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Boulder Amateur
Television Club
TV Repeater's
REPEATER
December, 2022
issue #117
BATVC web site: www.kh6htv.com
ATN web site: www.atn-tv.com

Jim Andrews, KH6HTV, editor - [email protected] www.kh6htv.com

DVB-S from England to Maryland, USA

Trans-Atlantic on 10 Meters ! ! !
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M0DTS' DVB-S signal at 29.16 MHz as seen by K0ZAK

Flash News as of 22 Nov. ---

John, K0ZAK, in Maryland has been able to
successfully receive Rob, M0DTS' DVB-S
signal from the U.K.
John writes "...The band is a bit crappy today, but I was able to decode multiple images
from M0DTS's transmission this morning. As I am using really marginal equipment
here, it looks like this might be a doable thing. So far the testing has been focused on
using DVB-S at 18KHz bandwidth. All I am using to receive this is a $20 RTL-SDR
dongle and the free SDRAngel software hooked to my 4 element 10 meter yagi, so
anyone could repeat this with a minimal investment or parts they already have. I do have
other equipment that might work better, but I figured I'd start as simple as possible first.

There has been 29Mhz video chatter on groups.io. Latest on the continued testing on the
BATC forums.
https://forum.batc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8183&start=80

Maybe this testing is what it will take to get the ARRL & FCC to actually look into the
legality issues involving transmitting this mode in the US."
John Kozak, K0ZAK
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The ARRL Handbook for Radio

Communications for 2022 is a must-have for every
radio amateur’s bookshelf. Whether you’re an
experienced ham or new to the hobby, you’ll find
information you can use to advance your amateur radio
knowledge and skills. This current, comprehensive, and
complete reference is available in four formats —
traditional hardcover, softcover, a six-volume, shrink-
wrapped book set (box not included), and digital eBook.
The Handbook six-volume book set, is $59.95 retail..
The bound hardcover book is $79.95. The e-book is
included with the printed versions, but must be later
down-loaded.

In years past, I purchased a new ARRL Handbook about once every ten years. There
were only minor changes made from one year to the next. so it didn't make sense to buy
every copy. Obviously, over a span of almost 100 years, and 100 editions, major
changes have occurred in our hobby and the technology we use and these are reflected in
what is included and not included in the handbook. Significant new (to me) items I
found in this 100th edition are: (1) A chapter on "DSP and SDR Fundamentals" (2) A
big (40 page) chapter on "Digital Protocols and Modes" and (3) a chapter on "Amateur
Radio Data Platforms".
ATV in the New Handbook
Several years ago, I was always disappointed by the limited coverage of ATV in the
printed ARRL handbook, which I found in newer books which I had borrowed from
friends. So I wrote a letter to the ARRL offering to write the ATV chapter hoping to
improve the situation. Tom O'Hara, W6ORG, had been writing the ATV part for many
years previously. So for next couple of years, Tom asked for input from me on DATV.
Finally Tom retired from writing for the handbook. At that point the editor, Ward Silver,
N0AX, asked me to write the section on ATV for the 100th editon.

Well, I then found out, the reality of the Handbook is they were only willing to devote a
limited number of pages in the printed version for ATV (2 1/2 pages to be exact). Thus
the extremely limited coverage of ATV in previous editions, which I had found
objectionable. They were willing to have more supplemental material available
electronically. This additional material can only be accessed once you purchase the
handbook. Then you are given the access code to download the complete handbook
in .pdf format, along with the supplemental material.
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 4 of 15

The 3 pages in the 100th edition of the ARRL Handbook devoted to ATV

The section on ATV in the latest handbook is found in the Chapter on Modulation. It is
section 11.7 entitled "Image Modulation". The ATV supplemental material in the e-
book version is hard to find. You need to scroll down in the "Bookmarks" all the way to
the bottom, find "Image Communications", click on it. This leads you to a 28 page .pdf
file. The first 14 pages deal with Fast Scan TV. The remainder deals with SSTV.

What I wrote for Ward for the supplemental material

on fast scan TV was about 32 pages in length, plus an
additional 12 pages of figures to be integrated into the
text. I did work back and forth with Ward over
several iterations. These are the topics I covered in
the supplemental material: ATV & Public Service,
Analog TV (AM ATV, FM ATV), Digital TV
(CATV, ATSC, DVB-S & DVB-T), Narrow-Band
DTV, Analog TV Signal Quality Reporting
(i.e. P units), Performance Comparison of AM, FM and Digital TV, Latency in DTV,
IDing on ATV, ATV Frequencies, ATV Propagation, Propagation Prediction, ATV
Repeaters, TV Repeater Streaming (BATC), Equipment for ATV, Video Sources, AM
TV Receivers, AM TV Transmitters, VUSB-TV, FM-TV equipment, DTV equipment,
DVB-T receivers, DVB-T modulators, ATV Go-Kits for ARES, Portable ATV
Repeaters, RF Power Amplifiers for ATV (for AM, FM & Digital), Antennas for ATV,
and ATV Suppliers (27 listed). Ward did insist upon retaining some of Tom's older
material.
Fortunately, the ARRL makes some ATV material free on their web site ( www.arrl.org )
If you go their website, home page search box and enter "ATV", click on the first
offering "ATV - Fast Scan TV". The first reference offered is in fact my application
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note, AN-55, "ATV Handbook - an Introduction to Amateur TV" (44 pages in .pdf
format) It covers most of what is also covered in the handbook's supplemental material.

Also of interest, another fellow ATVer, Mel, K0PFX, St. Louis, MO, was another
contributor to the handbook. His contribution was an update on digital HF voice
chapter 15.4.5
73 de Jim KH6HTV, Boulder, Colorado

BREAD-BOARD ADF-5355
FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER
Pete Goldman, WB2DVS
I decided it would be fun and educational to “roll my own” ADF5355 synthesizer. The
synthesizer board was purchased from AliExpress. After some testing by programming
the ADF5355 from a PC using a USB to i2C adapter (the synthesizer board is controlled
over an i2C interface) I used an Arduino and LCD display/push button “Shield” to
control the synthesizer. This provided a decent user interface with a display and buttons
to enter the frequency. An Arduino Shield is a peripheral board that is mated with the
Arduino by pressing its pins into the pin sockets on the Arduino. The firmware was a
significant rewrite from open source code that was written for a different synthesizer
chip. Since the Arduino uses 5V I/O and the synthesizer uses 3.3V I/O I had to add a
level shifter between the two. The entire system works on 12V so it can potentially be
used in the field as an LO for a transverter. The necessary voltages (6V for the
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synthesizer and 9V for the Arduino) are produced using inexpensive switching supplies
available on Amazon. I added some additional filtering on the 6V synthesizer input to
avoid spurs on the synthesizer output spectrum from the switching power supply noise.
The system works well, but the phase noise was high on the output. This phase noise is a
result of very low level noise from the 5V regulator on the synthesizer board that powers
the synthesizer chip’s (ADF5355) internal VCO. In other words, noise on the VCO
power supply very slightly frequency modulates it. Analog Devices recommends using
their very low noise regulator for that power supply. These cheap synthesizer boards use
a less expensive regulator. The solution, discussed on various websites, is to add an
additional electrolytic cap to the output of the 5V regulator. I used a 1000uF 6.3V
Rubycon AX capacitor. This change, as well as the well filtered 6V switching supply
produced a good output spectrum.

WB2DVS's Bread-Board ADF-5355 pcb output (power amplifier not used) spectrum.
Phase noise measurement. Center frequency = 5226.6 MHz, span = 200 kHz, resolution
bandwidth = 1 kHz, 10dB/div & 20kHz/div
The other change I made was to improve the accuracy and stability of the synthesizer by
replacing the inexpensive 25MHz XTAL oscillator with a TCXO (temperature
compensated crystal oscillator). I found the improvement significant and well worth it. I
also made a minor change to the synthesizer board to allow the ADF5355 to be driven by
a single ended output oscillator rather than a differential output one. The cost of the
Taitien TT type TCXO was about $14.
With several separate modules, including power supplies, there were issues with ground
loops that was sending some of the switching power supply noise through the synthesizer,
causing spurs to appear in the spectrum. That was solved by a careful grounding
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 7 of 15

arrangement between the boards. It was important not to have multiple grounds on the
synthesizer board that come from different places, like the power input and the Arduino.
The post amplifier on the board was powered from a 5V linear supply that was powered
from the 6V switching supply. The power connection to the amplifier is a USB cable.
I found it was useful to coil that USB cable to introduce some common mode impedance
(a choke) to further reduce noisy ground currents in the synthesizer.
You may wonder why I didn’t just use linear regulators throughout to eliminate the noise
problems and simplify things. The reason was energy efficiency and heat. Since this
design could be run off a 12V battery I was trying to be careful about wasting power with
linear supplies that had to drop 12V to 9V, 6V and 5V. I was comfortable powering the
5V linear regulator from the 6V supply since it would waste minimal power.
Above is a photo of the total system. I realize it looks a bit like a high school science
project built on a sheet of wood, but the idea was to make it easy to modify and measure
things.
Although this project met my goals of building a synthesizer system partially from
scratch, you might want to buy a complete system that is packaged in a metal case or can
be easily put in a metal box. If so I would definitely add the filter capacitor and replace
the oscillator. One of the advantages of the pre-made system is that ground loops are
eliminated by having everything built on one circuit board.
73 de Peter Goldman, WB2DVS, Boulder, Colorado

Analog Devices ADF-5355

At this point it is well worth revisiting the
past. See our TV Repeater's Repeater,
ATV newsletter issue # 71 (March, 2021)
for more about mods & phase noise
improvement. The box treated then was the
expensive version in an all metal enclosure.
It is still available out of China on E-Bay.
The price is all over the place ranging from
a low of $160 to $235.
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 8 of 15

ADF-5355 mods 10dB/div & 20kHz/div Calif Microwave (yellow) & ADF-5355
(cyan)
The spectrum on the left shows the effect of making simple modifications to this box.
The box was a new production, recently purchased. The yellow trace is the original
spectrum from the factory in China. The cyan trace is after adding 1000μF cap. on the
output of IC1 (+5Vdc) regulator. The magenta trace is then after adding a second
1000μF cap, this time on the output of IC2 (+3.3Vdc) regulator. Also added 1000μF
caps on U3 (+6Vdc) and U4 (+3.3V) regulators, but saw no improvement in phase noise.
The spectrum on the right now compares the modified ADF-5355 with a California
Microwave "brick" LO on the same frequency. The 5355 is clean, but still has higher
phase noise than the reference standard "brick". Getting closer !

73 de Jim, KH6HTV, Boulder, Colorado

A Field Day Test of Digital Amateur

Radio Television
Mike Kennedy, VA3TEC
Orleans, Ontario, Canada

The British Amateur Television Club (BATC) has created an amateur radio television
software, known as Portsdown. This software has been designed by Dave Crump
G8GKQ to get you “up and running” with a Digital ATV (Amateur radio television) at
relatively low cost.

My DATV station consists of RPI software

running on a Raspberry Pi 4, a radio
transceiver and the PA (Power Amplifier)
connected to a combined J pole 2 meter and
70 cm antenna on my roof. The Portsdown
software project is a Linux based digital
video modulator that takes video from a
camera or digital video, encodes it,
modulates it, and then sends it out to the
SDR radio transmitter. In my setup I am
using the LimeSDR-mini as a SDR radio
that has a transmitter section built in. This
transmitter automatically up converts the DATV modulated signal to the VHF or UHF
bands. In my setup I use a carrier frequency of 441 MHz. This is in the amateur
television portion of the band plan, 438.000–444.000 designated for amateur television.
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 9 of 15

The Power Amplifier (PA) is from Jim KH6HTV model 70-9B. This is a 70 watt, wide
bandwidth amplifier that is useful for DATV signals.

Of interest for those more technical inclined, the modulated video uses MPEG-2 or H264
video compression. DVB-S is typically set to QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)
with a Symbol rate of 333K symbols/sec. The Forward error correction is typically set to
7/8 FEC. This provides a raw data rate of approximately 440Kbits/sec, with a total signal
bandwidth of approximately 500KHz. All this from an RPI 4 is totally amazing with
reasonable picture quality for full motion 30 frames per sec video!

On the receive side, I use a free/open source SDR software package called SDRangel. In my
opinion, this is one of the best open source software packages for both SDR receive and transmit.
It was written by ED Griffiths F4EXB and is available from GitHub. They are windows
executable files and source code for more experienced Linux users. While challenging to set up
and run, it is very rewarding once you succeed. Once working, a typical RTL-SDR Radio can be
used as your SDR receiver. The best settings are to use the 2.4 Msps (Mega a sample per second)
data rate. The SDR can go to 3.2 Msps but I found that extra noise would come into the signal on
the spectrum and ruin your signal decoding. In an another data link the screen captures, I was able
to set to a symbol 125Ks/s with a raw data rate of ~215Kb/s and a received signal strength of -
32.6 dB. This is a link of 14Km between my transmit QTH (VA3TEC) in Orleans, Ontario to the
receive location of Gatineau, Quebec of the QTH of Luc (VA2RLM).
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 10 of 15

This is a photo of my roving remote

“station” that was setup for testing before
field day 2022 near park “la baie” in
Gatineau. At this distance and with such a
wide bandwidth signal a multi-element Yagi
beam antenna is required. As you can see
my 440 MHz beam is pointing to my house
in Orleans and the received strength is quite
good at -15 dB for a quick demonstration.
GENERAL REFERENCES
https://wiki.batc.org.uk/Portsdown_software
https://github.com/davecrump/portsdown
http://www.awarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Complete-Portsdown-System.pdf
https://limemicro.com/products/boards/limesdr-mini/
https://www.sdrangel.org/
https://kh6htv.com/

(reprinted with permission from Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club, "Rambler" newsletter, Oct.
2022, vol. 65, issue 2 )
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 11 of 15

This is an RF coverage map of the Ottawa, Ontario area from VA3TEC's DATV QTH. He is on
441 MHz with 40 Watts of RF. He is using a Raspberry-Pi 4 connected to a LimeSDR-Mini.
The software is Portsdown 4 from the BATC.
------------------------------------------

IN MEMORIUM
It is with a sad heart that we report the recent passing of fellow Boulder ATVer, AB0MY,
Bill's lovely wife Mary. Bill says there will be memorial service for Mary, sometime
next summer, probably in June, in accordance with Mary's wishes.
---------------------------------------------

BARC - HF & ATV demo - Cross Roads Mall - 1976

A Bit of BARC Club History -- Ham radio was active in

Boulder as early as University of Colorado station 9XAQ in 1920. BARC was formally
organized and became affiliated with the ARRL on May 7, 1953 through the efforts of
local hams and National Bureau of Standards (NBS) engineers moving to Boulder, during
construction of the lab on south Broadway. The NBS (now NIST) building was
dedicated in-person by President Eisenhower in September 1954. Above is a photo from
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 12 of 15

a BARC ham radio demonstration held at Boulder's Crossroads mall in 1976 ( photo credit
and thanks to Jim KH6HTV, then WA0NHD ). It included a live demo of ATV along with a
operational HF station.
73 de Mike Derr, W3DIF, Broomfield, Colorado

10 GHz Band Feed-Back:

Hi Jim --- Animate your US people that they go more to
10 GHz. You probably have a lot more surplus parts
than we do in Europe. DMC is USA manufacture as far
as I know. With DMC UPconverter it is possible to
have up to 15mW DVB-T output on 10GHz with
HV320. Simply mix up, e.g. 9.1GHz LO + 23cm
DVB-T signal = 10GHz DVB-T.
You can see my post OE7DBH - Technik in Oberland -
Seite 15 - OE7 Amateurfunkforum
(oe7forum.at) ,Here are some other links of interest
https://www.eb3frn.net/?p=118
https://www.radio741.com/43626-310mhz-up-converter-
coaxial-sma-dmc-110415.html
https://picclick.co.uk/DMC-110365-UP-CONVERTER-
FROM-24GHz-MICROWAVE-EQUIPMENT-
124139318171.html
Vy 73, Darko, OE7DBH, Austria, [email protected]
Editors Note: Digital Microwave Corp (DMC) was located in San Jose, California.
However, I suspect they are no longer in business. Googling them I am unable to find
any web site for them.

FEED-BACK on HF DATV: There is an existing HF transmission format

with 24 kHz B/W that's been used successfully for single-hop 15 fps video over a 1300
km path, it's MIL-STD-188-110C.now superseded by MIL-STD-188-110D
http://tracebase.nmsu.edu/hf/MIL-STD-188-110D.pdf
It is a proven HF technology with effective rate for data of up to 120 kbs in a 24 kHz
B/W. The data stream it carries can of course contain anything you want, Video stream,
Still Images, Documents, even Internet (but painfully slowly). There’s some brief info
on a typical transceiver, with a PDF of rig’s spec at bottom of page, see
https://www.l3harris.com/all-capabilities/an-prc-160v-wideband-hf-vhf-manpack-radio
73 Trevor, M5AKA, Chelmsford, England
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 13 of 15

W0BTV Details: Inputs: 439.25 MHz, analog NTSC, VUSB-TV;

441MHz/6MHz BW, DVB-T & 1243 MHz/6MHz BW, DVB-T
Outputs: Channel 57 --- 423 MHz/6MHz BW, DVB-T, or optional 421.25 MHz,
analog VUSB-TV. Also, secondary transmitter, FM-TV output on 5.905 GHz (24/7).
Operational details in AN-51a Technical details in AN-53a. Available at:
https://kh6htv.com/application-notes/

W0BTV ATV Net: We hold a social ATV net on Thursday afternoon at 3

pm local Mountain time (22:00 UTC). The net typically runs for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. A
DVD ham travelogue is usually played for about one hour before and 1/2 hour after the
formal net. ATV nets are streamed live using the British Amateur TV Club's server, via:
https://batc.org.uk/live/kh6htvtvr or n0ye or ab0my. We use the Boulder ARES
(BCARES) 2 meter FM voice repeater for intercom. 146.760 MHz ( -600 kHz, 100 Hz
PL tone required to access).

Newsletter Details: This is a free newsletter distributed

electronically via e-mail to ATV hams. The distribution list has now grown to about 500.
News and articles from other ATV groups are welcomed. Permission is granted to re-
distribute it and also to re-print articles, as long as you acknowledge the source. All
past issues are archived at: https://kh6htv.com/newsletter/

ATV HAM ADS

Free advertising space is offered here to ATV hams,
ham clubs or ARES groups. List here amateur radio &
TV gear For Sale - or - Want to Buy.

-------------------------------------------

ANALOG, 23cm FM-TV

EQUIPMENT INTEREST
SURVEY
Back in 2011-2012, I designed a complete set of equipment for 23cm FM-TV. The intent
at the time was to provide a replacement for the great transmitter and receiver from the
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 14 of 15

1990s era from HF Technology. I spent quite a few man-months in the development.
The products which resulted included:

Model 23-1, 3 channel, 3 Watt, FM-TV Transmitter

Model 23-8, 3 channel, 50 mW, FM-TV Modulator
(requires external rf power amplifier)
Model 23-4 Low Noise Pre-Amp (now sold today as the 23-LNA)
Model 23-7 Low Noise Down-Converter, 3 channel
Model 23-5 70 MHz IF Amplifier & FM-TV Demodulator
(useful for all microwave bands with a suitable down-converter)

The resulting products were all top quality and performed extremely well. I had designed
the modulator and de-modulator to have extreme flexibility to be able to be customized
for most any ATV repeater group's local standards. For example adjustable deviation,
polarity, pre-emphasis or not, mono or stereo audio, etc.

The designs relied upon using 1970-80s era ICs when FM-TV was in it's hey-day. By
2012, these ICs were long since obsolete and difficult to procure. Thus, I was forced to
find them on the obsolete market and had to pay quite high prices and buy in quantity,
enough to last several life-times. Every thing in my products was very small volume
and had to be purchased at retail. As a result, the prices for my finished products were
quite high. As of Dec. 2021 a year ago, I was advertising them at: Model 23-1 $575,
Model 23-5 $375, Model 23-7 $350 and Model 23-8 $375. At these prices, essentially
nobody was interested. Plus add in the transition from analog to digital TV. The only
product that had moderate interest, aside from the LNA, was the model 23-7 Down-
Converter.

Then on 30 Dec. 2021, we had the major Fire Storm which destroyed 1,000+ homes in
Boulder County, Colorado. It included Janet's and my home, plus our daughter's. The
stock inventory of all those old, obsolete ICs used in these FM-TV products was lost. So,
I dropped from my product line all of those products. The sole remaining item was the
model 23-LNA, low noise pre-amp which I am still able to build and sell and have sold
some of them this year.

Now, I have just received a request from an ATV ham to build the model 23-8, 23cm
FM-TV Modulator for his local ATV repeater transmitter. Should I go to the effort of
trying to track down once again the obsolete ICs, etc. ? ? ? This is the reason for my
posing these questions to the readers of this ATV Newsletter.

? #1 Do you have an interest in purchasing 23cm FM-TV

equipment from me ?
TV Rptrs Rptr-117.doc ( 12/1/2022, kh6htv) p. 15 of 15

? #2 If so, are you willing to pay high prices, at least as high as

previously advertised?

If you need to know more about these old products, send me an e-mail for the detailed
spec. sheets and instruction manuals. ( [email protected] )

Jim Andrews, KH6HTV, Boulder, Colorado