Data Communications & Telemetry
From the collection of
The Glorious Dream
- Moulsecomb
- 2003-02-18
Data Communications & Telemetry
This amusing programme demonstrates that you don't need to be familiar with exceedingly complicated jargon to understand key concepts in data communication
This amusing studio-based programme from 1978 uses analogy and humour to explain what are otherwise complicated and jargon-laden concepts in data communication. We begin with three actors. two men and a woman, all in beach wear, sitting in deck-chairs on a desert island set, with Hawaiian music playing in the background. A storm erupts and the cast leave the scene. Another actor, playing the part of the 'Boffin' arrives in his inflatable dinghy. Dressed in a laboratory coat he sits in the vacant deck-chair and finds a Kentucky Fried Chicken box, re-labelled to say Kentucky Fried Castaway, and some bones. Fearing that he's landed on an island full of cannibals he reacts when the woman arrives back on the scene. The two other men start examining the contents of the Boffin's dinghy which makes him irate. He starts to explain what the items are but uses complex language that bores the islanders because they cannot understand his over-complicated language. A dialogue begins where the woman finds linguistic parallels that explain the Boffin's jargon. Actions like jungle drums, to explain signal transmission and reception and coconuts, used to demonstrate bandwidth function, act as analogies and bring clarity to the concepts the Boffin is trying to explain. In this way the concepts of data, encoding and decoding, bandwidth, protocols, simplex, half-duplex and full duplex transmission are explained. These are then summarised using a simple diagram. The programme ends with the woman sending out a message on a walkie-talkie which announces the imminent arrival of a large group of 'Club 18-30' holiday-makers. The 'islanders' are in fact employees of a tour organisation. The final shot shows the Boffin being pelted with empty beer cans while he persists in claiming that all his concepts have to be over-complicated.
Advisory note: This programme contains one instance of swearing which is partially censored.
Tags
University of Brighton Videotape Collection
A cohesive collection from Screen Archive South East representing the production history of a university production unit from 1977 to 2006.
This collection contains educational programmes created for classroom use as well as programmes and commercial narratives that were made on behalf of local businesses, organisations and the community.
Screen Archive South East has made available from across this collection, a total of eighty four programmes from a variety of obsolete open reel 1-inch tape, U-Matic and Betacam broadcast formats.
This cohesive collection represents the production history of a higher and further education based production unit, with content covering a wide range of subjects: teaching the arts and sciences, fashion shows and art exhibitions, early examples of video art and screen dance from the late 1970s to early 1980; documentaries on Sussex artists and a series of works on the institution’s commemorative and promotional history.
As such, the collection documents a particular regional community and its use of videotape technology over almost a thirty-year period.
The high production values in the work created by Media Services at Brighton Polytechnic later, the University of Brighton, was due to the team of independent film makers or ex-BBC technical and production staff, ensuring top quality programming for the time.
46 videos in this collection
1
The Glorious Dream
2
Chelsea School of Human Movement Promo
3
Chelsea College: Student Memories
4
Brighton Polytechnic Promo 2
5
Altered Image
6
Movement and Meaning 5: A Lesson in Gender
7
An Interview with Anne Seagrave
8
Gary Stevens: Audience
9
The Mad Aunts
10
The British Library Bibliographic Services
11
The Booth Museum of Natural History, Hove
12
The Battle of Lewes Road: Our History
13
Choosing Hardy presented by Andrew Motion
14
An Interview with Raymond Briggs
15
Pig-in-the-Middle
16
Interview with Frank Hampson - Creator of Dan Dare
17
Denim: A New Look
18
Knitmaster Electronic Knitting Machine
19
Knitmaster F370 Fine Gauge Machine
20
The Practice of Teaching in Art and Design
21
Shop: A Project in Batch Production
22
Five Sculptures by Anthony Caro
23
An Introduction to Wood
24
Stone Carving
25
Packing and Firing a Kiln
26
Enamelling (Part 2)
27
Country House Lighting
28
Able Children
29
Degrees of Separation
30
Longhill School - Work in Multi-Media
31
A Day in the Life of a British Schoolgirl
32
PAROSI Literacy Discussion Group
33
Engineers for the 90's
34
Green Power Six Hour Electric Car Marathon
35
Process Industry Control Systems: Air Power
36
Digital Devices
37
Measurement and Instrumentation
38
Basic Electrical Skills Programme 1
39
Data Communications & Telemetry
40
The Micro: Controlling an Industrial Clean Plant
41
About AIDS: Teaching to Care - Third Ground
42
A Day in the Life of a Hospital Pharmacist
43
Energy Food for Sport
44
Argus Appeal 2002
45
Small Business Lending: Tom the Baker
46