science · 27 August 1950 · 75 years ago
In 1950, the BBC transmitted in Britain the first cross-Channel live television programme by microwave relay links celebrated the centenerary of the first cross-Channel telegraph by submarine cable. Although the working range for outside broadcast units of the time had been just 25 miles (40 km), a greater distance was made possible using a relay of microwave signals between five portable radio-link stations, able to send and receive microwave signals. Thus the signal was relayed 95-miles (153 km) for the two-hour programme originating in Calais, in Northern France, to London. The show presented the town of Calais "en fete", with a torchlight procession, dancing and a firework display from the Place de l'Hotel de Ville.
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