VK4ZXI

HD DVB-T HiDes HV-202E ATEM TV Studio DVB-T DATV all working Finally, I have all the pieces connected for a high-quality, live DVB-T TV studio and TX. My interest has been in establishing a high quality, video and audio, DATV system. This post covers the full working system, albeit small-signal. The details of each of the components are covered in earlier posts. The main components of the system are: HiDes HV-202E, self contained DVB-T TX with HDMI input: http://vk4zxi.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/hides-hv-202e-dvb-t-self-contained.html BlackMagic Designs ATEM TV Studio: http://vk4zxi.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/datv-dvb-t-blackmagic-designs-atem-tv.html High-definition digital SLR and CCTV video cameras: http://vk4zxi.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/dslr-cameras-for-live-tv-not-so-simple.html , http://vk4zxi.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/hd-cctv-cameras-cheap-quality-live.html The front of the operator console. The ATEM TV Studio is PC-based and is mounted in a small stand, just viable behind the...

BladeRF XB-200 transverter working with SDR# on Windows Software to support the BladeRF XB-200 transverter is beginning to emerge, however, the information is spread across a number of sources. In this post I have amalgamated the various bits of information to get the devices working on Windows 8.1. Connecting the cables It is not entirely obvious how the various connectors are used. The information is provided in the BladeRF GitHub:   https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF/wiki/Getting-Started:-XB200-Transverter-Board For RX only: RXFILT-ANT to RXFILT to bridge "custom" filter. RXIF on transverter to BladeRF RX to connect transverter to BladeRF. Connect antenna to transverter RXANT for use with VHF and above. Connect HF antenna to ADC (be careful, see earlier post- http://vk4zxi.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/bladerf-transverter-and-hf-trx-its-been.html ). Windows SDR# software for BladeRF  SDR# software to support the BladeRF and Transverter is av...

HiDes HV-202E DVB-T self-contained transmitter: Quality all digital live DATV from DSLR camera at last! The HiDes HV-102E DVB-T self-contained transmitter has arrived at US$660 delivered. I ordered the USB version of this professional HDMI/HD-SDI 4 band (100 MHz - 2.5GHz) DVB-T TX originally, but upgraded to the stand-alone box instead. (see why latter). It works perfectly out of the box and is easily configurable for any modulation or media parameters. I had a good experience with the HiDes DVB-T HD CCTV camera transmitter; see earlier post. As such I thought I would try their HDMI input DVB-T TX. Surprising similar, as will be explained. The impressive specifications per HiDes: There isn't much this box can't do! Any frequency (up to 2.5 GHz!), any band-width, any media modulation parameter. There isn't anything that comes close, at any cost. I set it up on a channel my little 16" TV could receive (by cable with an attenuator) and connected...

HD-CCTV Cameras: Cheap quality live video for DATV In my quest for high quality DATV (Digital Amateur Television), I learned a lot experimenting with the HiDes DC-100-B-01 HD-CCTV DVB-T modulator/camera, the subject of an earlier post. With a good lens, it gives an excellent DVB-T signal at up to 1080P. It is a modified HD-CCTV SDI camera with a DVB-T daughter board modulator with a 50 Ohm BNC output that go to cable or to an amplifier then antenna. Using the BlackMagic Design ATEM TV Studio, I could use SDI cameras. Box-style, HD-CCTV cameras, with inter-changeable "CS" mount lenses and SDI digital and analogue output cost less than $150 on eBay. A bargain! Most use Sony image sensors. The cameras have a composite output that allows setting up the digital video even H.264 compression. The catch! The purpose of HD-CCTV video is to allow high definition video to allow clearer inspection of suspicious activity. As such, and perhaps to avoid extra circuitry, they are not...

DSLR cameras for live TV: not so simple! In the course of setting up an amateur radio DVB-T transmitter, I have sought high quality video and audio. The modern DLSR (digital, single lens reflex) cameras seem to be a good candidate as they are capable of recording very high quality video, have a wide range of relatively inexpensive lenses and have some auto-focus capability for use by a one-person camera operator. They are generally better than consumer-grade camcorders. DSLR cameras are very popular with cinematographers, with an ability to do Full-HD and even up to 4K resolution (4K is used by cinema projectors). See sources such as  http://nofilmschool.com/  Digital Filmmaker magazine For DVB-T the maximum resolution is Full HD 1080i at 24, 25, 30, 50 or 60 fps (frames per second), and more commonly 720p at the same frame rates. The frame rates are related to the frequency of the electricity supply in the country, 50 Hz in Britain and Australia, 60 Hz in Northern ...

DATV DVB-T BlackMagic Design ATEM TV Studio: Proof of concept An objective has been to get high quality video and audio, as well as TV production studio abilities for my DATV DVB-T system. Production studio abilities includes the capacity to switch between multiple live TV cameras, recorded media and overlays, such as my call sign. I originally experimented with software production systems, mainly aimed at network feeds, such as Vidcaster and Open Broadcaster. The commercial Vidcaster software has a virtual camera that can be the input video stream for a HiDes's device, such as the UT-100C via PC2TV. This required a fast PC, a HDMI video capture card from a DSLR camera, the Vidblaster software, the PC2TV software and the UT100C all working properly; a difficult feat many of us have stumbled on. An alternative is to use a hardware production studio. The BlackMagic Design ATEM TV Studio is very suitable and a reasonable price, about $1000, given its capabilities. It is desig...

Multi-band squid-pole dipoles and Yagi antenna: Feasibility? One source of thin fibreglass for use with the loading coils on the TET-Emtron antenna I have been working on is telescopic "squid" poles (used for catching squid). A 7m squid pole is in seven sections, a metre long, from 45mm to 8mm for the heavy-duty version. The poles only cost about $30 each. They are available from http://haverford.com.au/telescopic-poles.html . Given that I was thinking of the TET Yagi elements using the tricks of vertical antenna to reduce length, I thought, why not go the other way and use telescopic squid-poles as rotatable dipoles or Yagi elements? Telescopic elements are quite useful for me as my tilting mast tilts to the short end of a trapezoid, with only 3 to 4m for a boom, compared to 10m at the other end. With the mast right down, I can mount the boom and one side of a Yagi horizontally, rotate the boom 90 degrees to its correct orientation, then extend the elements on the othe...