Digital Amateur Television
Having an interest in Amateur Television (ATV), and now Digital Amateur Television (DATV), I joined the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) a few years ago. It’s one of the most active organizations of its kind and membership includes a subscription to its excellent quarterly publication, CQ-TV.
CQ-TV is largely technical in content, and includes many articles, circuits and projects dealing with all aspects of television at technical levels from the very simple to the advanced. Also included are equipment reviews and activity columns, overseas interest, in fact anything which is new and interesting to television amateurs. Each magazine also carries details of printed circuit boards, special components and sundries which are generally made available in the BATC shop at cost plus prices to members.
The BATC web site includes a number of resources for the television experimenter, including an active forum, links to streaming television repeaters, and a useful reference library.
And since Europeans enjoy access to the QO-100 satellite, use is made of its wide-band transponder to conduct the BATC QO100 net live every Thursday night at 8pm (London) and is also streamed via the internet. I’ve become a regular viewer of that net and recommend watching it at least once to get a feel for what can be accomplished with this impressive capability.
The (bucket list) goal for me is to assemble a DATV transceiver and possibly a repeater since there is currently no activity in my area. There is an active group with a DATV repeater in Dayton, Ohio (70 miles) so it would be handy if this equipment could also be used in the field.
The Portsdown receiver seems an excellent place to begin:
- The Portsdown Digital ATV System
- The Portsdown DATV transceiver system
- The newer Portsdown 4 project
And for general reference, the video presentation Digital ATV - Opening New Horizons given by Dave Crump, G8GKQ at the RSGB 2022 Convention is time well-spent.