Cheapest FTA receiver ever?

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Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't ATV and DATV personal communication between licensed amateurs? Like KE4EST stated, I understood that "broadcasting" is not permitted using the amateur bands.

The op seems to indicate that there is a movement to "broadcast" to a general public audience. Wondering if there is an allowed service for low power multicasting or broadcasting? This wouldn't seem unlikely due to the FCC's tightly managed TV broadcast licensing process.
 
FCC Part 97.113 Prohibited Transmissions:

(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services.

(b) An amateur station shall not engage in any form of broadcasting, nor may an amateur station transmit one-way communicationsexcept as specifically provided in these rules; nor shall an amateur station engage in any activity related to program production or news gathering for broadcasting purposes, except that communications directly related to the immediate safety of human life or the protection of property may be provided by amateur stations to broadcasters for dissemination to the public where no other means of communication is reasonably available before or at the time of the event.


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I sold my fortec mercury II to some guy in town for $30, that thing was a tank. It may have only been dvb-s SD mpeg2 but he got a steal for $30. Great receiver.

UDL
 
Wouldn't mind finding a DTV-S transmitter/modulator for ATV, should work fine on 1296 band and up regarding bandwidth limitations. I think this would be within the L-band bandwidth of most FTA receivers. A pre-amp would be required. There are some around and I have seen schematics if you want to b uild one, but that's a bit of an undertaking!
C.
 
Some communications on the ham bands is legal such as NASA, amateur radio newsline etc. Rebroadcasting space shuttle and space station communications was approved by FCC. NOT FOR PROFIT.
 
Some communications on the ham bands is legal such as NASA, amateur radio newsline etc. Rebroadcasting space shuttle and space station communications was approved by FCC. NOT FOR PROFIT.

Understood, but isn't the intended audience other licensed amateur radio operators? Just like a net service, but without the need for operator check-in as it is just monitoring relevant news or data?

I never understood these permissions to be a way to broadcast direct to the public. I understood amateur radio operations to provide operator controlled relays rather than direct broadcasts.
 
Hi all, I did not have a chance to return to the forum before now. Yes, I was referring to ham radio Amateur TV (ATV) digital signals in the DVB-S format. When I mentioned "a lot of people watching", indeed I meant other hams who are not yet able to get involved with two-way TV operation but want to watch those of us who do. Non-hams could also set up equipment and watch, but our signals will still be directed toward specific other amateur operators (and therefore not "broadcasting").

One amateur radio band (1240-1300 MHz) is directly within the range of all modern satellite receivers (digital or analog), so a DVB-S signal on that band could be directly received by an off-the-shelf FTA tuner, connected to an antenna pointed toward the ATV station (which could be a relay station ("repeater") on a hilltop, or an individual person's home or other location). There are projects to create relatively low-cost DVB-S transmitters for licensed ham radio operators to build and use. A standard-definition signal can be around 2 MHz wide, which is much less than the 6 MHz required for standard (NTSC in the USA) analog TV signals.

The content is whatever you want to put on the air, as long as it is not for business use and does not contain music (other than "incidental" music such as the background at a public event). I have done demonstrations of my restored antique TV sets on the air, and we sometimes have themes on certain nights such as wearing costumes at Halloween and so on.
 
Suppose DVB-S ATV could be used to broadcast to the public, but would be rather limited audience as who would have a DVB-S receiver and a 1200MHz antenna set up other than hams. Two way communications, either duplex or simplex, is the most likely use for this mode as with the analog ATV.
Problem for me is the nearest active ham that I am aware of that dabbles in ATV is about 60mi away... There'a no repeater (at least one with a 2MHz bandpass) on those frequencies, and the fellows in the City (Winnipeg) have basic stations with no more than a mile or two of potential propagation. There'a a couple of hams in Fargo that operate ATV but that's even farther. Not sure who I would ever talk (video) to once I did get a transmitter going... :| Guess we'll just have to drum up more interest!
 
Better options today

I got excited enough about ATV many years ago, to get educated in B/W analog. (that's what there was) :)
Even though I live in a high density, highly technical area, it didn't make sense.
Sitting behind a desk, talking to someone much like a newscast , was a crushing limitation.
Not to mention all the non-portable AC powered equipment of the time.

Leaping forward to the current decade, I've tried video calls over cell phone.
Last week, I talked to a buddy half way across the country, about some wiring inside his guitar.
Two slide switches were supposed to turn on/off the pickups.
I was able to request different views in real time. :up And in color.

In return, I sketched up some schematics and sent them as stills back to him.

Eventually, we decided the wiring was correct, but the switches were bad.
He replaced them, and the old junker electric guitar he got off CraigsList worked fine.

? So, I have learned the value of real time color video, but the days of using it on ham bands has long since passed (for me). ?
 
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