
We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service - empressplay
https://paleotronic.com/2018/10/09/we-see-facts-the-bbcs-ceefax-teletext-service/
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andyjohnson0
For a while in the 80s the BBC Ceefax service offered the ability to download
software [1]. You needed special hardware to decode the broadcast signal, and
software to convert from text-encoded binary. It seemed pretty amazing at the
time.

At about the same time, the BBC also broadcast audio-encoded software on its
Radio 4 station after normal programming had finished for the night. I
remember staying up late to record it onto C60 cassette tapes to load into a
BBC Micro at school (and possibly my own Vic 20, my memories are a little
hazy).

And now radio is broadcast on the internet.

[1]
[http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/telesoftware/](http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/telesoftware/)

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jgrahamc
Also there was'4 Computer Buffs' where code was transmitted by a flashing
square on screen during a program:
[https://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=2347](https://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=2347)

Here's a video of how you had to make the 'receiver' for this:
[https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=89458723914479030](https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=89458723914479030)
and here's an interview where there's the software being transmitted at the
same time:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULGDTtGZcN0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULGDTtGZcN0)

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gbraad
Teletekst is still active in the Netherlands, and they also offer a web
interface and Android/iOS app to expose the info on your mobile devices. It is
still beloved as all info is short and easy to consume while on the go. Fits
perfectly into a Twitter loving society ;-)

~~~
Angostura
In the UK it was transmitted on analogue TV during the vertical blanking
interval - and digital basically killed it off. How is it transmitted in the
Netherlands?

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NeedMoreTea
Had no idea there was a forerunner for printing, Beeb Fax from before fax
machies too! :)

Philips did produce some Ceefax TV's with printers though.

[https://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com/2011/12/philips-26...](https://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com/2011/12/philips-26cs389008r-year-1984.html)
(Scroll a couple of pages as they have the world's biggest page header!)

~~~
_trampeltier
I know a guy who, even today, use Teletext for all kind of things (mostly
sport results).

I remember ORF (Austrian TV), they had samples of QBasic source code.

Teletext was really a nice thing to have in Europe.

~~~
andyjohnson0
My dad used it here in the UK right up until the service was ended. I used to
gently make fun of him at the time, but I now see that he knew it was the most
efficient way for him to get the information that he wanted. He was optimising
for time and simplicity, not sophistication.

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SmellyGeekBoy
Also viewable on Acorn's BBC range of computers (e.g. Micro, Master) by means
of an external interface: [https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Acorn-
Teletext-...](https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Acorn-Teletext-
Adapter/)

Ceefax was actually published from these machines as well!

~~~
crtasm
I had software to edit teletext pages on my BBC Micro, fun to play with but I
never got my hands on the interface sadly.

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karlstanley
My first programming gig as an intern back in the mid 90s was converting the
output of a teletext decoder box into a web site by rendering GIFs and using
image maps to make the numbers appearing on the page clickable for navigation.
Gave me respect for the standard - so much information encoded in so few
bytes!

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jenshk
Teletext have more than a million users in Denmark. Truly surprising to me but
it is also kinda awesome. It certainly still serves a purpose. No ads, no
noise just pure signal.

~~~
zahrc
German Teletext is filled with ads. FIND WOMEN IN YOUR AREA is what I consider
ads.

~~~
mrweasel
The TV stations not broadcasting from Denmark, and not funded (at least
partially) by public money had similar ads. Either for adult services, or
betting.

What most view as "the real teletext" is the service provided by DR (Danmarks
Radio), the Danish equivalent of the BBC. They are not allowed to show ads
anywhere.

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bonaldi
Ceefax has a long legacy: even today BBC News online stories are written so
that the core of the story is told in the first four paragraphs, because that
is what was sent to Ceefax.

(It's not just nostalgia, though the concision is good practice. It's because
that format is still used by the BBC's "Red Button" TV information services.)

~~~
ajb
That's a based on standard newspaper practice; it's a lot older than Ceefax:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid_(journalism)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid_\(journalism\))

~~~
bonaldi
Yes, that's right but this a technical variant of that: it's literally the
first 16 lines of the story, where "lines" are defined by the Ceefax standard

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milpool
And if you're keen to make your own Teletext-Pages, there is an online editor
here: [https://edit.tf/](https://edit.tf/)

~~~
midgetjones
I follow a few teletext artists on twitter. This guy particularly springs to
mind: [https://twitter.com/Horsenburger](https://twitter.com/Horsenburger)

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JdeBP
For more, see
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17430660](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17430660)
and what that hyperlinks to in its turn.

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AnssiH
Teletext is still active in Finland:

Yle: [http://yle.fi/tekstitv](http://yle.fi/tekstitv)

MTV: [http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/](http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/)

Some random picks from a previous comment of mine:

Pollen map:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=418](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=418) \-
Statistics graph on an article about road traffic deaths:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=865#3](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=865#3)
\- SMS chat:
[http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/new2008/892-01.htm](http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/new2008/892-01.htm)
\- Helsinki Airport arrivals:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=427](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=427) and
[http://www.mtv3tekstikanava.fi/new2008/605-01.htm](http://www.mtv3tekstikanava.fi/new2008/605-01.htm)
\- Ski slope situation:
[http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/new2008/621-01.htm](http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/new2008/621-01.htm)
and [https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=420](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=420)
\- Radiation measurements:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=867#2](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=867#2)
\- Record chart:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=804](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=804) \-
Recipes:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=811](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=811) \-
Bird situation:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=888](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=888) \-
Test page:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=580](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=580)
(looks like blinking does not render) - TV listings:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=311](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=311) \-
International weather:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=408](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=408) \-
Train schedule and alerts:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=430](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=430) \-
International shortwave stations:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=591#3](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=591#3)
\- News in Latin:
[https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=365](https://yle.fi/aihe/tekstitv?P=365)

MTV used to have classifieds on their teletext pages that you input using your
(landline) phone.

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amelius
A centralized system.

