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- Using the 'Scope Simulation
-
- The AVT system has a very useful Scope simulation available in the main
- control panel. There are two controls that are directly associated with
- the scope, both also in the control panel window, right next to it.
-
- The first is the "tune" button. This activates the scope and locks the
- mouse pointer. When you are done using the scope, simply press the left
- mouse button and it will turn off.
-
- The second is the "Trig" button. This causes the scope to re-trigger
- when a negative edge, transiting the frequency region from black to
- sync is detected. The net effect of this is that incoming SSTV of the
- older format lines up left-to-right on the scope display, starting with
- the sync pulse and continuing accross the display with the video
- information for each scan line.
-
- Generally, you use the scope to tune in other SSTV stations, but you
- can also use it to detect the shift of RTTY signals, tune FAX, and other
- interesting signals.
-
- The scope is a two dimensional display, with time going positive from
- left to right, and frequency going higher from bottom to top. There are
- three red marks at the left edge of the dispaly area that indicate the
- exact position where the standard black, white, and sync frequencies
- are located. For your information, black is 1500 Hz, white is 2300 Hz,
- and sync is 1200 hz. Additionally, there are marks on either side
- of the sync mark, that show a '1' and a '0'. These are at 1100 and
- 1300 hz, which are the two frequencies that the Robot scan converters
- use to send information as to what mode is coming. THis is done in the
- main vertical sync pulse.
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- Tuning with another AVT station
- When you are working with another station that has the AVT system,
- you can ask them to open their SET window and press the BLK button.
- This causes them to transmit a pure black tone - while you are
- receiving this signal, ensure that the TRIG button is OFF (no light
- showing) and press the tune button; tune your SSB receiver for a line
- exactly on the graticule that is marked "black". once you have done
- this, you are tuned exactly correctly - no guesswork.
-
- Tuning with a station that is running a new Robot unit
- Here, ask the other station to send you a grey scale, or failing that,
- any other video. While receiveing this; make sure the TRIG button is
- ON (light showing) and tune your SSB receiver so that the tips of the
- sync pulses are exactly positioned next to the red arrow marked SYNC.
-
- Tuning a station running other types of units
- When tuning stations with older hardware, it is best to tune the
- radio so that the black and white levels are correctly aligned -
- not the sync. Some of the older Robot 400s, for instance, have
- separate adjustments for sync, black, and white frequecies. We have
- seen stations transmitting video where the black and white frequencies
- were good, but the sync was too high or too low. In this situation, it
- is best to tune for the video levels, because the object, after all,
- is to receive an image. The newer Robot units like the 400c, 450c, and
- 1200c, do not have adjustments that can go out of (or be SET out of)
- whack; instead, they use primitive digital synthesis techniques which
- are quite reliable - the sync, black, and white frequencies are
- always correct.
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- Sweep Rates
- The Scopes sweep rate is set automatically when you press a recieve
- mode. For instance, if you press the top left button, the 8 second
- speed, and then the green memory, the AVT is set up to receive 8
- second Robot-format black and white images. These inages have
- scan line times of about 60 ms, and the scope is set for a sweep
- rate of about 59 ms. Another example is pressing the CMP (composite)
- button and the 72 second speed button. This sets the scope for
- approximately 305ms per scan. For use with unusual signals (found while
- SWL'ing, for instance) press one of these speed buttons to control the
- sweep rate of the scope. 8 second, black and white is the
- fastest sweep rate, and 72 second, color composite is the slowest
- sweep rate.
-
- The Filter Button
- There is another button which affects the scope; This is the FILTER
- button on the main control panel. This button runs a 2-pole
- software low pass filter simulation in such a way as to have the
- same effect one would have if you filtered the incoming video
- with an op-amp circuit. You will notice that the incoming waveform is
- smoothed considerably when the filter is on. Since the scope draws it's
- waveforms by placing one, and only one, dot along the horizontal axis for
- each measurement it takes, you may find that wildly varying frequencies
- (like white noise) produce a display that makes little sense. If you
- turn on the filter, you will see the low-frequency components that make
- up the white noise. Experiment with this. Remember, though, that the
- filter button affects not only the scope, but the receieved video as well;
- If you notice that all your incoming video looks very smooooth, check the
- filter button.
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