Retro SSTV anyone?

[Klaas Robers]

Not realy in hardware yet, but the front "photo shopped" on the computer.
This is how the SSTV monitor is going to be. I decided to spray the front in the original colour green on top of the wrinkle lacquer and ask a silk screen printing facility here in the village to print the texts. It looks to be silly to make a silk screen for just one print, but it is the only way to get the same appearance.



It gives an impression of how a Heathkit SSTV monitor in the years 70 could have been looking like.
And yes indeed, the rotary switch at the bottom left is in its OFF position, the red pilot lamp isn't on, the green SYNC LED is not blinking, and still there is a picture on the screen. How is that possible?
These are the miracles of today's computers.....

[Harry Dalek]

Looks really Good Klass given that health kit case another life for sure ,have not done any thing else on my for a while apart from mount the CRT to keep it safe.
You should show us it working with your old tapes when its finished ,it is easier these days just hooking up a pc to it .

[Steve Anderson]

Klaas, that end product does look very close to what might have been a real Heathkit design. The only thing missing is the Heathkit logo - but there may be legal issues to consider there, I really don't know.

As for the LEDs being off, that's a simple Photoshop exercise along with rotating the switch/knob to an on position, in fact all you need to do is rotate just the pointer line.

A result to be proud of.

Steve A.

[Klaas Robers]

Steve, in fact it is easier to remove the picture and show a blank screen.....

[Harry Dalek]

Saw this and it sure doe's ~!

[Harry Dalek]

Heres a nice PDF on a vintage digital scan converter

[Harry Dalek]

I tracked down Another SSTV here part 1 of 3 from the Italian 1972 electronics magazine Sperimentare

[Harry Dalek]

Heres part 2
Interesting little transistor ic job this ...Now i just need some translation software !

[Harry Dalek]

Part 3 of this 1972 73 SSTV

[Harry Dalek]

Heres another looks a copy similar to another SSTV i have seen ...this is all i have found so far on this .
The selection pdf is a sstv signal generator from the same magazine

[Klaas Robers]

Harry, I am not at all impressed by the circuits this Italian amateur has published. I can read it more or less, so don't use them. Steve's circuits are much better.

But any way, thanks for scanning them and sharing them. Look at everything and keep the good ones......

[Steve Anderson]

I have to agree with Klaas, there's nothing original in these pages. It appears to be a copy of similar circuits published around the same time, 'adjusted' to whatever the authors could get in terms of components. File under 'Other Stuff' and forget.

It also seems really long-winded, how many pages for what is quite simple? The Editor trying to fill pages I suspect. Sometime in the 70s EA admitted to this when submissions were slow to come in.

Though like Klaas I thank you for going to all the effort of finding and posting them.

Steve A.

[Harry Dalek]

No worries Steve Klaas don't worry i was not going to copy the circuits i just find them interesting being part of the early 70s classic SSTV times as a curiosity.

May be because a lot of the Italian mags have been scanned finding this stuff ...i am wondering and would of expected more from the English Germans dutch French such to have made SSTV's as in from their magazines or were most just copying the Americans ? Even here in Australia i know of 2 designs from the time..even though i don't want to make them i like seeing the different designs and what i missed from those wonderful P7 phosphor times...

[Steve Anderson]

Yes, the Italians were to a large degree spurred into SSTV by Prof. Franco Femti. (Excuse me if I have his name wrong, working from memory). But there's little documentation on-line for his creations.

However, the thing I'm more interested in is keeping the original Cop Mac standard with updates. Hence the SSTV-625 converter. Which with a few minor hardware changes could be used for NBTV-625, but with a total re-write of the software. That's for the future, a few months.

As for the 'charm' and simplicity of P7, you can't beat. This was how Cop Mac devised the standard, and my hat off to him. I have admit that I have never seen a P7 tube in action in this mode - that may change - very soon.

There are a few of us die-hard adherents to the original Cop Mac standard, one could compare it to CW and other phone modes. Which provides the greatest amount of information in the least amount of bandwidth, simplicity and time? It has to be as far as picture information is concerned Cop Mac's original standard...

Steve A.

[Harry Dalek]

Yes, the Italians were to a large degree spurred into SSTV by Prof. Franco Femti. (Excuse me if I have his name wrong, working from memory). But there's little documentation on-line for his creations.

However, the thing I'm more interested in is keeping the original Cop Mac standard with updates. Hence the SSTV-625 converter. Which with a few minor hardware changes could be used for NBTV-625, but with a total re-write of the software. That's for the future, a few months.

As for the 'charm' and simplicity of P7, you can't beat. This was how Cop Mac devised the standard, and my hat off to him. I have admit that I have never seen a P7 tube in action in this mode - that may change - very soon.

There are a few of us die-hard adherents to the original Cop Mac standard, one could compare it to CW and other phone modes. Which provides the greatest amount of information in the least amount of bandwidth, simplicity and time? It has to be as far as picture information is concerned Cop Mac's original standard...

Steve A.

Yes and not just Hams could use SSTV CB SSTV no wonder it was of great interest Before finding the circuits i would not of thought how big SSTV was in Italy .
I find it sad some of these monitors such as by the professor have been lost or no one has bothered to do any thing with he's work ,more than likely schematics in a draw and rusty monitor in a shed some where .

Copthorne Macdonald''s SSTV original was AM i know he some one swapped it to FM due to the noise problems of AM i suppose its forgotten its start or birth was as an AM system .
http://www.wisdompage.com/EarlySSTV.html
Yes again can't do much about the past but can as with NBTV keep it alive with current experiments....as with your 625 line converter ...
I am doing the CRT monitor now but i have another mechanical version on my mind for later which i hope will improve on the last one trying a different framing idea to give a more fixed screen look will not really know if its worth it till i do laser testing
Yes need to finished you P7 monitor ,very little out there seeing on a working monitor ,our little group should all have one !