CQ tv236 PDF

Copyright © by the BATC
CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 1

Caption Contest “I can’t believe you can still fit into
your old uniform. The only thing I have
...and the winner is Wes, G8KZN
Congratulations, a caption generator
that still fits is my helmet.” Don Hill, will be on its way shortly.
Here are the entries for last months
KE6BXT
caption contest (photo below): This months photo (from our 2008
“I heard our editor is looking for another BiAGM) is below, comments please to:
From the Sitcom Allo Allo: [email protected]
job, take this and go have a word will
Leeszen I shall say thees only
you?” Chris, G1FEF
wonce! “DIGILITE” Pardon! “Shhh!
DIGILITE” Mark, G0NMY
“He said he could not construct Digilite.

You know what to do.” Wes, G8KZN.
“Trevor: Sir, home guard reporting for

duty, Sir.” General Brown “stupid boy,
the war’s over.” Dave, G8ADM
Page 2 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

Contents
2012 Convention and Biennial General Meeting...................................................6
A Compact Flash player for 405 Lines.................................................................17
All Seeing Eye......................................................................................................14
A Matching System for two 23cm Antennas........................................................22
AVCHD...................................................................................................................7
Caption Contest.......................................................................................................2
Committee Contacts................................................................................................4
Constructional Matters..........................................................................................15
Contact Details........................................................................................................4
Contents..................................................................................................................3
Contest News........................................................................................................26
DATV and 70cm...................................................................................................32
DATV in Peru.......................................................................................................24
Deadlines.................................................................................................................4
Editorial Musings..................................................................................................23
Editors Preamble.....................................................................................................5
How I got into ATV..............................................................................................28
Letters to the Editor..............................................................................................25
Lifting The Lid Off Television.............................................................................21
Lightworks, A Review............................................................................................8
Review of LG DM2350D 3D TV Monitor..........................................................34
The care and feeding of MOSFET RF power amplifier modules – Part 3..........30
The Digilite Project - Part 3.................................................................................10
Turning back the pages.........................................................................................37
TV Amateur 163...................................................................................................27
Call or TEXT us on 01400 41 42 43
Copyright © by the BATC and contributors.

Legal Niceties (the small print)
E&OE. Whilst every care is taken in the production of this publication, the editor accepts no legal
responsibility for the advice, data and opinions expressed. The BATC neither endorses nor is it
responsible for the content of advertisements or the activities of those advertisers. No guarantee of
accuracy is implied or given for the material herein. The BATC expressly disclaims all liability to any
person in respect of anything and in respect of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done
wholly or partly in reliance upon the whole or any part of this magazine.
As the regulations for the operation of radio frequency equipment vary in different countries, readers
are advised to check that building or operating any piece of equipment described in CQ-TV will not
contravene the rules that apply in their own country. The contents of this publication are covered by
international copyright and must not be reproduced without permission, although an exception is made
for not-for-profit publications (only) wishing to reprint short extracts or single articles and then only if
acknowledgment is given to CQ-TV.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of published review, private study or research permitted
under applicable copyright legislation, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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others is intended. Printed in Great Britain. ISSN 1466-6790
Notice to Contributors
Authors are alone responsible for the content of their articles, including factual and legal accuracy, and
opinions expressed by them may not reflect the editorial stance of the publication. Material submitted
to CQ-TV should not infringe the copyright of other writers or bodies. Articles remain the copyright of
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Printed by Your Print Solution, Unit 5, Pilot Industrial Estate, High Wycombe, HP12 3AH, England. Telephone: 01494 372 800
Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 3

Committee Contacts
President: Peter Blakeborough G3PYB Contests: Dave Crump, G8GKQ
E-mail: [email protected] SMS Keyword: PR Wg Cdr D G Crump, c/o Defence Section, British Embassy
Abu Dhabi, BFPO 5413, HA4 6EP, UK.
Chairman: Trevor Brown, G8CJS Email: [email protected] SMS Keyord: CO
Club affairs and Technical queries, especially relating to
handbook projects. CQ-TV: Chris Smith, G1FEF
14 Stairfoot Close, Adel, Leeds, LS16 8JR Anything for publication in CQ-TV magazine, except
E-mail: [email protected] SMS Keyword: CH advertising (see below).
Email: [email protected] SMS Keyword: ED
General Secretary: Brian Summers, G8GQS
General club correspondence and business. Shop / Members Services:
9 Prior Croft Close, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 1DE Trevor Brown, G8CJS
Email: [email protected] SMS Keyword: GS SMS Keyword: SH
Hon. Treasurer: Brian Summers, G8GQS CQ-TV Advertising: Trevor Brown, G8CJS
Enquiries regarding club finances, donations and 14 Stairfoot Close, Adel, Leeds, LS16 8JR.
constitutional enquiries. Email: [email protected] SMS Keyword: AD
9 Prior Croft Close, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 1DE
Email: [email protected] SMS Keyword: HT Members ads for inclusion in CQ-TV should be sent directly
to the editor, by e-mail: [email protected]
Membership: Pat Hellen
Anything to do with membership, including new BATC Webmaster: Ian Pawson
applications, queries about new and existing membership, Anything to do with the BATC web sites
non-receipt of CQ-TV, subscriptions, membership records, E-mail: [email protected] SMS Keyword: WM
The Villa, Plas Panteidal, Aberdyfi,
Gwynedd LL35 0RF Publications: Paul Marshall
E-mail: [email protected] SMS Keyword: MS Handbooks, back copies of CQ-TV and anything related to
the supply of BATC publications; Library queries related
Club Liaison: Graham Shirville, G3VZV to the borrowing or donation of written material; Audio &
Anything of a political nature, co-ordination of ATV Video archives.
Repeater licences, etc. Fern House, Church Road, Harby,
Birdwood, Heath Lane, Aspley Heath, Nottinghamshire NG23 7ED
Woburn Sands, MK17 8TN E-mail: [email protected] SMS Keyword: PB
E-mail: [email protected] SMS Keyword: CL
Contact Details Deadlines

The preferred method of contacting CQ-TV is published quarterly in February, May, August and
a committee member is via email, all November each year. The deadlines for each issue are as follows: -
email addresses are printed above.
February - please submit by December 31st
You can also telephone 01400 414243 May - please submit by March 31st
but we cannot guarantee availability at August - please submit by June 30th
any particular time. If you call you will November - please submit by September 30th
be presented with a menu, so you can be
connected to the correct person. Please send your contributions in as soon as you can prior to this date.
Don’t wait for the deadline if you have something to publish as the longer
You can also send any committee we have your article, the easier it is for us to prepare the page layouts.
member a text message on the above If you have pictures that you want including in your article, please send them, in
number, just prefix your message with the highest possible quality, as separate files. Pictures already embedded in a page
their two letter keyword followed by a are difficult to extract at high quality but if you want to demonstrate your preferred
space, followed by your message. layout, a sample of your finished work with pictures in place is welcomed.
Please note the implications of submitting an article which are detailed on the
Finally, you can always write a letter. contents page.

Editors Preamble
Here we are then, another new year, I formats compatible with tablets and they come in, so I can put the magazine
wonder what this one will bring? There smartphones. Our membership at the together once a quarter. If you enjoy that
have been a lot of changes over the past time of writing was 58% electronic, with sort of thing and have a bit of spare time
year within the batc: 42% preferring a physical magazine, this please get in touch, the club will supply
has changed a lot in the past year and the the software, all you have to do is layout
The members portal for example, at: trend looks to be continuing into 2012. the occasional article as they come in.
https://www.batc.org.uk/
So what does this mean long term? Will Another new service is the batc phone
Members now have a host of additional this mean the demise of the paper CQ- number: 01400 41 42 43 a really easy to
benefits accessible there, you can send TV? There have been discussions along remember number that you can send text
and receive txt messages, download your these lines within the committee, as it messages to as well as call in on! I’ve
membership certificate, get yourself a stands the committee are roughly split had a few messages already, it’s ideal
free email address, keep your personal down the middle in terms of opinion on for sending me caption contest entries
details up to date, download high this subject. The final say is of course for example, if you’re out and about and
resolution copies of CQ-TV (whether up to you, the members and I would be suddenly think of one.
you’re a Cyber member or not), if you’re interested to hear any opinions you may
into streaming you can now control all have... And of course, you now all have a
your streams functions there as well. personalised magazine, with your
Talking of CQ-TV I am still looking membership number printed on the inside
The list of member benefits has grown for some help with the editing, I was rear cover, so no more emails asking
considerably, and will continue to grow. completely underwhelmed by your “what’s my membership number?”.
If you have any ideas for services you response from my Situations Vacant
would like to see in the members area, advert in the last CQ-TV: I had a grand We’ve also lost a service: We no longer
please get in touch with me and I may total of ZERO enquiries !! accept credit card payments over the
well add it to the TODO list. phone, it was costing us more to run,
I am still looking for help here, if no-one than the transactions we used it for!
Another new thing to appear, is the is interested in taking over as editor, how
publication of CQ-TV in alternative about a co-editor? What I could really That’s a quick roundup of 2011 for you,
use is someone to lay out the articles as now please enjoy CQ-TV236 and 2012
- Chris, G1FEF
We have produced a DVD containing electronic

versions of CQ-TV and the CQ-TV articles index.
Also included are electronic versions of our three
most recent handbooks, ‘Slow Scan Television
Explained‛, ‘Amateur Television Handbook‛ and
‘An Introduction to Amateur Television‛ as well as
the Lighting eBook.
The archive contains all past issues of CQ-TV and

is updated 4 times a year, to include the current
issue of CQ-TV.
The DVD is playable in a PC and the data files will

‘auto-run‛ when the DVD is inserted.
The video section was prepared by Brian Kelly

and contains videos from Bletchley Park 1999,
one from Shuttleworth 2002 and one from 2004.
The DVD is available to members for just £5 inc.
postage to the UK and EEC. Note that these videos
have been made with the H.264 codec and so you
will need suitable software to view them.
http://www.batc.org.uk/club_stuff/pubs.html
Note: This DVD is supplied on +R media only.

2012 Convention and Biennial General Meeting
It’s that time again and this year we The Venue: minutes away
want to make the BiAGM just one part
of an exciting and stimulating ATV The ATV Convention will be hosted in h t t p : / / w w w. j a n e a u s t e n s - h o u s e -
2012 Convention. the new Everest Community Acadamy museum.org.uk/
which has a 150 seat lecture theatre and
The focus of the event will be a lecture open area for our use. The historic city of Winchester is 20
program with up to 7 talks on Saturday minutes away by train, Portsmouth
afternoon and Sunday. http://www.everest.hants.sch.uk/ historic dockyard and the New Forest
are less than 1 hour away by train or
The main themes of the talks will be In order to cover the costs for the car.
Digital ATV, in particular the Digilite weekend there will be a small charge
project, and how to get going on 70cms for attending the convention, £15 for Basingstoke has a very good modern
DATV with talks on aerials, pre-amps the 2 days when registering online and shopping centre
and power amps for DATV. £10 per day on the door.
http://www.festivalplace.co.uk/
There will be a BATC open forum panel Please note that attendance to the
discussion and the weekend will also BiAGM will be free. The Hampshire Transport Museum
include:
Free tea and coffee will be available all http://www3.hants.gov.uk/milestones
• A number of live demos / group weekend and sandwiches, cakes and
presentations; fruit will be available for purchase at and a Ten Pin bowling alley and Ice
• The BATC 2012 BiAGM will be lunchtime. Rink:
held on Sunday morning;
• Specialist traders selling RF and Hotels / Convention dinner A special http://www.planetice.co.uk/arena/
video bits; BATC rate of £65 B&B (single) and Basingstoke
• The BATC shop; £75 (double) has been arranged at the
• BATC members table top sales; Apollo (4 star) hotel which is within 1 Other shopping is also available in
• A “test it and fix it” area where you mile of the convention venue Southampton (30 mins), Reading (20
can bring things to be tested on mins) and London is only 50 mins
professional test equipment. http://www.apollohotels.com away.
Date / timing: Please ring the hotel reservations Get involved!

directly on 01256 796700 (not via the
The ATV Convention will be held on website) and quote BATC to get this For more information, visit the
Saturday 6th (doors open at 12 noon and rate. convention web page where you will be
lectures start at 1:30pm) and Sunday 7th able to see updated information on the
October (start at 10am - close at 4pm) It is intended to hold the ATV event and register your attendance.
with the BiAGM taking place at 11am Convention dinner on Saturday evening
on Sunday. at the Apollo – details to follow, but This is your convention where you will
please indicate your interest when be able to meet and exchange ideas with
Location registering on the BATC website. others involved in our exciting hobby.
If you have any ideas you would like to
The ATV Convention will be held in There are a number of other hotels see included, if you are willing to come
Basingstoke, right in the centre of the within 2 / 3 miles of the venue including and tell others about your experiences
current hot spot of UK DATV activity. Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday in ATV or have something you want
Inn. to demonstrate please contact Noel
Basingstoke offers good motorway G8GTZ.
connections from London & South Other things to do:
Coast (M3), from the Midlands & North
(A34) and west via M4 and A34. It is not intended to arrange an XYL
program, however the Vyne National
There are direct trains from London Trust house is just 3 miles awa:
/ South Coast / Southampton airport
/ Midlands / Manchester / Newcastle http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/vyne
and Heathrow airport is just 45 minutes
away. The Jane Austen museum is less than 30

AVCHD
by Trevor Brown G8CJS The “AVCHD” is a new high definition Sample 1: Mountain Stream
(HD) digital video camera recorder Sample 2: Hawaiian Surf
Every Christmas I film my grandchildren format recording 1080i and 720p Sample 3: Wood Fire
opening their Christmas presents and signals onto certain media by using
this year I though I would go up market highly efficient codec technologies. They all have m2ts extensions but
and use two camera’s, the usual home The “AVCHD” is jointly established by the internet also says there are mts
video camera using mini DV tape and Panasonic, and Sony Corporation. extensions around but as yet I have not
a cannon powershot S95 which is really found any. Lightworks unfortunately
a pocket stills camera, but boasts HD A look on the internet reveals AVCHD does not import the clips, but my copy
movie filming. editing software as follows of Speed Edit 2 does. It is produced by
Newtek and is a very easy to use software
I started with the two cameras side be • Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate application, but is not mainstream
by side producing two pictures roughly version provides an end-to-end HD so does not show up on the various
the same and gave a big hand clap so I video editing workflow, including information pages on the internet.
could sync up the two takes in the editor native HDV and AVCHD editing
later. One camera I left locked of on a AVCHD does produce some stunning
tripod as a static shot (Canon S95) the • Apple iMovie ‘08 supports pictures and is a highly compressed
other I used hand held for closeups. standard and high definition video, format allowing pictures to be stored
including DV, HDV, MPEG-2, MPEG- on SD cards, if you are not interested
I synced both takes up in the editor 4, and now AVCHD . However, Apple in cutting pictures up please download
using the hand clap, because I wanted to currently lists only a few AVCHD the clips and see for yourself. Downside
use only one sound track, although both camcorders as tested and supported. all heavily compressed files are heavy
cameras recorded sound from internal on CPU resources, where as lightly
mic’s. • Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus compressed files are much larger and
version supports HD formats including as such do not require as much speed
The reason for this is picture tracks AVCHD and MPEG-2 H. It would from the CPU but do require faster hard
are often composed of camera cuts so not open individual AVCHD files, but discs
cutting between camera’s always looks it could import clips from a folder.
visually OK, this does not apply to the VideoStudio was a bit sluggish when My humble PC with its 4 CPU’s did
sound track which is a blend of sound dealing with AVCHD files. It took stutter when I asked it to scrub an
and multiple sources are always mixed seconds to switch between the editing AVCHD file I hope some more RAM
not cut. steps. will fix it as the motherboard and CPU
are less than 12 months old, but they
Did it work well yes and no, lip sync • Sony Vegas Studio 8 Platinum were purchased at a time of DV cam
was ok when cutting to the mini DV supports HD video, including HDV pictures and the bar has moved up.
and keeping the canon sound track, but capture and editing It also supports
the picture quality change between the AVCHD import and edit, but only from Last words from the internet:
standard resolution mini DV and the Sony camcorders. AVCHD is a high-definition recording
superior Canon stills camera really hurt format designed by Sony and Panasonic
and I abandoned the DV cam pictures • CyberLink PowerDirector 6 that uses H.264 (conforming to H.264
and just used the canon pictures. supports high-definition video editing, while adding additional application-
with the HDV format for capture, specific features and constraints).
The disadvntage to the canon stills editing, and export back to tape.
camera is the battery only last 30 mins AVC-Intra is an intraframe-only
in continuous shooting and you cannot • Nero Vision 4 supports HDV compression format, developed by
zoom the camera lens once in record and AVCHD editing (part of the Nero Panasonic. For the uninitiated intra
but then it is a stills camera shooting 7 Ultra Edition Enhanced suite, It means it has frames inter means it does
moving pictures and costing just over processed HDV files after renaming to not have frames.
£200 from Amazon .MPG, and played and scanned though
AVCHD files. Useful Links
The Canon files are H264 with
extensions of MOV and the current No mention of Lightworks, but that was AVCHD Information - www.avchd-
editing software including Lightworks installed and was simple enough to try info.org
will cope with them, but most of the all you need is a clip fortunately there
modern camera use AVCHD are three AVHCD clips available for http://www.reelseo.com/how-to-edit-
download from www.avchdclips.com avchd/#ixzz1l3VztnaR

Lightworks, A Review
by Trevor Brown G8CJS The full technical spec is impressive: EDL, OMF1, OMF2 and AAF are for
making lists of the edit decisions, every
When I first saw the free download for http://www.lightworksbeta.com/index. editor makes a list, in fact that’s all they
Lightworks NLE software for my PC, I php?option=com_content&view=articl do and then they update the various
thought all my Christmas’s had come at e&id=108&Itemid=247 displays including the time line to fool
once see: you into thinking it has carried out your
http://www.lightworksbeta.com/ It includes MXF, Quicktime, AVI, RED edit, but in reality it has only updated
R3D, DPX, Avid DNxHD, ProRes and the edit or project list and will update
This is not a trial download the site gives many more formats, and states that the video file only when you render the
assurances on support and states that transcoding files on import is something project into a completed video. Edit
you will always be able to download of the past. I hate editors that insist on lists are always in a format peculiar to
and use the latest version of Lightworks transcoding everything to a common the brand of editor; they often cannot be
for free. It goes on to say their next format before you can edit, thankfully extracted in an industry standard format
milestone will be releasing the source they are disappearing file. Why is this important, because it
code to any developer who wants to enables programmes to be recreated
build upon what they have started. Never lose anything! Lightworks elsewhere by an online editor, as a way
backs up every keystroke, NLE editors of splitting of the creative process from
In the meantime, they invite you to are prone to crashes some more than the technical process. The ability to
get familiar with Lightworks which is others, so what a blessing. Add to this extract these files in a common format
described as: “an Academy and Emmy Stereoscopic editing (I think that’s got is found only on high-end professional
award winning professional-grade Mike’s attention). editing software.
editor with over 20 years of history in
the film and broadcast industry. Having The codecs are impressive although Metadata is starting to appear more
cut hundreds of films such as Pulp some are an optional extra, but the and is an imbedded file that contains
Fiction, The Departed, Centurion and charges for them should they be needed format data about your video; this can
Shutter Island, it includes a full feature are reasonable. be helpful for numerous reasons such
set of editorial tools -- from advanced as identifying the aspect ratio of the
trimming and media management, The part of the technical spec that caught project, when burning a DVD, which is
to stereoscopic support and realtime my attention was JKL trimming, import almost always another separate software
effects including multiple secondary and export of AAF, OMF 1, OMF2 and package requiring information about
colour correctors. Lightworks has an Metadata. JKL refers to the keyboard your project and Metadata will carry
advanced effects pipeline, utilising the keys for rev, play and rewind, a small this data without you having to answer
power of your GPU. And with support thing but you would be surprised at questions again
for up to 2K workflows with realtime the software that does not have these
effects.” industry standard keys implemented.

Colour correctors are becoming more There is no doubt that the gentleman 720p, but was unhappy with the 23.98
commonplace. Apple started the presenting the clip, DV Dave can drive FPS which I cannot find a menu in
ball rolling when they took a £20K Lightworks, but the speed of his tutorial the canon camera to change, 23.976 is
software application (Final Touch) and begs one to wonder if he auctions cars supposed to be supported so I am at a
incorporated it into their editor Final for a day job, still with frequent use of loss on this.
Cut, which sells for just over £200, but the pause button I found out how to
for some strange reason they dropped it import clips, (second button down on One place it did score was MJPEGS
from version 10. the tool bar). The clips you select from which is the format recorded by the
your hard-drive library then come up as black magic card in the small mobile
I am never sure when credits are claimed a text list until you press start the button studio kit we use at AMSAT and BATC
for kit, how much of the film was post at the bottom of the import list,. It then BGM’s, previously these files had to
produced on the said kit, or if it was it took 3 mins before the 4GHz AVI I be rendered to AVI files so they can be
something sorted out between the sales selected came up as an Icon, on my quad edited, editing is often only a top and
team and the film producer over an core PC, did I read native support for tail and sometimes add a strap line,
expensive lunch. Feature films are cut AVI, but then the downloaded version is then they need rendering to AVI and re
on NLE, but somehow you still need a beta so is this a future feature or am I rendering to FLV in a third software
film prints for the cinema, the process is misunderstanding the concept of native package and then uploading via the
called (DI) digital Intermediate, but not support. internet, if I could lose one or more of
all films are made this way, the process these steps, by using this free software
of DI is still in its infancy presumable The next mystery was how do I get the then I would indeed give it the thumbs
waiting to lose the “intermediate” and clip onto the time line, my attempts up.
go for the full electronic cinema. So failed so back to DV Dave; you drag
never get locked off on film credits it into the monitor. OK, I might have I did not find out how to export an AAF,
for kit, unless you know the level of got there eventually, you can scrub the but I could always go back to DV Dave,
involvement the kit had in the making clip with a mouse click on the scrubber the operation of this NLE is not what I
of the production. pointer and then drag it to the point you am used to, and any NLE can take quite
want to make changes, You can play or a few hours to get on top of, there is a lot
So why give it away, in fact more than stop the clip with the space bar or use of help on the internet, in particular You
give it away ? they are hoping to make the icons at the bottom of the screen, but Tube, and well the price is right. Am
it open source and produce a MAC and I could not control the scrubber with the I going to put a couple of weeks aside
Linux version. JKL keys. to get on top of it? Well, I will give it
some thought, but this would probably
Enough I was hooked and I hit the The cut, clear, in and out, buttons for be the third NLE I have spent time
download button, and well it’s a very manipulating the video within the time learning to drive, and there are others
professional desktop once you get there. line are at the bottom of the screen. The I like better, but none at the price of
There is a start menu to get through effects buttons are on the bottom of the Lightworks. If you don’t have an NLE
first, with standard questions about the time line and should you complete your then why not download Lightworks and
format of the project you wish to create. production then the advanced button in commit some time to learning it and see
I presume this is to set up metadata. the bottom of the time line will reveal if you can put something together for
Once through this menu, go for the the render options, which in turn will the streamer Library.
third button down on the tool bar and lead you into a box to set aspect ratios
you will be presented with a time line and chose the file format you want to To sum up, it was a little difficult to
and monitor. All you need is to capture render your finished programme to, the manipulate images in the time line, and
video, top red button should open the choices are AVI, MXF and MOV, would it did not have the feel that other NLE
capture panel, or you may already have have loved FLV here. editors do, would have liked to get to
video clips on your computer hard drive, the bottom of JKL keys, but using the
then how do you get them onto the time One of the things I did try was to import space bar for play and stop I could cope
line ? After a morning of struggling I an FLV (the format we use for streamer with, I would have liked the ability to
turned to You Tube, there are numerous files) and that was a No. The next file create captions I loved the price and
videos that will take you through how to I tried was from my Canon S95 still loved the fact it imported MJPEGS.
use this software. The first one was: camera which doubles as a Camcorder, I will try and find more time to get to
the files would not import and although better grips with it
h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / it recognise them it flagged them as HD
watch?v=SK4ogYgnm4I
Text or Telephone us on:

01400 41 42 43

The Digilite Project - Part 3
ADDITIONS TO THE PARTS LIST: Ensure the modification around R20 has should be taken not to s/c the tracks
been done (corrected from v 5.7). when fitting them. Spacing widened on
There are several devices that are not later version boards.
part of the original parts list as they Ensure that C20 is grounded at the lower
do not appear on the circuit diagram end (corrected from v 5.7). The input balun can be fitted either way
but which are needed to get the system round as it is a 1:1 ratio.
running... Add a 0.3uF (radial or axial) on the 12v
DC input pin to ground (SMD added Photographs of Spectrum Analyser
The USB interface sub-panel FT2232H from v5.7). displays of DigiLite outputs supplied
that plugs into the board via the two by Rob M0DTS.
dual 13 pin headers CN2 and CN3.This Full details are on the batc forum or on
device has to be programmed. It is now the DigiLite website. Getting the level of the local oscillator
available preprogrammed from the batc right is very important. Too much and it
shop ready to plug in and use. Farnell All versions: will break through the top of the output
part No:169-7465 waveform and the decoder will not
The 8v regulator can be used to run accept the signal. When you first switch
The local oscillator giving an output of the local oscillator board if necessary, on your completed board you may
up to 10dBm at the required modulator but it would be better to use a separate get a mess of carriers and unwanted
output frequency. regulator. It is however well within the signals as seen in the photo but careful
capabilities of the 8V regulator to run balancing of the Upper and the Lower
The PIC 16F628A IC programmed for the entire sysytem (About 150mA) you Sidebands to get them equal (you can
use in the G8BYI add-on preset tuning will have to mount it on a heat sink or switch them off/on with the DigiLite
panel. on to the metal of the box you are fitting Transmit programme if it helps) using
it into as it also supplies input to the 5v the four presets as described before you
The above items are available from the and 3.3v regulators to allow up to 16v should end up with a digital signal that
batc shop. dc input. will give good results on commercial
receivers at 4Ms/s.
The WinTv PVR150,250 PCI capture Early circuit diagrams show the earth
card. (Second-hand. No longer return resistors on the bias pots R31,
manufactured). The external PVR2 R35 as 100 ohms, they have been
version will work but getting it installed changed to 1k resistors to improve the
can be very fussy. range of the bias pots.
CONSTRUCTIONAL NOTES: If you do not wish to use the smd

tantalum electrolytics, regular radial
Version 5.6 pcb only: capacitors will work ok, just bend the
ends of the legs into an ‘L’ shape to fit
Scrape away the green protective coating the solder pads. Support with glue gun
for mounting the MMIC U5 depending adhesive etc. Get the ‘shoulders’ balanced and then
on the shape of the device you are check the signal out on your satellite
using, there are several alternative smd All through-holes ‘vias’ are solder receiver. You probably will end up
devices available. plated so soldering those components on tweaking the pots to get a high ‘quality’
the bottom side of the board is sufficient reading on the OSG anyway, so with
A 100pF capacitor can be used to bypass for a good connection without needing patience you can manage a good quality
the stage if you wish to amplify the Rf to solder the top connection. signal without a spectrum analyser.
in a separate unit.
JP1 is an optional header to allow for INITIAL CHECKLIST
Do not mount the crystal too low future options including SD card reader
to the board, it could short out the and In-circuit programming of the PIC Start WinTV7 or GB-PVR , set it
capacitors, it might be better to leave a chip. No need to fit it at this time. to record. Open Windows Explorer
few millimetres gap and if using a full and look on the main C: drive under
height crystal use glue gun adhesive or The smaller headers (2 way and 3 way ) Temp folder. Look for recordings by
similar to support it vertically. Spacing can be cut from a 10 way type. the WinTv or GB-PVR programmes.
has been increased from version 5.7 Check out previous attempts to record
The half-rail regulators U3/U4 have by double-clicking the file and see that
legs that are quite close together so care they replay as mpeg files ok.

Run the DigiLite Config programme. Hook the output of the DigiLite board RUNNING DIGILITE ON 70CM
Ensure that the COM port numbers are to the aerial socket of the satellite by Malcolm G0UHY
the same as those on the Control Panel/ receiver (watch the dc line to the lnb!)
Devices list. Close the programme. and aim to get at least 60% signal I have managed to construct a version
Click the DigiLite Transmit programme. level. If you wish you might try in-line of the DigiLite for use on the 70cm
Ensure that the Transmit is running attenuators on the local oscillator feed. band. I’m using the same serialiser and
correctly and that there is a line of Don’t use homemade attenuator boards modulator circuit. Although some people
changing data on the ‘Command for the reasons given above. Here is my have managed to get the modulator to
Prompt’ screen as the stream is sent to preferred method of inital setup: work on 70cm using the AD8346 chip,
the serialiser. it is not really intended to run at that
Set all four pots to mid-way. frequency. I have therefore replaced
The LED on the serialiser should be the AD8346 with an AD8345 which is
winking in an equal on-off every second. Gently and slowly edge one of the identical physically but is intended to
Connect the output of the DigiLite into ‘level’ pots watching the satellite box run at lower frequencies.
the aerial connector of your satellite info display. It takes a moment or two
box (watch out for the dc on the cable!) for the quality reading to kick in.Once The Nyquist filter also needs to be modified
Loose coupling should be fine. it has, move to the other pot and aim to allow the transmitter to operate at
to raise the level of the quality reading 2Ms/s and keep the required bandwidth
Ensure that the signal strength on the until the level drops back down again. down. Change the Nyquist filter values
info screen is at least 60%. Adjust the to 1.2nF/33uH/3.9nF/27uH/1.2nF
four presets as previously described, If no Quality reading leave the ‘level’
very small, slow movements watch the pots at centre travel and adjust the two The VCO used in this design is a
info screen on your satellite receiver / bias pots av small nudge clockwise and synthesiser kit sold by SDR kits. The
tv there should eventually be a flash of repeat the settings described above of the good thing about this is it is easily tuned
picture or better still a quality reading level pots. The dc readings on the level over the 70cm band and comes with an
as well. pots are also affected by the dc coming LCD display. Memories and separate
out of the 74AC574 IC1. Check the 3v VFOs are also provided making
Who needs a Spectrum Analyser line is within tolerance. Check voltages operation and frequency changing
anyway? on the output pins of IC1.Always read simple.
IC voltages on the IC pins not on nearby
I have been involved in getting a components. The O/P from the DigiLite is quite low
couple of boards running locally for and I’m using a separate “brick” PA
guys without Spectrum Analysers . In The small amount of bandwidth used which gives about 60W out. The unit is
all cases when the dc levels appear to by the digital signal means that by still small, even with a suitable heatsink,
be correct and wiring/soldering errors dropping to just 2Ms/s it is possible to making it ideal for portable use with a
have been eliminated, the fault is TOO squeeze a colour tv signal into the 70cm laptop. On the receive side I’m using
MUCH LOCAL OSCILLATOR signal, band. It requires a slightly different a converted commercial upconverter
sometimes induced into the board from version of the modulator chip and available from e Bay (details on Rob,
the poorly screened local oscillator changes to the filter coils otherwise it M0DTS’s site ) and a standard digital
can and cable. Keep it short, keep it is the same circuit and board. Here is satellite receiver.
grounded and seal the screening can on more information from Malcolm who
the oscillator as if it was gas rather than has successfully built one.
signal that was trying to escape!
If you are not using the Ultram VCO

board make sure that the phase noise
figure is good enough for digital
modulation. If you are using the Ultram,
take the local oscillator output from the
input to the MMIC on the VCO board.
If preferred you can remove the MMIC
entirely.
There is sufficient signal from the VCO

chip to operate the modulator chip via the
balun but may need the three attenuator
resistors on the input of DigiLite board
removed and R27 (82ohm) replaced
with a 0 ohm resistor to couple the local
oscillator signal to the balun.

Here is further information on using available on the BATC Forum DigiLite five preset channels using a single press
DigiLite on 70cms from G8BYI: pages there is no excuse for anyone not button switch. The on-board regulator
tackling and discovering digital ATV. allows it to run from 8 to18 volts dc.
To set up PVR for 2MS/s, go into
GBPVR’s Config utility and edit the Thanks to the BATC shop all the ADAPTING THE ULTRAM LOCAL
settings for Custom1 Quality. difficult to source parts are now easily OSCILLATOR
available and the cost is a fraction of
Video Resolution PAL 352/576 : Bit that of commercial encoding systems. The Local Oscillator used in our version
Rate 1500 Constant : Audio Bit Rate uses a low cost commercially made
192 : Audio Sample Rate 48kHz Save Soldering in the tricky IC3 modulator board by Ultram Technologies which
and exit. chip may put some people off and it is uses a digitally controlled oscillator/ pll
envisaged that some pcbs with the chips IC ADF4360 to generate the required
1500 is actually too fast for 2MS/s, but already fitted could be made available if output frequency. The parameters for
GBPVR won’t allow a lower setting. there is enough demand. the oscillator are applied at switch-on
To get around this, you need to find by the 8pin PIC chip12F629.
GBPVR’s install directory and edit The Project is a real team effort and
DIRECT.INI there are a number of very generous In order to keep the costs to a minimum
people who have donated their time, the Ultram Tech. board comes preset
Look for the section [SETUP-Custom1 hardware and software designs to enable to a single frequency chosen by the
Quality]. Change the Bit Rate to 1350. me to assemble all this information for purchaser. It is not fitted in any casing
Save and exit. your benefit. Thanks in particular to and has no output connector fitted.
Brian G4EWJ, Rob M0DTS, Malcolm
Having done this, if you try to edit the G0UHY and Richard G8BYI but also Richard G8BYI has designed an add-
Custom1 Quality settings with GBPVR, to many others who have passed on on board which replaces the 8-pin PIC
Config will crash. A full- function tuning their suggestions and improvements to chip with a larger device PIC16F628
board with LCD will be described in a enable the Project to get to this stage. mounted on a small SMD single-sided
future edition of CQTV If you want to add-on board . The benefit of using this
use the DigiLite as a mobile unit you I repeat that I have only assembled the is to get 5 preset frequencies which can
will need a laptop pc and an external information others have provided and be stepped through with a press-button.
WinTV PVR2 capture unit. squeezed it into one printed circuit By using LEDs as indicators and a
board. I take no credit for anything else single press-button switch the cost is
The BATC Shop now stocks the herein. Please respect the individual minimal.
437MHz Ultram board. rights of the software providers when
you download it and please do not alter
DIGILITE THE FUTURE: it and publish it elsewhere without the
agreement of the authors. Having said
Brian G4EWJ is looking into improving that we encourage you to move the
(narrowing) the transmitted signal project on. If you have some bright
bandwidth by improved digital filtering. ideas on how it can be improved let us
This might be achieved with a small all know via the batc forum. Do tell us
add-on board. how you get on with your digital ATV
build.
Using the transport stream directly from
the Win TV card it might be possible Of course if you have any problems The five common frequencies are
to avoid the need to use a hard drive. building your DigiLite the guys will 1244,1248,1249,1262,1280 built into
As future improvements come along, all be there to help you sort it out. On the software but they can be replaced
In-Circuit Programming of the PIC behalf of all the DigiLite Project Team, by re-programming if other frequencies
chip IC2 will mean that a smaller smd we hope you enjoy experimenting with are required. If you get a local oscillator
version can be used and no socket will Digital ATV. board and wish to use the 5 channel
be required. add-on you will need to remove the 8
Dave Kenward G8AJN pin PIC chip and connect the 3 wires
The local oscillator and controller from the add-on board connector JP1 to
could be mounted on the same board. SIMPLE TUNING ADD-ON the pins as shown.
A fully tunable VCO controller with by Richard G8BYI: pin 1 to oscillator board ground.
LCD display by Richard G8BYI and pin 2 to osc board pin 7 (Data)
will appear as a separate CQ-TV article Here is a very useful add-on for the pin 3 to osc board pin 3 (LE)
shortly. Utram Tech local oscillator used with the pin 4 +5v connection. Not needed.
DigiLite board. The original oscillator pin 5 to osc board pin 6 (Clock)
This is an evolving system but has the is a single frequency device, but by
benefit of being very manageable for replacing the on-board 8pin PIC with The connector can omitted and the
the home constructor and with the help this simple unit you can select one of boards can be wired direct if preferred.

Circuit diagram of
G8BYI switched
add-on board
Remove the PIC chip and connect the will then need to attenuate it back down
three wires from the new PIC board to again at the input to the DigiLite board.
pads 3,6,7.The DC HT (Max 9 volt) Take your output connection from the second? If not, investigate the USB
connects to the tab at top right of the input side of the MMIC (see photo ) and com port on your Windows/ Control
picture. For the DigiLite board the remove any attenuation on the input to Panel/Hardware Devices to ensure
extra gain of the MMIC is not required the DigiLite board. The MMIC can be that the USB is being recognised by
so the output should be taken after the removed if preferred. I would leave it the PC.Check your settings on the DL
coupling capacitor on the input to the in as it can be used to provide a useful Config program and ensure the DL
MMIC. The full output might be useful 23cms signal source for other projects. Transmit program is finding the mpeg
for other projects. It would be best to If you need to increase the atttenuation file on your drive.
run the three wires in via feedthough on the DigiLite board input, try R27=56
capacitors, but keep the wires short as and R28 and R38=270 (about 20dB) THE BOARD: Assuming all the above
possible, I have used ribbon cable about modifying the Ultram VCO board check out ok and the led is good,
3 inches long without problems, so its you may have a problem with your
up to you. HELP! construction. There are lots of quite
MY DIGILITE DOES NOT WORK! close connections on the DL board
Thanks to Richard G8BYI for so a good magnifying bench lamp is
permission to use his circuit and The best approach to fault-finding is to essential. Check across the board for
software. check the separate areas of the DigiLite poorly soldered components. SMD
and follow the signal path in each area. components can be ‘askew’ and that
Download the latest version of the will allow short circuits to nearby parts.
software at THE DATA : Is the WinTv recording Wrong values are another possibility.
http://www.g8ajn.tv/dlother3.html onto your hard drive ok? Find the file
you have recorded and click on it to run VOLTAGES: The board draws about
The preset channels can be changed it as a mpeg2 video file. It should run 140mA at 12v in. Check the 3v,5v and
in software to suit other countries. An on your pc with your installed viewer 8v lines are ok. The pots R29/R30 (I &
alternative selection has now been program eg Windows Media Player. Q Bias) should have about 2.1v on their
programmed by Richard to suit the sliders, R16/R23 (I & Q Level) should
USA channels. There is no need to use THE USB INTERFACE : Is the LED have 4v on sliders. The modulator chip
the extra gain from the MMIC as you on the DigiLite(DL) winking once a IC4 should have 3.5 to 4 v on its out pin
11.The output leg of the MMIC should
have about 4v on it. Using a ‘scope to
see the waveforms from the serialiser
into the modulator section is difficult as
the data appears ‘jumbled &distorted’
but it should be very similar on the I
and Q lines.
One of the most common causes of no

digital output is the level of the local
oscillator in on JP2 being too high . If
you are using the Ultram board take
the drive from before the MMIC and
remove the DL input attenuator resistors
R28 and R38 and fitting a link, 0R smd,
as R27. This should get you a local
oscillator input of the correct level for
the mod chip.

I have been involved in getting a There is sufficient signal from the VCO way. Gently and slowly edge one of the
couple of boards running locally for chip to operate the modulator chip via the ‘level’ pots watching the satellite box
guys without Spectrum Analysers . In balun but may need the three attenuator info display. It takes a moment or two
all cases when the dc levels appear to resistors on the input of DigiLite board for the quality reading to kick in.Once
be correct and wiring/soldering errors removed and R27 (82ohm) replaced it has, move to the other pot and aim
have been eliminated, the fault is TOO with a 0 ohm resistor to couple the local to raise the level of the quality reading
MUCH LOCAL OSCILLATOR signal, oscillator signal to the balun. until the level drops back down again. If
sometimes induced into the board from no Quality reading leave the ‘level’ pots
the poorly screened local oscillator Hook the output of the DigiLite board to at centre travel and adjust the two bias
can and cable. Keep it short, keep it the aerial socket of the satellite receiver pots a small nudge clockwise and repeat
grounded and seal the screening can on (watch the dc line to the lnb!)directly the settings described above of the level
the oscillator as if it was gas rather than or lose coupled twisted wires and aim pots. The dc readings on the level pots
rf signal that was trying to escape! to get at least 60% signal level. Signals are also affected by the dc coming out
bouncing around a room will even of the 74AC574 IC1. Check the 3v line
If you are not using the Ultram VCO cancel out and cause great difficulties in is within tolerance. Check voltages on
board make sure that the phase noise setting up . the output pins of IC1. Always read IC
figure is good enough for digital voltages on the IC pins not on nearby
modulation. If you are using the Ultram, If you wish you might try in-line components. Patience gets results. Visit
take the local oscillator output from the attenuators on the local oscillator the batc forum and we will talk you to
input to the MMIC on the VCO board. feed. Don’t use unscreened homemade success!
attenuator boards for the reasons given
above. Here is my preferred method of Good luck,
initial setup: Set all four pots to mid- Dave G8AJN
All Seeing Eye
Dicky Howett scans a pre-war Billed as a ‘Telecrime’ devised by Eric

magazine. Crozier of Weekly Illustrated, the drama
involved the viewers by dishing clues
Billed as a ‘Radio and Television as the show proceeded. The viewers
number’ the August 27th 1938 edition of then had to guess ‘who dun it’. Of the
‘Weekly Illustrated’ featured glimpses quality of the drama, one has to wonder,
of pre-war BBC television, now 75 years but the photos taken from the screen
of age. So what did those ’5 thousand (and re-printed in a magazine) show a
lookers-in’ get to see? Well, a back remarkable pictorial quality. On a good
stage murder for starters, screened live day these 405 line monochrome images,
from the studios at Alexandra Palace shot with Emitron cameras with reverse
and plenty of scantily-clad young ladies angle and upside down viewfinders,
for seconds. must have been truly remarkable.

Constructional Matters
by Mike Cox method you choose to use. If the board GX9533, which is a 100 pin package
is well tinned, and your components are with 0.635 mm pin spacing, I also had
Our Chairman has asked me to write likewise, additional solder may not be to create the library shape for that one.
a few words about construction of kit, needed. A suitable flux is what is needed [CQ-TV 207, p8 – 11]
particularly relating to the use of surface for the tinning to flow and anchor the
mount components. Let me take you component to its pads. If any one would like a bit of spare pcb
back about 25 years when I was getting with pads for larger devices to practice
Cox Associates going. In my previous If you use solder cream, then the cream on, and perhaps one or two devices for
existence, we had embarked on a series has to be spread thinly onto the pads. fit, get in touch with me via the Editor,
of thin film modules for things like The component then has to be carefully and I will see what I can do. Luckily a
crosspoints, and dc restorers for use placed on the pads. The board is best perusal of the Digilite Project parts list
in switch matrices. As I no longer had kept flat and horizontal for this part. You shows that most of the components are
access to this source of supply, the driver do not have to place all components at not the smallest. There is a pair of 0603
was to build our own. As we had to use a once; it is better to place and solder inductors, and some 0805 capacitors,
different circuit design, prototypes were a few at a time. Also leave ICs until but the rest are 1206 or larger.
built using conventional pcbs laid out to later. For soldering, a small but hot bit
accommodate SM components. Batches is needed, [Some of the Weller Irons One of the problems with solder cream
of these were made and assembled. The with appropriate bits are suitable] and is that the board frequently has a lot of
assembly method was crude – solder a magnifying light is very useful, even very small globules of solder left on it
cream was laid down on the pads, the a binocular microscope. The object is that are difficult to completely remove.
components were placed, and a Black to see what you are doing, and with 0.5 They probably won’t do any harm, but
and Decker paint stripper provided the mm pad spacing, this is critical. they don’t look very pretty. [Fig. 3]
reflow heat. One or two boards fried,
but the majority worked. Our assembly Note that the solder cream or solder
sub-contractor, who was a tenant in our you use should be lead free as most
building, acquired an infrared reflow components these days are lead free.
tunnel, and we were away. After a year Likewise cored solder should be lead
or two, we got a thick film version of free, but if you are not selling the product,
the crosspoint made. this is not essential. Melting point of
lead free solder or cream is about 200
That is all very well when one is making C higher than lead/tin solder, and will
quantities of products using large need a higher temperature soldering
numbers of pcbs. As a home constructor, iron. This will deteriorate quicker than
life is more difficult. Component sizes a lower temperature bit, and should not
are dropping, and whereas 20 years ago, be left on when not being used.
the 1206 resistor was common, now Bernd gives a good tip [among many]
0805, 0603 and even 0402 sizes are It is worth experimenting with some to placing ICs. He suggests laying the
common. It is becoming difficult to find bigger devices such as SOIC 14 or 16 pin IC over its pads, then soldering two pins
stockists of 1206 resistors in all values. ICs, and 1206 sized components before at diagonal corners of the chip. This
attempting fitting a 0.5 mm multi-pin then anchors the chip, and you can then
package. [Fig. 2 shows a typical 0.5 mm go on to carefully soldering the other
package in an HDMI splitter unit] You pins. He also makes some valid points
will have the better of me here because about soldering irons, with advice not
the finest [size] package I have fitted is to use a very light iron, but one of the
the Gennum SDI 8 x 8 routing switcher, meatier Weller irons with a 0.8 mm bit.
[Fig. 4 Weller TCP iron with PTFx bit]
The numbers on Weller irons indicate
the temperature they work at; a –7 bit
I am grateful to Bernd Kaa, DG4RBF, works at 3700 while a –9 bit works at
who wrote an article in VHF Comms 4800, a bit hot.
recently on this topic.
One of the things I did while preparing
If you are presented with a PCB, with for this article was to make a “Poor
all components, you only have to Man’s Ring Light” to use with my
assemble it. This can be done in several Canon Ixus camera, which tends to be
ways, depending on the soldering my workhorse. This has taken nearly

Rapid: Their own @ £34.11 [+VAT]
1900 pictures in the 4 or so years I have order code 86-3366,
had it. The ring light is built on a piece Long reach mag. lamp
of 0.8 mm FR4 cu-clad laminate, with @ £58.24 [+VAT] order code 86-3333.
a hole for the lens. Fig. 5 shows the
construction. Three 3W LEDs which Machine Mart: I got my magnifier from
I found in the CDs [CQTVs passim] here. They have many branches around
were used in series, with a PP3 battery the UK.
for power. At least two of the figures
for this article were taken using it. http://uk.farnell.com
The LEDs were “Super-Glued” to the http://uk.rs-online.com/web
laminate, as was the wiring and switch. http://www.rapidonline.com
“Velcro” pads at the corners anchored B. Illuminated Magnifiers http://www.maplin.co.uk
the panel to the camera.
RS: A range from bench magnifier @ Good luck! I am off to get some flux
I hope I have covered the salient points £29.40 [+VAT], order code 137-452, to from RS.
about placing SM components in this a flexible magnifier @ £44.25 [+VAT],
short piece. There are some golden order code 137-480
rules:
• Take your time.

• Be able to see clearly what you
are doing. Fig. 6 & Fig.7 shows a
magnifier light in action.
• Practice first on a scrap PCB.
As an alternative to a magnifier light,

you could use a cheap video camera,
or a webcam. Maplin’s have such
things. [Fig. 8 shows such a set up, with
camera looking at PCB, and display on
monitor.]
List of suppliers
A. FLUX
Farnell: FL88 flux, 15 ml pen, order
code 876732 @ £6.97 + VAT
RS: RMA Solder Flux 9 g pen,

order code 425-9379 @ £7.00 + VAT
Rapid: SMF12P, 12 ml pen, order

code 87-4426 @ £5.67 + VAT
[Prices correct at time of writing,
December 2011]
They will also stock Weller and other

makes of iron, RS stock solder cream
as well.

A Compact Flash player for 405 Lines
by Karen Orton
Overview
The device described in this project

permits replay of 405 line video and
audio from a compact flash card. The
hardware is minimalist and simple -
three ICs, four if you include the power
regulator.
The simplicity of the design is made

possible by streaming video data
directly from the card and onto a video
DAC without use of intermediate
buffering. This means that video signals
are stored in an uncompressed format
on the compact flash card, which leads
to considerably less play time than an Project components Data preparation
equivalent amount of MPEG material.
The project comprises a small amount To prepare data for the compact flash
For example, an 8GByte compact of hardware. In addition, there is some card you will need a Linux computer
flash card, which might hold an entire Linux software for the preparation of with ‘ffmpeg’ installed on it. ‘ffmpeg’
movie in compressed form, may only the uncompressed data required by the is a powerful freeware media format
store twenty minutes of uncompressed compact flash card. converter and provides the standards
material. The aim however, is to provide conversion required to create the
a good source of signals for the obsolete Hardware uncompressed video data. ‘ffmpeg’
405 line standard, for which no modern accepts a wide range of file formats,
consumer source exists. The hardware for the project consists however, it is assumed that the source
of a board bearing three ICs - a PIC, video material is essentially of 625-
Disclaimer a DAC and an octal latch. There are line origin with a 4:3 aspect ratio. One
also some discrete components. The source might be clips ripped from region
This project is experimental and depends board is powered by a standard 5V two DVDs but I cannot advise that as it
upon characteristics of devices that are regulator. Compact flash attachment is involves copyright infringement.
not specified by their manufacturers. It accomplished by use of an external IDE-
is possible that the design won’t work to-Compact Flash adapter which are There are three items of software needed
with some compact flash cards, or with available very cheaply on the internet. for preparing data for the compact flash
ICs obtained from a different batch or Two connectors are provided for this card:
production run. The features in question purpose: a 40 way box header for IDE
may be changed by the manufacturer cable attachment and a power connector 1. The Linux shell script
without notice, possibly making this to provide power for the compact flash ‘mkcfscript’.
design useless. The PIC employed in adapter. Note that there will almost 2. The Linux shell script
this project, while the fastest of its type, certainly be a ‘master/slave’ link on the ‘findcf’.
is over-clocked. adapter. This must be set to the ‘master’ 3. The ‘C’ program ‘mkcf.c’
position.
This project is supplied as a courtesy The scripts are supplied with ‘.txt’
to other experimenters and no There are three other connections to be extensions so as to make them easier
responsibility is accepted by the author made to the main board: external power to manipulate under the Windows OS
for any loss or damage that might occur (9V); the video output and the audio on which this document was created.
as a result of using the information output. The video output should look These extensions should be removed
supplied in this project. The copyright into a 75 Ohm load to ensure correct once they are in a Linux environment.
for the firmware source code remains video drive levels. The audio output is The scripts will also need to be given
with the author at all times however, approximately 800mV peak-to-peak execute permission. This is easily
it may be freely used for non-profit when driving a 5k Ohm load. A Pretec done by right clicking on each script,
purposes. 233x 8GByte compact flash card was selecting ‘properties’ and then selecting
used during the project’s development. the ‘permissions’ tab. A tick box for

awarding execute permission will be script succeeds, then the file ‘cfbin’ will card, a file of the name ‘sda’, ‘sdb’ or
found on this tab. hold the binary data for the compact ‘sdc’ etc. will be allocated in /dev to
flash card. represent the physical card. Note that
The procedure I use is as follows: there may be no new allocation since
Getting the binary safely onto the card Linux does not always delete /dev/sd...
I ensure that my scripts, the program is a somewhat fraught undertaking. entries when a disk is subsequently
‘mkcf.c’ and my source movie file are It is a matter of identifying the card’s ejected.
all on my desktop. I then open a terminal physical disk file in /dev and copying
window, make myself a super user, and ‘cfbin’ onto this. This is EXTREMELY ‘findcf’ will hopefully find and report
then change directory to my desktop by DANGEROUS as a mistake could over- the path of the appropriate /dev/sd...
typing: write your hard disk or a flash drive entry for the compact flash card. It
containing valuable data. is likely (though I have no certain
sudo su - knowledge of this) that the internal disk
(enter my account password at the I would advise unplugging all removable drives of a Linux PC are allocated to /
prompt) media other than the compact flash card dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc. If this is the case
cd ~karen destined to receive uncompressed video. then entries with the higher alphabetical
cd Desktop I would also urge careful consideration letters are most likely to be your flash
as to how you will get your computer card.
Super user privilege is needed in order back up and running if you do make .
to do any kind of access to the compact a mistake and clobber your main hard On my computer my compact flash
flash card. Be wary when in this state drive! card appears as /dev/sdc. Copying the
because a super user is capable of ‘cfbin’ file onto the flash card can only
immense damage! I make myself Bear in mind too that any data already be done with super user privilege. On
a super user routinely when doing recorded on the compact flash card will my computer, the following command
anything connected with my compact be utterly destroyed in the process of to the terminal window will load the
flash player, even if I am not planning loading it with uncompressed video. uncompressed video data onto the card:
to write to the compact flash card itself. In fact, it will no longer hold a valid
The reason I do this is because certain file system and will be completely cat ./cfbin > /dev/sdc
temporary files may become locked to unreadable by your computer! (But the
me if they were created as a super user latter is reversible) Alternatively, I could avoid creation of
and later accessed as a normal user. the (very big) ‘cfbin’ file by specifying
The Linux shell script ‘findcf’ is the compact flash physical file in place
The ‘C’ program ‘mkcf.c’ will need to supplied to assist in the location of the of ‘cfbin’ in the script invocation:
be compiled. This need only be done compact flash card by doing a search for
once and is accomplished by typing: disk drives of the ‘compact flash reader’ ./mkcfscript ./<filename> /dev/sdc
type. If it succeeds in finding a compact
gcc -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -Wall flash reader (and assuming you have (Remember to substitute ‘/dev/sdc’
-o mkcf mkcf.c only one compact flash reader attached with the output of ‘findcf’ on your
to, or contained within, your computer) computer)
The Linux shell script ‘mkcfscript’ ‘findcf’ will report the path of the card’s
manages the preparation of the data physical level file in /dev. The buttons
for the compact flash card and involves
three phases: When inserting a compact flash card into There are four buttons on the player:
a reader or compatible card slot, Linux
1. The script calls ‘ffmpeg’ to should spot its appearance and may try • STOP - this stops playback
create a file of raw video data called to mount it onto your file system. This and de-selects the compact flash card,
‘video.tmp’ is particularly likely when inserting the thereby making it safe to remove it.
2. The script calls ‘ffmpeg’ to compact flash card for the first time. On • PLAY - plays the audio and
create a file of raw audio data called later insertions Linux will find the card video on the card. If the player is already
‘audio.tmp’ unreadable and won’t try to mount it. playing, then this button causes a pause
3. Finally, the script runs the *
supplied program ‘mkcf’ to combine If Linux does mount the card, then un- • REWIND - when held down,
these temporary files into a file suitable mount it again. It is important to un- plays video in reverse at ten times
for the compact flash card. mount the card because once our binary normal rate *
data has been written to the card there • FAST FORWARD - when held
I run the script by typing: will be no valid file system left on it and down, plays video at ten times normal
Linux may crash while trying to make rate *
./mkcfscript ./<filename> ./cfbin sense of the uncompressed video - if it
were still mounted. * Audio is muted while the player is
Note the ‘.’ at the beginning of each paused, rewinding or fast forwarding.
argument. Do not omit these. If the At the same time that Linux notices the

Theory of operation appearing at the output of the video 1. The card is issued with a reset
latch because the PIC holds the latch’s pulse.
Each 405 line field is stored as 188 clear line active.
sectors, each sector corresponding to 2. The card is issued with a ‘set
one scan line. Fields are on a 256-sector Generation of all read strobes to the features’ command in order to place
spacing and therefore do not straddle compact flash card is accomplished its data interface in single byte transfer
256-sector (128kByte) boundaries. using one of the PIC’s pulse width mode.
Each sector holds: modulators. This is used in one of two
modes: The PIC does not check the capacity of
1. Six bytes of audio information the card (in fact, it doesn’t even check
for play-out during the scan line. 1. With a basic cycle of one for the presence of a card!). When
2. One byte of audio data that is instruction (160nsec) and zero duty playing video from the card, the PIC
sent to a FIFO buffer store for play-out cycle, the PWM output produces does not observe any maximum sector
during the frame blanking interval. continuous low levels that the PIC uses address limit and so will escalate the
3. 501 bytes of video pixel to perform slow reads from the card. sector address indefinitely if playback is
information. not stopped manually by the user. This
4. Four bytes that are set to zero. 2. With a basic cycle of one may yield odd results but is not thought
instruction and a 25% duty cycle, the to be hazardous to the card.
Video is stored as eight bit grey scale PWM output produces fast (6.25MHz)
values without synchronisation. The pulses to time pixel transfers from the All 405 line timing is accomplished using
video DAC can only resolve seven of card to the octal latch. The read strobe very carefully cycle counted program
these bits. Audio is stored as twelve bit waveform is low for 120nsec and high loops and should be very accurate (the
samples and employs a sample rate of for 40nsec. line frequency, for example, is within
40500Hz, which is precisely four times 0.05% of nominal).
the line scan frequency. The video DAC is of the simple
weighted resistor type but yields Acknowledgements
There are three modes of read/write surprisingly good results. The audio
access to the compact flash card: DAC is a twelve bit IC with a simple SPI The author wishes to thank Kat Manton
interface to the PIC. Note that the PIC for suggesting ‘ffmpeg’ and for writing
1. During the frame does not check the status of the compact the origins of ‘mkcfscript’, Jay Oldstuff
synchronisation period, the PIC issues flash card after issuing commands, on for donation of a Sony TV9-90UB and
a ‘read sector(s)’ command to the the basis that if anything goes wrong of course my partner Kevin for building
compact flash card by manipulation of there is nothing the PIC can do about it. a Linux machine, writing ‘findcf’ and
its port lines. This is very slow - perhaps When beginning playback on a card the generally tolerating his PIC widower
500kByte/second. following operations are performed: status.
2. During the active display

lines of the picture (of which there are
188 per field) and in the line blanking
interval, the PIC issues slow data read
cycles (around 1MByte/sec) in order to
extract the audio information that is at
the beginning of each sector.
3. During the active part of each

active display line, the PIC generates
a fast read clock (6.25MHz) for the
purpose of feeding pixel information to
the octal latch. The PIC is not a recipient
of the data at this time - data is simply
moved from the card to the octal latch.
Note that the field blanking interval

provides approximately 1msec between
issue of the read sector(s) command and
the beginning of sector data transfers
so as to allow the compact flash card
time to perform any internal operations
required. Note also that, while the audio
data is being read from the card by the
PIC, the read data is prevented from

The mkcf.c source code and the PIC
source code can be downloaded from
the batc website:
http://www.batc.org.uk/cq-tv/software/
index.html
There is a demo of a working unit on

YouTube:
h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m /
watch?v=yqa_xQFMmsI
It gives you a feel for what it’s about.

The image and sound quality is good -
generally better than the old recordings
I tend to play on this device (1960’s Dr
Who). The TV is a Sony TV9-90UB
which is a dual standard model from
circa 1968. Owners of these will know
that if you push both of the band buttons
in at the same time, the set displays
405 line images but receives on UHF
(hence the Maplin UHF modulator).
I’ve since built a VHF modulator (Early
Television Museum version) and have
been running it ‘properly’.
findcf
#!/bin/bash
CF=`ls /dev/disk/by-id | grep CF_Reader`
if [ “$CF” = “” ]
then
echo “No CF Card”
exit 1
else
CFDEV=`readlink -e “/dev/disk/by-id/$CF”`
echo $CFDEV
exit 0
fi
mkcfscript
#!/bin/bash
ffmpeg -i “$1” -vf “format=gray,scale=501:376” -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt gray -threads 0 -y -f rawvideo ./video.tmp
ffmpeg -i “$1” -vn -f u16le -acodec pcm_s16le -ac 2 -ar 40500 -y ./audio.tmp
./mkcf ./video.tmp ./audio.tmp “$2”
!!! Your Club Needs You !!!

If you do something, anything, related to ATV please drop your
editor an email so it can appear in CQ-TV, if you can write an article
about your latest project even better, you may even get paid !!
[email protected]
Lifting The Lid Off Television
Dicky Howett reports:
On Wedneday 2nd. November 2011,

BBC Television celebrated 75 years
of ‘High Definition’ broadcasts with a
modest gathering at Alexandra Palace.
Cake and wine were on offer as well

as an opportunity to meet various
‘AP’ tv personalities (amongst whom
were Zena Skinner and Michael
Aspel) and also to prise the top off an
original Emitron camera. Attendee Paul
Marshall (exhibiting his functioning
Image Iconoscope camera) discovered
that although the EMI’s Ike-type picture
tube was missing, all the (surprisingly
small amount) of head electronics were
intact.
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A Matching System for two 23cm Antennas
by Peter Cossins VK3BFG inner of 5C-2V, 75 ohm solid dielectric Be wary of cheap alternate N Connectors
coaxial cable. The inner was obtained by as the insulation in some of these is
This technique was derived for matching cutting a piece of the cable and removing some form of plastic and will not stand
two 23 cms co-linear arrays for the the outer cover and shield, leaving the the heat required.
Melbourne Digital Television Repeater, insulation and the inner cable intact.
VK3RTV. The repeater inputs are 1250 The dimensions given in this article are The construction process is as follows:
Mhz, 1255 Mhz and 1278 Mhz and the for solid dielectric versions of the cable.
antenna could be pressed into service on If foam dielectric cable is used then the 1. Cut the centre solder terminal of the
any of those frequencies. The co-linear quarter wave lines will be a bit longer N Connector down to a maximum of 2
arrays are broadband in their nature and to allow for the lower velocity factor. mm in length.
will accommodate the frequency range. Solid dielectric cable is preferred for
this application as it is more robust. 2. Using a mini blow torch, pre solder
This matching system is not unusual the N Connector near where the brass
in its concepts, but its mechanical Any suitable 75 ohm cable can be used, tube is to be fixed.
construction and control of dimensions with the cable and the brass tube length
is accurate and appropriate for 23 cm cut according to the equation above. 3. Tin the ends of two lengths of 41 mm
work. The equation below forms the The main criteria is that the brass tube brass tube. Do not use excessive solder.
basis of the theory. and the coaxial cable inner form a snug
fit. 4. Join the two brass tubes at one end at
an angle of approximately 300 using a
Z0 = √ ZS x ZL The brass tube can be accurately cut metal plate to keep the tubes aligned.
and filed to the required length. Using
Z0 is the characteristic impedance of 75 ohm cable will provide a satisfactory 5. Jig/lightly clamp the two brass tubes
the quarter wave matching line, ZS the result as final testing proved. on the pre-soldered N Connector so
sending end (antenna) impedance and ZL that they are aligned as they will be
the load impedance (line impedance). Referring to the photograph, the in the final assembly. I attached the
components required are a silver plated N Connector to a piece of scrap flat
If ZS is a 50 ohm antenna and ZL is 100 N Connector with Teflon insulation, aluminium plate to simulate the PCB
ohms, then Z0 is 70.7 ohms. brass tube to fit the inner of the 75 ohm ground plane. It is very important to
cable used, double sided PCB, and a keep all lead lengths to a minimum.
Joining two 50 ohm antennas together 60 by 100 mm approx diecast box. It is
with their quarter wave matching lines, advisable to use stainless steel nuts and 6. Use small gas torch to fill in solder
the result is two 100 ohm loads in bolts for durability. The extra cost is around the N Connector and the brass
parallel making 50 ohms, a match to the absolutely minimal. tube.
line impedance. This simple network
is called a ‘Phasing Harness’. (Odd
multiples of one quarter wave can be
used as well.)
This theory is all well known and well

used, but the problem with 23 cms is that
dimensions become somewhat critical.
If you have access to coaxial hardline
at the required impedance then this can
be used with the length adjusted for the
velocity factor of the cable.
The length of cable required can be

calculated by:
Cable length = Velocity Factor x 3x108

4 x Frequency
This matching system uses standard

stock brass tube available from most
Hobby Shops. The diameter I used was
5.5 mm, but it was selected to just fit the

7. Strip back the inner of the cable to be enough to terminate the phasing harness wiring connections. For example, if
used and accurately cut them to length cables and the cables from the antenna. using the additional N Connectors, the
using the brass tubes as a guide. Leave flanges should be pre-soldered and the
a small length of inner at each end. Put 13. Etch or cut out the termination lands Teflon coaxial cable outer soldered
them aside for later use. on the PCB. directly to the flange. A minimal length
of inner then makes the connection
8. Pre-drill the diecast box for the N 14. Assemble the network using solder to the cut down centre pin of the N
Connector and the PCB groundplane. lugs to bind the N Connector to the Connector.
The N Connector should be at one of PCB and solder the end of the brass
the diecast box facing outwards from tubes to the PCB groundplane. (Refer to Practical testing of the arrangement
the bottom. (Refer to photograph) photograph) using a signal generator, directional
coupler and spectrum analyzer with
9. Recess a piece of double sided PCB 15. Insert the RG59 inners and terminate the two brass tube coaxial cable ends
so that it fits snugly around the N on the N Connector and also to the two terminated using two 100 ohm SMD
Connector as in the photograph. PCB lands. resistors in parallel on each resulted in a
Return Loss of 32 dB.
10. Pre-drill the PCB and the die cast 16. The two 23 cms antennas should be
box for the six stainless steel mounting fed with equal lengths of 50 ohm cable, Return Loss is term commonly used
bolts. fed through the bottom holes of the die in Industry to describe a RF match. A
cast box and terminated on the PCB Return Loss of 32dB means that the
11. Pre-drill the diecast box on its lands. reverse or reflected power is 32dB lower
bottom edge for the two coaxial cable than the forward power. 32dB indicates
entries and also two moisture holes. The 17. Alternatively, two additional N an excellent match.
cable entry holes will need to align with Connectors can be assembled to the
the ends of the brass tube. diecast box and connected either As most amateurs are unable to measure
directly to the ends of the brass sections Return Loss, VSWR measurements
12. Using the N Connector and the or by short lengths of 50 ohm Teflon are often used. A Return Loss of 32dB
soldered brass tubes as a guide, mark coaxial cable. represents a VSWR of 1.05:1.
exactly where two lands (insulated
connection points) should be etched 18. Remember to keep leads as short I have built two of these units with
or cut out. These should be just large as practically possible with all 23 cms almost identical results.
Editorial Musings
I had a bit of space to fill, so here are some For the growing interest in DATV this Your club has around 800 members, and
fairly random tidbits of information that software looks interesting: is run by a small number of volunteers
may be of interested to some... who form the batc committee. Although
h t t p : / / w w w. v i v a d a t v. o r g / p a g e . there have been one or two new faces
If you haven’t come across Grant’s php?p=tutioune-en over the years, the committee is very
website yet, it is well worth a visit: simliar to how it was when I first came
Very comprehensive information from across the batc over 25 years ago!
http://www.qsl.net/zl1wtt your DVB-S PCI cards on received
signals and it’s free! I have been trying (in vain) to find
He has several articles of a constructional someone to help with the editors job,
nature as well as information on ATV in Graham sent me a link to a YouTube but it would be good to see some new
New Zealand. video he made of his Vidicon camera: faces on the committee and get some
fresh blood running through the clubs
Another one that always fascinates me h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / u s e r / veins! So if you have a bit of spare time
are the guys that launch balloons into cineprojectorman (and it doesn’t need to be much) why not
the stratosphere - for fun! Take a look at put yourself forward for a post on the
WB8ELK’s website: Watch right to the end to see the history committee, there are lots of things that
and a link to CQ-TV 33. need doing and the current committee
http://hiwaay.net/~bbrown/ would be glad of the help.
Another good source of ATV info is our
Fascinating stuff, the constructional very our website: Drop me a note if you are interested or
data on the telemetry system is worth a http://www.batc.org.uk/ have any questions as to what might be
read, even if you’re not interested in the It is continually evolving and has the involved and see if it is something you
balloons themselves. most up to date info on your club. can do to help your club.

DATV in Peru
by Trevor Brown, G8CJS The problem that held back Josue in the I think the pictures and captions tell it
original design was that it required a all, right down to the oscillator module
One of the best things about running the JTAG programmer. Josue describes this he extracted from a Japanese Cell
new on-line shop has been the increase on his website as something complicated phone.
in the BATC membership, delivering that is an essential component in the
that nice warm feeling that we are doing serialization of the digital signal from Links:
something right and the people you the parallel port of the PC.
come into contact with, who all have Josue OA5AZ
their ATV stories to tell, particularly in In 2006 thanks to the redesign of http://www.televisiondigitalamateur.
some far away parts of the world. the original project made by French blogspot.com
amateurs F1FAU - F9ZG - F1GFF (see
Josue Zavala, OA5AZ, lives in Peru and links), The new design used a more Jean-François Fourcadier F4DAY
he is now a new member of batc. Josue available microcontroller-PIC16F628 http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv
was drawn to us by the DigiLite project and thanks to the excellent tutorial that .aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F
but Josue is no stranger to DATV. He too has been published on the website of %2Fjf.fourcadier.pagesperso-orange.fr
read about Jean-François Fourcadier, Netonoff (see links) and the F1DUJ %2Ftelevision%2Fexciter%2Fexciter_
F4DAY and “ The Poor man’s digital (see links) He was able to implement e.htm
ATV transmitter” back in 2005. this redesign.
F1FAU - F9ZG - F1GFF
http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv
.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F
%2Ff1gff.free.fr%2F
Netonoff
http://www.microsofttranslator.com/b
v.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2
In Josue’s prototype, in the absence of F%2Fwww.netonoff.com%2Findex2-
the BFR96S, he replaces it by a BFG135 tutos-245.html
without changing the PCB The Up-Converter, the output of the
Local Oscillator is 900. 330 MHz, so F1DUJ
in the QPSK modulator 66.667 MHz h t t p : / / w w w. m i c r o s o f t t r a n s l a t o r.
is added to make 966.997 MHz ~ c o m / b v. a s p x ? f r o m = & t o = e n & a
967.0MHz. This frequency is only for =http%3A%2F%2Ff1duj.free.
the first test before migrating it to the fr%2Fdatv%2Fcreation_mire_
23 cm band. datv%2Fcreer_mire_datv.html
Complete Local Oscillator Module in

900 MHz marked as UREA4-306A,
extracted from an old cell phone.
Josue’s digital test card with the banner The two prototype boards completed.
of the TT Micro S271 receiver

Letters to the Editor
Members of the GB3KM repeater

group held their first Christmas meal at
Heighington, County Durham.
Left to Right:
Terry G1LPS (Keeper of GB3KM)

Clive G4FVP
Eddie G0EHV
Brian G3KJX
Wes G8KZN
Tony G8FLV
GB3KM is located in Kirk Merrington,

County Durham. IO94EQ. More
information can be viewed on their
website:
http://www.m0dts.co.uk/gb3km
Hi, There are no details on his website but in the magazine.

you could get more info from his ebay I also hope to have more articles for
I had a lot of trouble recently sourcing germany add: the magazine. In Dublin Ireland we
ready modified LNBs for ATV. With are currently installing a new 13CM
surface mount and suppliers constantly http://www.ebay.de/itm/ATV-LNB- analogue TV repeater, linked by radio
changing products it can be difficult digital-analog-DX-TV-Ham-LNC- to the old Cavan TV repeater. We also
to modify yourself let alone calibrate /330670307392?pt=DE_TV_Video_ have a 10GHz licence but it’s not ready
correctly and maximize senstivity. Elektronik_Funkger%C3%A4te&hash to go live yet.
=item4cfd7c7840
Anyway I found a supplier in Germany I have spent the last year working on
that has lots of them at reasonable His email address is: [email protected] the repeater, and sourcing good/cheap
prices. They/he only has 40mm round His homepage is here: receiver and transmit gear. It’s all
collar types, not rectangular waveguide http://www.dl2kbh.de/ analogue for now.
types.
It’s best to contact him directly. The Some info is here:
The local oscillator is 9.0Ghz meaning LNBs were advertised for 22 Euro plus http://www.iatc.ie
the 10.0 to 10.5 band will appear on an postage.
analogue/digital satellite receiver at 1.0 Regards,
to 1.5Ghz I thought you might like to mention this Dan EI9FHB
Dublin Ireland
A reminder that GB3PV activity night is Thursdays at 19-00 clock.
If you can’t receive ‘PV watch at batc.tv - 73 Ian G3KKD.
Make a note of the new batc number:

01400 41 42 43
You can also send us a text message on the number
see Contact Details on page 4 for details

Contest News
Summerfun Contest
First of all my apologies for the delay in publishing the results of the
Summerfun contest.
70cm
Pos Call Locator QSOs Points Best DX QTH QRB
1 G6MNJ IO91SR 5 311 G8LES IO91LC 80
2 M0DTS/P IO94LK 3 300 G0EHV/P IO94ET 56
3 G0EHV/P IO94ET 3 164 M0DTS/P IO94LK 56
4 G1LPS IO94EQ 3 144 M0DTS/P IO94LK 47
Thanks to G3MCD for
23cm the pictures taken through
Pos Call Locator QSOs Points Best DX QTH QRB GB3NQ the photo below is
1 G1LPS IO94EQ 6 658 M0DTS/P IO94LI 53 of G4OCO
2 M0DTS/P IO94LK 3 600 G0EHV/P IO94ET 56
3 M0DTS/P IO94LI 2 538 G7AVU IO93OJ 108
4 G0EHV/P IO94ET 3 376 M0DTS/P IO94LK 56
5 G6MNJ IO91SR 2 368 G8LES IO91LC 80
13 cm
Pos Call Locator QSOs Points Best DX QTH QRB
1 G1LPS IO94EQ 3 855 M0DTS/P IO94LK 47
2 M0DTS/P IO94LK 1 470 G1LPS IO94EQ 47
3 G0BWC/P IO83RO 1 310 MW1FGQ IO83IG 62
3 cm
Pos Call Locator QSOs Points Best DX QTH QRB Contact
1 M0DTS/P IO94LI 1 540 G7AVU IO93OJ 108
2= M0DTS/P IO94LK 1 235 G1LPS IO94EQ 47 I can be contacted through
2= G1LPS IO94EQ 1 235 M0DTS/P IO94LK 47 e-mail ([email protected]),
or through my BFPO address:
And the combined scores: Wg Cdr D G Crump, Defence
Section, British Embassy Abu
Pos Call Locator 70 cm 23 cm 13 cm 3 cm Total Dhabi, BFPO 5413, London.
1 G1LPS IO94EQ 144 658 855 235 1892
2 M0DTS/P IO94LK 300 600 470 235 1605 Contest Calendar
3 M0DTS/P IO94LI 538 540 1078
4 G6MNJ IO91SR 311 368 679 1200 UTC 24 March 2012 -
5 G0EHV/P IO94ET 164 376 540 1200 UTC 25 March 2012 -
6 G0BWC/P IO83RO 310 310 BATC Repeater Contest
1200 UTC 9 June 2012 - 1200

Congratulations to Terry G1LPS Thanks to all who braved the wet weather
UTC 10 June 2012 - BATC
(helped by his son) on winning. Terry to operate with portable equipment.
Summer Fun Contest
even had 6cm available, but no-one to
work. Thanks again to Rob M0DTS It was good to see activity on 70cm -
1800 UTC 8 September 2012
for activating 2 locations during the both analogue and digital - although
-1200 UTC 9 September 2012
contest. In addition to the stations on this occasion I was unable to allow
- International ATV Contest
who submitted entries, the following double points for separate contacts
stations were also active: G7AVU, on each mode. However, I would be
1200 UTC 8 December 2012
G8LES, G8GTZ, G8ADM, G8ASI, prepared to change the rules to treat
- 1200 UTC 9 December 2012
G8ACT, G4FVP/P, G3KJX, G4ZCN, analogue and digital contacts as separate
- BATC Repeater Contest
GW6NOI/P. G0BWC/P was operated and eligible for 2 sets of points; what do
by Ross G6GVI, Derek G1AEQ and you think?
John G3PHA.

December Repeater Contest Congratulations to Keith G3MCD and
thanks to all those who participated. It
The December Repeater Contest saw all the activity on GB3NQ: would be good to see a few more groups
BATC Repeater Contest 10/11 December 2011 active in March!
Section 1 - Transmitting
Place Call Points Locator QSO Repeaters
1 G3MCD 388 IO73OL 6 GB3NQ
2 G4OCO 324 IO70MK 4 GB3NQ
3 G0KTD 218 IO70OI 4 GB3NQ
Section 2 – Receive only

Place Call Points Locator QSO Repeaters
1 G0VDU 98 IO70OJ 5 GB3NQ
TV Amateur 163
SSTV visualization on the iPad Searching the web for solutions I found
a hint on the Samsung TV “hotel mode”
With help of the app “SSTV” by Black which is activated by pressing the
Cat Systems the owner of an iPad, buttons MUTE - 1 - 1 - 9 - ENTER on
iPhone or iPod Touch is able to “decode” the remote control. Then you can de-
the Slow-Scan-TV audio signals from select the touch-button control panel at
an rf or vhf receiver and visualize it the TV set. Now the interference had
live on the display - even by acoustic gone totally - but some handy features
coupling of receiver loudspeaker and like looking up the program schedule
gadget microphone... too.
The analogue SSTV mode is So I took a screwdriver and opened the

signalized by its VIS code heading the TV set (guarantee had expired already).
picture transmission and is utilized From the main board a multicore cable
automatically by the app. Common ran to the infrared signal receiver,
modes are Robot, Scottie and Martin. another one from there to the touch-
During bad conditions and interference button control panel. Luckily the cable
the mode can be selected by hand contacts on the main board are indicated
(experienced SSTV ops are able to by signal names like “KEY1” and
recognize it by ear, also the correct “KEY2”.
tuning with SSB signals). Slanted SSTV
picture reception can be corrected I removed these two leads from the
manually, and each frame is saved plug, and a short test proved it useful:
automatically if wanted. For distribution no more rf interference! I can live
of pictures to friends by e-mail or other without the control funtions at the TV
channels all features of the mobile Apple set, but actually we should complain
product line are available. The “SSTV” about missing EM resistance.
app can be downloaded at iTunes for RF interference to Samsung-LCD-
2.99 USD. TVs (Christian, DL1ELU) According to web sources Samsung is
not open for that topic, so be warned
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ipad/ My LCD TV Samsung LE37B579 during your next TV shopping tour.
iPad_SSTV_Pad.html reacted irritated (change of TV programs (forum.db3om.de)
or loudspeaker level, switching off or on
Online video demo: etc.) caused by shortwave transmissions
h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / nearby, even with low power. After some Translations by Klaus, DL4KCK
watch?v=TamacFOJ1cs unsuccessful tests with ferrite cores on AGAF e.V.
mains cable etc. I suspected the remote
control device, as the disturbing effects
vanished after extracting the batteries -
but not for long...

How I got into ATV
by G0KTD So now I had another thought about This is how I got my Wintv to Install
DATV how could ask the others to and work:
2010 I was asked if I would like to have a invest in my venture. So I started to
DATV system for 70 cms and I accepted build up an ATV system so I could join I first started trying to install the drivers
the offer and it duly arrived in the back in with them but I was off to Canada for from the CD the driver updates from
of G6MNJ’s car. It was brought into the three months Baby sitting for my son in Hauppauge then the wintv Prog, with
shack with dismay from the XYL. After Vancouver. some success but it kept locking up so
mounting in a rack system Paul and I I went to the Hauppauge site and tried
connected it all up, then came the steep So the Comtech boards was ordered downloading the drivers there: Result!
learning curve in how to set it up, as ready for my return and this was put
Paul G6MNJand Mike G8ASI had set together in 2011 and I was now on The next step was to try other drivers
the system up in Hemel Hempstead, the ATV 23 cms as well as DATV on 70 from other pvr’s and found I PVR 250
system was donated by John GW3JGA cms, then Peter G3PYB came down in with WINTV6 so downloaded it and it
- my thanks to John. the Dartmoor area to conduct tests but worked ok. In all this playing around
no luck with me and others to receive installing and uninstalling I found you
Now I was on my own as no one in him other than G4ALY and Ralph, who must do the hcwclear many times to
Cornwall had DATV up and running received my transmission which is about get it to install on my Toshiba Satellite
so after a few weeks I learnt to set 35/40 miles from me, so some success. A100-285 1.8Ghz 1.5MB memory. It
the system up as it had no back up or Thanks to Peter G3PYB for trying. works ok at the moment, setup as per
store working so it always went back to the Digilite Web Site. During all this I
default settings. Next the Digilite came out so thought kept the CDROM in the laptop because
I would build up one for myself and it needs to see a valid CD.
Then had to get the local Radio ordered the boards and built one up with
Amateurs to try and receive my pictures the Plate Antennas which was in the Batc I then installed it on an Old HP Pavilion
that I was transmitting, I then read magazine. Help and encouragement from DV5000 laptop 1.7 GHz with 1MB
M0DTS modification to the SUP2400 Dave G8AJN and Colin G4KLB and of memory and all was ok. Then I installed
up converter and ordered 4 from an course the GB3SQ Net on a Sunday & all the other software, had a little
eBay supplier in the USA, these were Wednesday evening. The longest part problem with FT2232H port set up but
modified by me and I bought two freesat for me was getting the software running after uninstalling from control panel and
boxes so I could loan one out so others on the Computers, the desktop was not reconnect found it was ok, mine was 4
could receive 70 cms DATV. bad but the laptop with the Hauppauge & 5 and it came together slowly.
USB2 box was fun but long winded, as
Before this I when along to the local I am not that good on the computer side, In Wintv Menu Channel Manager
ATV meeting, this is not a club as such, although I can install operating systems Scan Tab
it is a group of Amateurs who are all and repair faulty laptops. I managed the Country: United Kingdom
interested in radio and it also happened install after many attempts. Broadcast/Cable: PAL_BGHIDK
that they cover the repeater and beacon’s Sources tab select: Composite Source
on the same site as GB3NQ. I must say I have enjoyed my building Video Format select: PAL_BGHIDK
so much I am now going to build the Channel Name: DATV 23 Cms.
So I asked if any one was interested 70 cms version for portable work as the
in DATV, they asked how to get on terrain in Cornwall does not lend itself This is what I have named mine in
and receive DATV transmission and I to RF; all the Granite soaks up the RF. the description I called it Video. Save
explained what I had learnt in a short it.if you have installed the driver and
time. Eight asked if I could get them So the only thing for now is to go Program Wintv. Mine is Composite(PVR
one of the SUP2400 up converter so I portable, and I have built up flat 250) but I am using Wintv PVR2 USB2
did and modified them and handed them antennas from the design article by with PVR 250 WinTV 6.
out. As some of them had freesat boxes G3WKF in the BATC publication and it
and 70 cms antennas so could or should works better than 36 element beam. In the next box
be able to receive transmission, but the Name: DATV 23 cms
nature of the terrain in Cornwall makes I am now in the process in making Preset: 1
it very difficult to make contacts. and boxing up the Digilite with it’s
Mitsubishi amplifier kit from Mini- Devices Tab box should have + PVR
Only one could receive me even though Kits Australia and the object is to 250 (click on it and in the Model serial
I had plenty of power to hand, this was keep it small for portable and also to Number & Device Details) all the
M3XTG Terry who was about a mile up use at home in the winter as more will number and info will be displayed.
the road. hopefully join in .

Channel Tab. Click on All Channels and My board complete
opposite should be:
Box with a tick,

Preset: Ticked
Name: DATV 23 cms
Description: Video
Channel: TV
Close it down.
Spanner Icon Wintv Settings Board mounted on a board for testing

On Screen Display tick 3 Seconds and the G4DDK Pre amp in line SPF
Movies Tab DVCR Record File Path 5043z amplifier
C:\MyVideos\ Almost 2 Watts
Pause Mode Record Path With the G4KLB 2 Watt PA below.
C:\MyVideos\
Pause Buffer Size
1000 MB
Quality Level
MPEG2 2.0MBit/sec
Ten click Advance
Configurations select
MPEG2 2.0MBit/sec
Video Tab Output stream select Program

Rate Details (I have selected Variable
and Video Resolution 720x576 Hauppauge Installation and Utilities could get you on your way in getting
CD Version 2.2 which enables me to yours setup.
This is what I had to do to get my download Wintv 6 for PVR 250.
programs to work, I am using a Wintv Good Luck.
PVR2 USB Mpeg-2. I also have the This might not work for others but it Andrew Keith Bonney G0KTD

The care and feeding of MOSFET RF power
amplifier modules – Part 3
by J.D.Ingham, ZL2TAR Figure 1 gives more details of the minimum power) be used to achieve the
ideal spectrum shape of DVB-S and desired communications purpose.
The story so far.... DVB-S2 transmissions, including the
standardised 0.35 spectrum roll-off The Regulations also define the
In CQ-TV 233 there was a discussion factor. The Horizontal (frequency) and maximum level of unwanted out-of-band
on the factors which are usually Vertical (amplitude) axes have linear emissions, to minimise interference to
considered when selecting the DVB-S scales. services on adjacent frequencies.
(and DVB-T) transmission parameters
for Digital ATV home/mobile (and The -3 dB bandwidth is equal to the National Regulations, such as in New
repeater) stations. Symbol Rate (SR); the “spectrum Zealand, often specify stricter limits
extinction” (typically -40 dB, or better) than the ITU-R.
In CQ-TV 234 the features of Mitsubishi bandwidth is 1.35 times the SR, and the
MOSFET RF power amplifier modules width of the flat portion, in the middle As previously discussed, the power
were described, together with their of the spectrum, is 0.65 times the SR. amplifier adds distortion while
significant differences from the earlier amplifying the output from the exciter.
generation of Bipolar modules. Tips The specified receiver roll-off factor
were given on how to obtain the best is identical to that of the transmitter, Obviously, for minimum transmitter
linearity for use with the DVB-S and so that the combined response of out-of-band radiation, the in-band
DVB-T Digital ATV transmission transmitter and receiver is -6 dB at the spectrum of the exciter should be as
modes. 1.00 Symbol Rate points, maximising close as possible to the theoretical,
reception quality. shown in Figure 1, while the level of the
In CQ-TV 235 test results were given exciter’s out-of-band spectrum should
for four different MOSFET, and Failure to use the specified roll-off be as small as possible.
three different Bipolar, RF amplifier factor in either the transmitter or
modules... Now read on. receiver causes the received Bit Error A good rule-of-thumb is that the out-of-
Rate (BER) to be higher than it should band spectrum of the exciter should be
DVB-S TRANSMISSION AND be, thereby limiting the DX capability at least 10 dB better than the intended
RECEPTION QUALITY of the equipment. out-of-band spectrum of the power
amplifier.
The factors determining the theoretical SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY
bandwidth of a DVB-S transmission Photograph 1 shows the output spectrum
were described in CQ-TV 233. The ITU-R Radio Regulations require of the SR-Systems DVB-S MiniMod
that the minimum bandwidth (and Exciter when programmed with the
following parameters, as described in
CQ-TV 233:
Figure 1
BitRate 4078 kbits/s
FEC ¾
Symbol Rate 2950 kSym/s
Wanted b/w 3982 kHz
The Spectrum Analyser settings are:
Horizontal axis 2 MHz/division

Vertical axis 10 dB/division
This spectrum shape is often referred

to as “head and shoulders”. The
head corresponds to the wanted part
of the spectrum; the shoulders are
the unwanted, out-of-band, part of
the spectrum, caused by equipment
imperfections.

Photograph 1 Photograph 2 the shoulders.
In practice, -10 to -15 dB of reduction

can be achieved and/or the wanted
output can be increased by a few dB.
A TYPICAL POWER AMPLIFIER
Photograph 3 show a complete 70 cm

band MOSFET RF power amplifier.
The shoulders are -58 dB below the by inserting a Linearity Pre-Corrector The heat sink base is 150 mm by 90
top of the head, rising to -48 dB at the between the exciter output and the mm. The cooling fins are 47 mm high.
“neck”. This is an excellent result. power amplifier input. Reference 1. When rotated by 90 degrees about the
long axis, to maximise the convection
Photograph 2 shows the output spectrum A pre-corrector, included in the cooling, the cooling efficiency is 0.8°C
of a typical transmitter, consisting of a majority of professional transmitters, per Watt. In other words, when the
SR-Systems Exciter and a Mitsubishi RF deliberately creates non-linearity which amplifier module is dissipating 30 Watts
power module, adjusted in accordance is 180 degrees out of phase with the of waste heat, the heatsink temperature
with the advice given in CQ-TV 234 non-linearity of the power amplifier, will be about 24°C above that of the
and CQ-TV 235. This is a good result. hence reducing the overall non-linearity ambient air.
of the transmitter and the amplitude of
Note that the shoulders have a concave
shape, being a maximum of -38 dB at
the shoulder pads, falling to -41 dB at
mid shoulder, and rising to -38 dB at
the neck. These shoulders are referred
to as “third order”. This is because the
shoulders tend to increase by 3 dB as
the wanted output power is increased by
1 dB. Photograph 4
Photograph 2 also shows the appearance
of another set of shoulders, at lower and
higher frequencies that the third-order
shoulders, at about -48 dB. Similarly,
these shoulders are referred to as “fifth
order”: this second set of shoulders
tend to increase by 5 dB as the wanted
output power is increased by 1 dB. The
out-of-band radiation, caused by power
amplifier non-linearity, can be reduced
Photograph 4 shows the view inside of

the shielded enclosure, together with the
RA30H4047M RF amplifier module.
The TO220 device, on the rear wall of
the shielded enclosure, is the 7805 5
Volt bias regulator.
REFERENCES
1 Television transmitter linearity

pre-corrector. J.D. Ingham.
Q-Bit, September 1995,
Pages 11 to 17.
2 CQ-TV 233, Pages 16 to 18.

Photograph 3
3 CQ-TV 234, Pages 13 and 14.
4 CQ-TV 235, Pages 24 and 25

DATV and 70cm
by Peter Blakeborough G3PYB bandwidth of 2MHz. With the user then What transmission frequency should
deciding how much of the bit rate to be we use?
A recommendation for frequencies used for error correction.
to use, plus hints and tips for DATV As mentioned above, we share the
operation in the 70cm band. For long haul contact with obstructed 70cms band with many amateur and
path the theory says a maximum other users. In addition there are local
70cm is a crowed band with a whole range Forward Error Correction (FEC) of ½ powerful transmissions in near by bands
of different services; we are secondary should be used. This takes a significant such as Tetra.
users and, additionally, there are some proportion of the bit rate from the video
geographical transmission limitations and audio services. Experience with There is no optimum frequency for all
in the UK. The old days of reduced local transmission into the Isle of Wight the users of the 70cm band, but after
bandwidth but fast scan analogue repeater GB3IV has shown we can use discussion with members of the RSGB
AM transmissions have disappeared, a reduced FEC of ¾ or even 7/8. The Spectrum Forum we have concluded
following the almost universal move to GB3IV repeater receiver has its FEC set that the centre of energy should be
23cm and FM modulation. to Auto enabling the user to use the best 437MHz with energy constrained as
FEC to suit the path. close to 2MHz as possible or less,
Moving to the digital environment, with minimum ERP for the task. The
the bit rate reduction through audio In the near future, MPEG 4 coding will allocation for amateur satellite is from
and video compression techniques, become more readily available as new 435 to 438MHz with the most active
plus the coding gain of 2 from QPSK satellite receivers are deployed with segments being between 435 and
2MS/s modulation allows a much tuners that lock to the transmission rate 436MHz and above 437.5MHz
reduced transmission bandwidth whilst down to 1MS/s. The rate of change
retaining good image quality. Horizontal over to DATV has been quite rapid It is unlikely that any repeater outputs
polarization will remain the norm. due the availability of low cost satellite will be cleared on 70cms - Even
receivers. We might soon expect to see applications for voice repeaters are
The current common practice is to use MPEG4 /H264 S2 receivers in regular presently embargoed. However in north
MPEG 2 coding and QPSK such that use. London DATV is regularly seen on
the transmission energy is close to a 437MHz into the GB3IV repeater on
The take up of the DigiLite transmitter the Isle of Wight some 70 Miles away
project has spurred a number of ATV over a heavily obstructed path.
groups to consider DATV only repeater
operation on 23cm. The same devices Simplex operation between stations will
can produce 2MS/s transmission on be the norm, and it useful to consider
70cm and we might expect to see what techniques will contribute to a
MPEG4/H264 coding allowing down to successful contact.
1MS/s in say 1.2MHz in the future.

group had such a situation at GB3IV.
The 433.225MHz Vertical polarized
transmission was 10 feet away from
the planned 8 element horizontal yagi
for DATV. Some separation was gained
by using the horizontal yagi, but a dual
notch filter made from ex Tetra band-
pass filter provided sufficient filtering
to place the 433.225MHz TX into the
noise on the DATV converter.
Operating techniques.
Finding a weak remote DATV remote

station in the presence of a number of
the low level unwanted signal is quite
a problem. Most of the DATV receivers
Receiver technical points. from a high site near our big cities, have an AFC pull in range of anything
fortunately they are mostly vertically up to 5MHz. The tuning pages on the
When a QPSK receiver is set-up to polarized. receiver allow a manual mode to input
demodulate a symbol rate of 2MS/s the frequency, the Symbol rate, FEC,
it will continue to have other nearby Receiver overload. FTA (Free to air) etc and then require
transmissions appearing in the pass a scan to allow the demodulator and
band. IF filtering maybe be anything Further complications can arise from decode process to function.
up to 8MHz wide. However the PLL out of band or close by unwanted signal
demodulator characteristics will offer reducing the receiver sensitivity. The Unless you have a strong signal the
some selectivity to the wanted DATV best advice is to ask a local station chances of a full lock might be dependent
signal. Large local signals such as with a spectrum analyser to see what on the peak of QSB. To get round this,
the FM voice repeater in the 433 to signals are appearing on your antenna. lock on to a known local DATV station
433.5MHz segment may be present. Then plan for some filters to notch out on 437MHz or ask a nearby station if
Users on the input of the repeater may the largest unwanted signal. Remember you can visit to ensure you have the
also be present 1.6MHz higher but even spectrum analysers have a limit to 437MHz parameters stored in you
they will present as an intermittent the signal levels they can accept before memory. The signal level and quality
transmission. Low power telemetry and overloading. or Bit Error Rate bar indicators on
telecommanding, particularly temporary most receivers can greatly assist tuning
crane collision warning devices around Adding a DATV receiver to your problems.
433.9 MHz can be troublesome. 10 or existing repeater.
25mW at 150 feet in the air can cover a Small transmission frequency errors
large area. Bearing in mind the above comment do not cause problems, as the receiver
this would seem to be difficult or near AFC will normally track the incoming
A whole range of telemetry signals can impossible task, if the same site has signals. Interfering signals will often
be seen in the band 432 to 438 MHz a UHF voice repeater. The SCART show as momentary loss of lock on the
quality indicators. Good linearity in the
whole transmitter chain is essential. A
good indicator is to use a single carrier
adjusted to place the maximum power
near to the 1db compression point (just
below compression onset), then switch
to QPSK, which depending on the
display, should be 8 to 10dB below the
single carrier level.
Recommendations
• 437MHz as centre of TX energy.

• 2MS/s for MPEG systems
• FEC to suit path, auto FEC on the
receiver.
• Horizontal polarisation
• Ensure good linearity

Review of LG DM2350D 3D TV Monitor
As part of my 3D project, I was “Antenna”. [Fig.3] How,

interested to see that both LG and you ask does it work with
Toshiba had launched displays using 3D sources?
circular polarising technology, and
passive glasses. This frees viewers from So far, I have tried it with
the embarrassingly expensive active the W3 still camera, and
shutter glasses. a 3D Blu-Ray player.
Crisp pictures from the
I was even more interested to see that LG W3, and as there is a
had brought out a small [23.5”] display movie mode on it, 3D
at a reasonable price. I took myself moving pictures as well.
down to Richer Sounds near me to look
at one. I also took my Fujifilm W3 3D The only 3D Blu-Ray
still camera and an HDMI lead to try it disc to hand “Ocean Wonderland A minor drawback is the lack of a PAL
out. I was impressed and so bought one, 3D” was most impressive. Small fish standard definition input. Or you could
and thought that a few words about it appeared to swim in your eyeball in use a SCART adapter. However, I
might be in order. I have now installed front of a handsome turtle. already had a PAL to HDMI upscaler so
it in my edit room, replacing a 24” Benq that is not a serious problem.
monitor. Any problems?
This is a very useful display for anyone
who needs a variety of input formats,
and allows useful work to be done with
it. It is also equipped for the future with
its 3D capability. Oh, and you get 2 pair
of circular polarised glasses with it.
These are identical in performance to
the RealD glasses I already had. Dabs.
com are offering a monitor only version
of this, or at least I think it is the same
display, for £189.
[Type D2342P]. The odd thing is that

they are offering an Nvidia kit to go
It has a number of advantages: - with it [extra £102.99] including an
You need to watch it head on. If you
IR emitter and active glasses. Shurely
view slightly from above, there are
1. It is a Freeview TV [DVB-T] shome mistake!
some crosstalk effects. Luckily the
stand has angle adjustment to get the
2. It is a genuine 1920 x 1080 pixel Mike Cox
position right.
display, unlike the Benq, which was
1920 x 1200 pixels. [see Fig.1]
3. It has 2 x HDMI ports, a VGA port,

a YPbPr set of RCA connectors, a USB
port and a SCART port. It also has some
audio inputs.[Fig.2]
4. it is very light, much easier to carry

about than the Benq
.
5. Because it is LED backlit, its power
consumption is low – 45 W in ECO
mode.
In use it makes an excellent computer

monitor, and if you want to catch
upon your favourite soap, switch to

Turning back the pages
A dip into the archives of CQ-TV, looking at the issue of 48 years ago. Mike Cox’s contributions appeared next
- an explanation of the SECAM system,
CQ-TV 50 presumably, at BATC members working which at the time was “under active
professionally in televison, as they investigation along with the NTSC
“The half century. Fifty issues of CQ- would not have been readily obtainable and PAL systems by the European
TV. What a fine achievement this is.” by the ‘average amateur’. Broadcasting Union who are to
So began President’s letter in CQTV recommend a colour system to the CCIR
50, which appeared early in 1963. The The technical articles were wide- for use in Europe”. Mike explained how
first edition, with a circulation of 12, ranging. The first by Mike Barlow, who the colour difference signals were sent
appeared in November 1949, but had began “I may be unusually dense, or it sequentially, line by line. The block
risen to a print run of 1000 copies. may be that I have not read CQTV with diagrams showed the coder and decoder,
In that time, BATC members had my usual care, but I seem to have missed whilst the photograph of the decoder
achieved the first two way tv contact some important points to do with slow board has a rather large aluminium can
in the world, in May 1952, the first scan tv. As this is such an interesting clearly visible - which was the 64mS
amateur colour pictures, in December field, being concerned with video tape glass delay line. The chroma signals
1953, the BBC Panorama transmission recording and bandwidth conservation, were applied either direct or through this
using an amateur camera in 1957, slow I think the bare bones of the notes delay line to a switching circuit, using
scan pictures sent from New York to by Messrs Plowman and Macdonald 8 diodes, to feed a continuous colour
Yeovil in 1961, and “splendid colour should be expanded. Basically the difference signal to each discriminator
demonstrations at the Radio Hobbies problem is to find a way of compressing in the decoder (the vertical resolution
Exhibition” - also in 1961. the bandwidths of a normal video signal of the colour signal being half that of
so that it may be passed through audio the luminance one). The aim was to
This particular issue carried full page channels, either in tape recorder or radio produce a system that was compatible
adverts for “Careers in the Engineering link equipment. Video bandwidth can be with existing monochrome receivers -
Division” (BBC) and “Opportunities in compressed in three general ways, by: something more easily achieved than a
Colour Television” (GEC Electronics) - common standard for Europe. A further
BATC membership was seen as a good 1. eliminating information redundancy article from Mike described his flying
‘training ground’ for those wishing 2. sacrificing picture quality spot slide scanner, which was based
to join the industry - whilst the back 3. exchanging bandwidth for time around a projector ‘used backwards’,
cover advertised “Painton faders at with the 931A photomultiplier placed
BBC Television Centre” - aimed, He then expanded on each method, and where the lamp would have been in
showed how the slow scan standards normal use.
had been derived. (Of course, those
same factors apply to the compression News of members’ activities included
of fast scan digital television signals, Dave Mann, G3OUO/T, who had been
although the methods used are of course active in the London area on 70cm. In
different). South London, the Television Society
had a transmitter at Norwood Technical
College, which made regular weekly
transmissions. News from Ian Waters,
G3KKD/T, showed that there was
plenty of activity on 70cm in the East
Anglia area.
Grant Dixon had exhibited his camera

at the Science Masters Association in
Manchester - and a dozen or so school
physics teachers had joined BATC as
a result. Also in Manchester, Gordon
Sharpley, G3LEE was getting pictures
from his colour slide scanner, which
used 3 photomultiplier cells. Other
members were active in Australia,
Bermuda, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Illinois,
Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand
and Pittsburg - BATC certainly served
‘the world’ of amateur television.

SECAM
Switching
Circuit
SECAM Coder PCB
A different aspect of
flying spot scanning was
the subject of the next
article, by Martin Salter,
which explained how
to modify scan circuits
to produce a telecine
system in which the film
moved continuously,
rather than the rapid
pull down system used
in a film projector. The film was made

to move at 25 frames per second - a
coil detecting the movement the film
sprocket tooth movement. A series of
diagrams explained the principals. The
actual scanning on the crt had to be
inverted to compensate for the effect the
lens had. The ‘special’ circuitry was to
control the film drive motor so that the
film sprocket was phase locked to the
frame drive signals.

Return address: Fern House, Church Road, NG23 7ED UNITED KINGDOM

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Copyright © by the BATC

CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 1

“He said he could not construct Digilite.

“Trevor: Sir, home guard reporting for

Page 2 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

Call or TEXT us on 01400 41 42 43

Copyright © by the BATC and contributors.

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 3

Contact Details Deadlines

Page 4 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

We have produced a DVD containing electronic

The archive contains all past issues of CQ-TV and

The DVD is playable in a PC and the data files will

The video section was prepared by Brian Kelly

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 5

Date / timing: Please ring the hotel reservations Get involved!

Page 6 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 7

Page 8 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

Text or Telephone us on:

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 9

CONSTRUCTIONAL NOTES: If you do not wish to use the smd

Page 10 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

If you are not using the Ultram VCO

There is sufficient signal from the VCO

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 11

Page 12 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

One of the most common causes of no

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 13

All Seeing Eye

Dicky Howett scans a pre-war Billed as a ‘Telecrime’ devised by Eric

Page 14 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 15

• Take your time.

As an alternative to a magnifier light,

RS: RMA Solder Flux 9 g pen,

Rapid: SMF12P, 12 ml pen, order

They will also stock Weller and other

Page 16 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

The device described in this project

The simplicity of the design is made

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 17

Page 18 CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Copyright © by the BATC

2. During the active display

3. During the active part of each

Note that the field blanking interval

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 19

There is a demo of a working unit on

It gives you a feel for what it’s about.

!!! Your Club Needs You !!!

Dicky Howett reports:

On Wedneday 2nd. November 2011,

Cake and wine were on offer as well

INTERESTED IN VINTAGE TECHNOLOGY ?

On The Air DWIRELESS

Copyright © by the BATC CQ-TV 236 - February 2012 Page 21

This theory is all well known and well

The length of cable required can be

Cable length = Velocity Factor x 3x108