areas of light and shade on the originalpicture could be reproduced by a suitable attachment toa receiver having a poor LF response.)

With such an encouraging report from Lee, the PostOffice felt able to inform both Reith [31] and Burneythat the PMG saw no objections to arrangements beingmade for further experiments from one of the Corpor-ation's stations.

3.4 The Fultograph

Strangely, the optimistic tone of Lee's report was notreflected in any apparent advancement to the imminentinception of a broadcasting picture service. Both theBBC's and the PO's archives are lacking in general corre-spondence between the interested parties for the periodSeptember 1927 to May 1928. However, technical progresswas being made which led to the design and production,in 1928, of a small, portable, uncomplicated and (comparedwith commercial instruments) cheap receiver known asthe Fultograph. This was based on Thorne-Baker's Izonsystem but incorporated an improved synchronisingarrangement due to Captain Otho Fulton. Fulton was oneof three directors — the others being F.W. Watson Bakerand V. Sheridan — of a company called Wireless PicturesLtd. which had been established in January 1927 (with ashare capital of £100) to promote the general exploitationof Thorne-Baker's Izon scheme [32].

Thorne-Baker, from the time of his introduction tophototelegraphy, had always been interested in developinga simple portable picture reproducer which could bemanufactured cheaply and used by many different sectionsof the community including the forces, the police, thenewspaper industry and the general public. Consequently,he had abandoned the commercially adopted methodsof driving and synchronising two mechanically independentrotating cylinders by means of synchronous or phonicmotors, tuning fork oscillators and the like and had con-centrated his attention on the task of achieving the samepurpose with gramophone-type clockwork motors.

The above constraint introduced two problems:(a) the reduction of the frictional losses associated with

the driving mechanisms to enable the low-output-torquemachines to drive the transmitting and receiving cylindersfor approximately three and one half minutes

(b) the synchronising of two nonelectrically drivenmotors.

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Thorne-Baker's solution [33] to the first of these problemswas to replace the halfnut lead screw carriage arrangement,which had been employed in many apparatuses, by a styluscarrier which incorporated a knife-edged wheel travelling ina screw thread. Secondly, he developed a synchronisingdevise [34] based on a freely swinging pendulum having aperiod of about one second. This was fitted with contacts,which formed part of an electric circuit, and permittedan electromagnetic catch to be energised at the end ofeach complete swing of the pendulum. In the unenergisedstate of the catch, the motion of the cylinder (which hada speed slightly greater than one revolution per second),was stopped at the end of every rotation but when thecatch was actuated, the cylinder was able to recommencerotating. Damage to the clockwork motor because of thefrequent stopping and starting of the cylinder was pre-vented by the use of a slipping clutch. Thus the speeds ofboth the transmitting and receiving cylinders were con-trolled by two independent pendulums. Bain, in 1843, hadproposed a method of synchronisation using pendulums,but his solution was superior to that of Thorne-Baker, forthe telegraph mechanist had evolved a design which ensuredthat the two pendulum synchronisers of his facsimilescheme were not independent but were interactive. Pajrtof the modus operandi of Thorne-Baker's apparatus wasreally similar to the method which Bakewell had advancedin 1848, and with both systems any discrepancy in thetiming of the transmitter and receiver instruments wasmanifested by a distortion of the image from a rectangularto a parallelogram shape.

Basically what was ideally required was a system inwhich the position of the recording cylinder was checkedby means of a transmitted synchronising pulse at the endof every revolution. Korn had investigated this problemin some detail during the first decade of the twentiethcentury and Fulton's solution to the replacement ofThorne-Baker's pendulum synchronisers, which militatedagainst a small portable apparatus, and the automaticcontrol of the receiving cylinder was influenced by thesuccess which Korn had achieved with his method [35].

—<£>

cam plate

( /clutch slipv v rings

Fig. 3 Synchronising operation used in Fultograph machine

Event a b e

1.2.3.4.

RecordingEnd of recordingReceipt of sync, pulseTermination of sync, pulse

closedopenopenclosed

closedopenopenclosed

openopenclosedopen

Relay Catch magnet

1. shorted2. unenergised3. energised4. shorted

unenergisedunenergisedenergisedunenergised

Fig. 3 shows the circuit details of Fulton's receiver [36].In the version which was subsequently sold to the publicunder the trade name Fultograph, the cylinder was 4 inchesin length and 1 15/16 inches in diameter, and, as the totaltraverse of the screw was 3 13/16 inches the maximum sizeof picture which could be reproduced was 3 | inches xS\ inches. At the normal running speed of 50 rev/min,the time taken to receive the 50 lines/inch picture wasapproximately 3 | min.

The Fultograph instrument was designed to derive itsinput signal from the external speaker outlet terminalsof a conventional domestic wireless set, but as this signalwas of an ICW form (the frequency of the subcarrierbeing 1 kHz), an anode bend rectifier was included in thecomplete receiving apparatus. Synchronisation of thereceiver and transmitter cylinders was ensured by thetransmission, at the end of every rotation of the transmittercylinder, of an unmodulated 1 kHz signal, for 100 ms, asa modulation of the radio-frequency carrier. At thereceiver, this burst of tone was utilised to actuate therelay in series with the stylus cylinder and so effect thenecessary control (see Fig. 3).

Fulton's improvements to Thorne-Baker's Izon system(although not completely original) were well conceived andengineered and led to the successful reception of broadcastpictures.

3.5 Further nego tia tions

After a period of inactivity, negotiations between thevarious parties, The Post Office, the BBC, and WirelessPictures Ltd., recommenced in May 1928. The Corpor-ation's attitude on the subject of a broadcast telephoto-graphy service continued to be cautious: Eckersley wasprepared to make some temporary arrangments for experi-mental work to proceed outside broadcasting hours, pro-viding he was satisfied about the technical quality of thewireless picture scheme, but felt there was nothing 'atpresent' to justify confidence in a commercially viablebroadcast telephotography service. 'Stunt would be itsonly possible value', he observed [37]. His opinionremained unchanged a month later following a demon-stration, using one of the Corporation's transmittingstations, given to him by Fulton, when the results were'fairly good' [38]. Nevertheless, Eckersley was not soprejudiced as to deny that 'the matter was the early stageof an interesting development' [39] and asked the PostOffice to witness a demonstration by Fulton.

In several respects, the advancement of wireless picturesbore a similarity to the furtherance of low definitiontelevision. Both Baird and Fulton appreciated the needto interest the general public in their inventions and, ifpossible, to employ public opinion to aid their negotiationswith the BBC and the Post Office. Fortunately for Fulton,there was one large store which had shown commendableinitiative in promoting an invention for 'seeing by elec-tricity'. Selfridges had allowed Baird, in April 1925, spacein one of its shops to display crude television images [24]and now, June 1928, it was to make a similar provisionfor the Thorne-Baker/Fulton picture system.

The exhibit, which was widely reported on, allowedCaptain Fulton to indicate some of the potential uses ofthe Fultograph in reproducing pages of shorthand,cartoons, Chinese lettering, architectural plans, chequesand similar documents. The Times [40] noted the 'good

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. 1, JANUARY 1981 83

resemblance between the original and the transmittedphotographs' although, as the Post Office observed, theapparatus showed no marked advance in principle on thatof Thorne-Baker [41].

Another strategy which was employed by both Bairdand Fulton was the enlisting of Continental support fortheir aspirations. Approximately one week after theSelfridges demonstration the national press announced [42]that a contract had been concluded between Fulton and theAustrian Broadcasting Company, 'Ravag' which would leadto daily picture broadcasting, in the autumn, from theRosenhugel station. Additional services were to be estab-lished for the reception of pictures from Paris andHilversum if an early arrangement for picture broadcastingin Great Britain was found to be impracticable and it wasrumoured that contracts for the adoption of the Fultonsystem had been entered into with 'practically all EuropeanBroadcasting organisations'. However, Fulton was keen toexploit the British market as Continental sales would onlyabsorb a small number of sets and mass production wouldbe uneconomical [43].

Again, like Baird, Fulton gave numerous demonstrationsto show the wide area of reception of his apparatus and onone occasion he successfully transmitted picture signalsfrom Paris to Vienna, a distance of 650 miles.

Both the Fulton and Thorne-Baker interests wereapprehensive at this time by the publicity policy of theBaird Television and Development Company, and wereanxious to secure the adoption of their system beforethe Baird system had emerged from the experimentalstage. Progress in the field of television militated againstthe exploitation of a still picture wireless transmissionand so some concern was felt by the proponents of thelatter system. They reasoned that if the Corporation wasnot anxious to undertake the broadcasting of pictures at avery early date it would be necessary for them to establishtheir own broadcasting service. And so, on the 13th July,two representatives of Watson's called on the Post Officeand requested permission to transmit pictures using a2 kW transmitter operating on a wavelength of 200 m untilsuch time as the BBC would take over responsibility forthe service [58]. In particular, Mr. Guy Burney andMr. Frederick Watson Baker, the two representatives, weredesirous of introducing complete receiving sets on thehome market at the Wireless Exhibition in October as theyhad received a very favourable offer for the purchase ofthe patent rights. An essential requirement of the deal wasthe completion of an agreement which would lead to theestablishment of regular picture broadcasting.

Fortunately for Burney and Watson Baker, the PostOffice was rather more receptive to their arguments thanwas the case with the Corporation. Whereas Reith thoughtthat some delay, of six months to a year, might be encom-passed to allow competitors to Fulton and Thorne-Bakerto enter the market and so enable further developments totake place [44], the Post Office informed the two repre-sentatives of Watson's of its desire to afford all reasonablefacilities for further experiments and also its willingness toarrange an immediate conference, which the BBC hadpreviously requested, at which the various arguments fora picture braodcast service could be discussed.

With the support of the Post Office behind them,Burney and Watson Baker met Sir John Reith and outlinedtheir plans for further experiments and for the floating ofa company which would manufacture their sets [45].

84

Matters now rapidly moved to a decision. The Corpor-ation agreed, subject to the consent of the PostmasterGeneral (PMG), to afford Watson's the use of the BBC'sstations in three progressive stages: namely, a trial periodfollowed by an experimental service, and then regulartransmissions. The Corporation reserved the right to denyfacilities to the Company for the second and third stagesuntil both the Post Office and the BBC were satisfiedwith the results of the preceeding stage. Reith made itclear to Burney and Watson Baker that whatever arrange-ments were made with Watson's he had no intentions ofallowing a broadcasting monopoly to be created in favourof any one particular system of picture transmission [46].

3.6 Trial

Subject to such a reservation of rights, the PMG raised noobjection to the BBC proceeding with its negotiations forthe trial of the Thorne-Baker/Fulton system. The followingconditions applied [47]:

(a) The first stage of the experiment was to be con-ducted from the Daventry (5XX) and London stations.

(b) The transmissions during the first stage were tooccupy a period of 30 min a day for a total period of oneweek, the two stations being used on alternate days.

(c) There was to be no publicity until the first series ofexperiments had been completed and had been pronouncedto be satisfactory by the Corporation and the Post Office.

(d) The second stage of the experiments was not tocommence until the BBC and GPO had conferred andreviewed the general situation.

(e) A picture-receiving unit, of the type which it wasproposed would be offered to the public, had to be placedat the disposal of the Post Office for the purpose offollowing the experiments.On the question of costs, the Corporation requiredWatson's to pay all the expenses which the BBC wouldincur, including overhead charges, during the first andsecond experimental stages; and in the event of the thirdstage being proceeded with and programme time beingused, they would require a further sum to be paid to themby way of profit. Additionally, the Post Office did notexclude the possibility of a special royalty being paid toit although it did not demand a royalty for the first andsecond stages.

The trial period lasted from Wednesday 1st Augustto Tuesday 14th August, and during the eight days oftests, approximately 100 pictures were transmitted from5XX and 2LO. Of these pictures, about 4% were defective'owing to mishaps at the transmitter end' while a further10% were unsatisfactory 'owing to bad modulation': theremainder of 86% were 'good transmissions many of thembeing extremely good'. In view of the simplicity of theapparatus and its ease of operation the Post Office con-sidered the results to be very satisfactory [48].

Possibly at this time Watson's were of the opinion thatno further delay to the commencement of an experimentalservice would be experienced but, perhaps unknown tothe Company, the BBC had received two further appli-cations for other systems of picture transmission: one ofthese was backed by the London and Provincial Corpor-ation and the other was a system developed by theAmerican Freed-Eisemann firm of receiving set manufac-turers [49]. The Corporation was now in a difficultposition. On the one hand it had prevailed upon CaptainGuest, the Chairman of Wireless Pictures Ltd., to postpone,

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. 1, JANUARY 1981

until after the first experimental period, the issue of aprospectus for a new company (Wireless Pictures (1928)Ltd.) and had given an indication to Watson Baker thatthe second phase of a picture broadcast service wouldcommence sometime in the autumn, subject to certainconstraints. On the other hand, the BBC could not allocatesufficient programme time for the operation of severalsystems. It did not wish to stand in the way of progressand felt that it would be unfortunate if it were committedto transmission by a particular method which was unsuit-able for general reception. Such a commitment, the BBCargued, would inevitably lead to the demand for furthertime for equivalent and competitive systems. If, however,the BBC proceeded 'without giving any guarantee ofcontinuance it would be unfortunate were a publiccompany of any size to be floated upon a basis notadmitting of its satisfactory continuance; or if any con-siderable number of picture-receiving sets were sold to apublic who could in a short while make no use of them'[50]. An added complication was that both the BBC andGPO had agreed in July to a form of wording for thesection on transmission in the provisional (but unpublished)prospectus for the new company.

Subsequently, after a conversation between the BBC andWireless Pictures Ltd., the danger of a monopoly positionarising was averted by the inclusion of a suitable paragraphin the prospectus of Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd. [51].

The new paragraph made it clear that the utilisation ofprogramme hours for picture transmission was undecided,(and left the decision to the BBC) and also covered thepoint that another system, and not the Fultongraph system,could form the basis of a future standard.

The prospectus for the new company appeared in thenational press on 17th September 1928 and the public wasinvited to subscribe to the issue of 775 000 ordinary sharesof 4 shillings each at par. Because of the 'very heavy over-subscription' the shares had to be allotted on a basis whichallowed applicants only 10% of their requested number ofshares when this number exceeded 7500. For small appli-cations, the allotment varied from zero to 50% [52].

The second phase of the experimental transmissioncommenced at 2.00 pm on Tuesday, 30th October 1928.

Fig. 4 Fultograph transmitting apparatus phtographed just beforethe first picture was transmitted from Daventry 5XX, on Tuesday,30 October 1928

The image (of H.M. King George V) was sent from Savoy Hill bylandline to 5XX, whence it was broadcast and then received by ademonstration set at the Savoy Hotel, London

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. I, JANUARY 1981

Two pictures were broadcast, one of the King and anotherof a topical cartoon by a Mr. Raven Hill. The Times noted[53]: 'Both were very distinct, and that of the King was anamazingly good representation. The line drawing of thecartoon made a sufficiently exacting test of the synchron-ising gear, out of which the Fultongraph emerged success-fully.' Subsequently picture transmissions were effecteddaily, with the exception of Sundays and Mondays, andnormally four subjects were dealt with during the 25 minprogramme period [54]. Apart from the inaugural servicenewspaper and picture agencies were associated with theprovision of the subjects: The Daily Express provided thesefrom 31st October to 3rd November inclusive. But notwith-standing the initial good press which the service received atthis time, there were some ominous clouds on the horizon.

3.7 Difficulties

Within three weeks of the start of the new venture, WirelessPictures (1928) Ltd. wrote to the BBC to say that, from theCompany's point of view, the transmission had proved afailure since there was a difficulty in receiving the Daventry(5XX) signals in many areas [55]. They enquired whetherthe Corporation would consider picture broadcasting from,say, its Glasgow or Manchester stations instead of, or inaddition to, that from Daventry. The request was sympath-etically considered, but the BBC felt unable to accede toit [56]. Then, a few days later, the Company again wrote tothe BBC to point out the disappointing sales of the Fulto-graph machine [57]. Effectively, a vicious circle existedin which the Corporation refused to move until the publichad bought more sets but the public refused to buy moresets until they knew whether the BBC would establish aregular service. Moreover, the Company's problems werecompounded by production delays. In order to sell theirreceiver sets at a price which would suit the averageperson's pocket, Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd. had enteredinto 'fairly large contracts' but because of manufacturingsetbacks these receivers were not available for the market(except for a few samples) until after the Christmas season;that is, after the 'busiest part of the radio season hadgone' [58.

The public's sales resistance was not due to any generallack of knowledge of the existence of picture broadcastingfor the national press gave it considerable coverage: theMorning Post, for example (which supplied the photographsfor the service towards the end of November), went sofar as to give the names and addresses of 27 establishmentsin England and Scotland at which broadcast picturescould be seen [59]. Also the reception of pictures at seaaboard the Aquitania, and later the Olympic, was widelyreported, as was the start on 21st November, of the picturetransmission service from Konigwusterhausen [60].

The BBC appreciated the Company's difficulties andagreed in December to guarantee the picture transmissionsfor a year from 31st October 1928. Later (19th February1929), the Corporation further assented to the inclusionin the Radio Times of details of the picture broadcastsfrom 5XX [61]. It could not, however, support WirelessPictures' request for an additional transmission beforethe dance music programme, near the end of the eveningbroadcasts, although later, on several occasions, the Corpor-ation acceded to the Company's wishes by alteration ofprogramme times and by permission being given for thebroadcasts to be radiated from Daventry 5GB and 2LOon certain days.

85

By July 1929, the Company had sold only 700 Fulto-graph receivers: rather less than half were in the hands ofthe general public, and the balance belonged to traderswho used them for demonstration purposes [62]. Thiswas a very unsatisfactory state of affairs from theCompany's point of view as a decision as to whether thethird stage of the service ought to be implemented wasdependent on the success of the second stage, both interms of public demand and technical feasibility.

Several reasons, in addition to those indicated pre-viously, can be advanced for the public's lack of interestin purchasing picture receiving apparatus:

(a) The prices of £22.15.0 and £24.15.0 were equivalentto approximately eight weeks' earnings (before tax), forthe working man, (the average yearly income for employeesin 1928 was £144.18.0), and so the cost of a Fultographmachine was a significant part of a person's annual salary.

(b) A daily newspaper could be bought for a penny andpossibly as many as twelve photographs obtained thereby.

(c) Some of the broadcast picture programmes werenot 'too satisfactory', as the Company admitted in July1929 [58].

(d)ln March 1929, the Postmaster General hadinformed Baird's, (and the general public for his letter tothat Company had been published in The Times), that hewas anxious that facilities for further television develop-ment should be granted and would agree to a station of theBBC being used for this purpose outside broadcastinghours [24].The last point had a most inhibiting effect on the commer-cial fortunes of Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd. and theCompany's shares suffered 'a severe slump in price' with theconsequence that the uncalled capital of the Company(amounting to £190000), which was 'very badly needed',could not be obtained [58]. In the meantime, their 'rathermeagre' working capital had been nearly expended (by July1929) owing to:

(a) the necessary carrying on of the Company's work(b) the purchase of 3000 receivers valued at about

£35 000.Faced with these difficulties, the directors had entertainedcertain proposals put to them by Baird Television Devel-opment Company, an organisation 'having unlimited funds'and having its shares at a high premium. The negotiationsbetween these two parties were briefly reported, withoutany factual details being given, in the national press on6th February [63]: they continued for many months,eventually without success.

And so, in July 1929, the BBC with some regret, con-cluded that it would not be justified in continuing thepicture transmissions beyond the end of October 1929 andinformed Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd. accordingly.Naturally, the Corporation's decision distressed theCompany, which was 'extremely anxious' to secure anextension of the transmission period for the followingarguments:

(a) The Company was negotiating for the sale of itsoverseas rights in several countries and hoped, in particular,to effect a sale in the United States and Canada.

{b) The Company was making some slow progress in itsendeavours to interest the Air Ministry, the Admiralty, theWar Office, Scotland Yard and newspaper offices in theFultograph.

(c) Further broadcast facilities would enable theCompany to liquidate its stock holding.

86

(d) Negotiations for an amalgamation with Baird's werestill continuing.

(e) The Company was responsible for £235 000 sharecapital.These representations were heard sympathetically by theBBC, consistent with a logical view of the situation and aproper consideration of the Corporation's duty to itslisteners [62]. But the Corporation felt unable to grantan extension of time.

Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd. was voluntarily liquidatedon 31st July 1930 and dissolved on 12th July 1935 [64].

Fig. 5 Portrait of H.M. King George V as it was received at theSavoy Hotel, London

UPC Electrical-Electronic Press Limited]

Fig. 6 Complete Fultograph picture-receiving equipment, con-sisting of rectifier circuit and clockwork-driven machine withsynchronising equipment

[IPC Electrical-Electronic Press Limited']

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. 1, JANUARY 1981

Fig. 7 Fultograph machine with clutch cover removed. Theclockwork motor is bolted to the underside of the metal panel anddrives a spindle through a vertical shaft with worm and pinion. Arigid carrier connects knife-edge wheel and stylus

[IPC Electrical-Electronic Press Limited]

Fig. 8 Clutch, cam and contacts used for synchronising (seeFig. 3)

[IPC Electrical-Electronic Press Limited]

4 Conclusions

The system initiated by Wireless Pictures (1926) Ltd. tobroadcast still pictures in the UK failed to achieve successbecause contemporaneous developments in the field oftelevision were actively being pursued in several countriesand the anticipated entertainment potential of televisiongreatly exceeded that of still-picture broadcasts.

5 Acknowlegments

The author gratefully acknowledges the generosity of IPCElectrical-Electronic Press Limited in providing the photo-graphs (Figs. 5—8) reproduced at the end of this paper.

6 References

1 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to DALZELL, R.A., 4th June 1926. PostOffice bundle Post 33/2371, 10060/1928

2 KORN, A., and GLATZEL, B.: 'Handbuch der phototelegiaphieand telautographie', (Nemnich, Leipzig, 1911)

3 THORNE-BAKER, T.: 'Phototelegraphy', Experimen tal Wirelessand the Wireless Engineer, April 1927, p. 236

4 BAIN, A.: 'Certain improvements in producing and regulatingcurrents and improvements in electric time pieces and in electric

printing and signal telegraphs'. British patent No. 9745,27 November 1843

5 HIGHTON, E.: The electric telegraph'. London, 18526 The Times, April 1844, 16a 6d7 DRAPER, H.: 'Alexander Bain, an obituary', Nature, 1877,

15, 11th January, p. 2188 DAVY, E.: 'Telegraphs'. British patent 7719, 4th July 18389 TURNBULL, L.: 'A series of lectures on the telegraph', /.

Franklin Inst., 1851, 21, pp. 330-33210 BAKEWELL, F.C.: 'Electric telegraphs'. British patent

No. 12,352, 2nd June 184911 The Times, November 1850, 14n 6f, 19n 3d, 29a 8b12 CASELLI, G., and NEWTON, A.V.: 'Electric telegraphs'. British

patent 125 232, 10th November 185513 The Times, February 1862, 22f, 10b14 BOYER, J.M.J.: 'La transmission telegraphique des images et

des photographies'. Paris, 186415 THORNE-BAKER, T.: 'The telegraphic transmission of photo-

graphs' (Constable, 1910)16 THORNE-BAKER, T.: 'Photography', The Wireless Engineer,

April 1927, pp. 229-23817 THORNE-BAKER, T.: 'Wireless pictures and television' (Pitman,

1926)18 The telegraphy of photographs, wireless and by wire',

Engineering, 29th April 1910, pp. 551-55219 The Wireless transmission of photographs', ibid. 30th April

1926, pp. 565-56620 MURRAY, Sir E.: letter to REITH, J.F.W., 8th June 1926.

Post Office, post 33/2371,10060/192821 A note signed 'AW', 10th June 1926. Ibid.22 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to Secretary, GPO, 8th July 1926. Ibid.23 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to Secretary, GPO, 23rd June 1927.

Ibid., file 324 BURNS, R.W.: Ph.D. thesis, Leicester University, 197625 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to Secretary, GPO, 8th July 1927. Post

Office post 33/2371,10060/1928, file 326 LEECH, W.T.: letter to Director General, BBC, 11th July 1927.

Ibid., file 327 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to Secretary, GPO, 18th July 1927.

Ibid., file 328 WESTON, W.E.: letter to Director General BBC, 14th September

1927. Ibid., file 329 GPO memorandum September 1927 on meeting of P Eckersley

with W.T. Leech. Ibid.30 LEE, A.G.: memorandum to Secretary, 8th October 1927.

Ibid., file 231 LEECH, W.T.: letter to Director General, BBC, 12th October

1927. Ibid., file 332 Wireless Pictures Ltd., company file, BT31/32987. Public

Record Office33 THORNE-BAKER, T.: British patent 248 836, 11th September

192534 THORNE-BAKER, T.: British patent 249 020, 11th September

192535 KORN, A.: 'Photographic transmission', The Electrician, 1st

March 1907, pp. 765-76636 HAYNES, F.H.: The Fultograph', Wireless World, 24th October

1928, pp. 557-56037 Minute, Control Board, 15th May 1928. BBC file T1238 ECKERSLEY, P.P.: Letter to Secretary, GPO, 13th June 1928.

Post Office, post 33/2371,10060/1928, file 539 Minute, Control Board, 12th June 1928. BBC file T1240 'Photographs by wireless'. The Times, 12th June 192841 LEE, A.G.: memorandum to Secretary, GPO, 3rd July 1928.

Post Office post 33/2371,10060/1928, file 542 'Pictures by radio'. Morning Post, 21st June 192843 PHILLIPS, F.W.: memorandum, 14th July 1928. Post Office

post 33/2371,10060/1928, file 544 Minute, Control Board, 3rd July 1928. BBC file T1245 REITH, J.F.W.: draft letter to WATSON BAKER, F.W.,

undated. Post Office, post 33/2371, 10060/1928, file 546 Secretary, GPO: minute to Postmaster General No. 10060/1928,

25th July 1928. Ibid., file 6. Also Reference 4647 PHILLIPS, F.W.: letter to Director General, BBC, 26 th July

1928. Ibid., file 648 GILL, A.J.: report, 14th August 1928. Ibid., file 849 LEECH, W.T.: memorandum, 22nd August 1928. Ibid., file 950 GOLDSMITH, C.H.: letter to LEECH, W.T., 22nd August 1928.

Ibid., file 951 GOLDSMITH, C.H.: letter to LEECH, W.T., 27th August 1928.

IEEPROC, Vol. 128, Pt. A, No. I, JANUARY 1981 87

Ibid., file 9. See also: Abridged prospectus of Wireless Pictures(1928) Ltd., published in national press 17th September 1928

52 The Financial News, 22nd September 192853 'Broadcasting of pictures', The Times, 31st October 192854 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to Secretary, GPO, 22nd October 1928.

Post Office post 33/2371, 10060/1928, file 1355 Minute, Control Board, 20th November 1928. BBC file T1256 Minute, Control Board, 27th November 1928. Ibid.57 Minute, Control Board, 3rd December 1928. Ibid.58 Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd.: letter to BBC, 12th July 1929.

Post Office, post 33/2371,10060/1928, file 2059 Morning Post, 27th November 192860 Manchester Guardian, 27th November 1928 and The Daily

Telegraph, 20th December 192861 Minute, Control Board, 9th January 1929. BBC file T1262 REITH, J.F.W.: letter to Secretary, GPO, 15th July 1929.

Post Office post 33/2371, 10060/1928, file 2063 The Daily Telegraph, 6th February 192964 Wireless Pictures (1928) Ltd., company file, BT31/32987.

Public Record Office

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