Getting Started

Amateur television is a fascinating part of the hobby covering all aspects of video production, editing, transmission and reception of television signals - whether across town or across the world by the geostationary QO-100 satellite.

One of the aims of the BATC is to help members get on the air and to this end the club has come up with the Portsdown project which is easy enough for most people to successfully build at home.

The Portsdown is based around the popular Raspberry Pi 4 single board computer, an Adalm Pluto SDR, and controlled by a seven-inch touchscreen. Hundreds of these have been built by amateurs around the world and part of its success is down to the club prescribing the key components/design (and you sticking to them...) and following simple build instructions. Yes I know radio amateurs (me included) like to tinker and experiment but at this stage it really helps our volunteers help you. That way, if there are any problems, it's easy to offer support via the BATC forum. And if you still can't get it going bring it along to one of our Portsdown clinics which are held at most rallies the BATC attends.

But if this all sounds overwhelming there's an easy way to "get on the air" using transmitter/receiver modules - if so take a look at this page which shows you how to join in the fun on 5.6GHz for around £20.

So let's run through the basics:

2021 Digital ATV primer

We often get asked how do I start to receive or transmit DATV?

Like most areas in amateur radio there are lots of ways to do this but let's spend our money (and time) wisely and put together something tried and tested.

This approach means you are more likely to be successful, and if you really get into DATV, these building blocks can be reused to make even more sophisticated equipment.

Receiving DATV

Probably the most repeatable way to do this is to build up a Minitiouner board. Developed by Jean-Pierre Courjaud, F6DZP, this can either be used with his excellent free MiniTioune Windows software downloadable here: http://www.vivadatv.org/viewforum.php?f=60

You can buy the PC board and other "hard-to-get" components from the BATC shop - the remainder are standard leaded (no surface mount) components, available from all major suppliers. and can easily be put together in an evening.

With this you can receive local DATV activity from 2m to 13cm, including digital TV repeaters, and with a satellite dish and LNB, you can watch the activity on QO-100.

Jean-Pierre's software also comes with a suite of programmes to allow you to test that the board is talking to the software correctly.

You will then need the normal aerials, filters/pre-amps and/or LNB depending on the band you want to receive. Having said that it is sensitive enough on its own to be able to receive nearby activity - and probably your local TV repeater.

To find out more, or ask for help, have a look in the Minitioune section of the BATC forum. https://forum.batc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=105

DATV transmit

The BATC Portsdown system is the way go. It is Raspberry Pi 4-based but you can buy a pre-programmed SD card from BATC so there is no programming or computer wizardry at all. This plus a touch screen and a Pluto SDR, which simply plugs in to the Pi's USB socket, will give you a simple to use touch screen DATV transmit system.

For more details see ttps://wiki.batc.org.uk/The_Portsdown_Transmitter

Again if you want more information, or need some help, have a look in the Portsdown section of the BATC forum: https://forum.batc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=103

This basic system will give you a full blown DATV transmit system from 50MHz up to 3.4GHz with good picture quality. Again you will need filters and amplifiers for the band of your choice.

DATV transmit and receive in one box

Since the release of Portsdown software in autumn 2019 that included the LongMynd receiver you can plug the MiniTiouner USB tuner hardware in to the Portsdown system and it will display the pictures, thereby becoming a full DATV transceiver and replacing the need for a PC.

The Portsdown software includes everything you need - just make sure you have the latest Portsdown build - and plug your tuner card in to the Raspberry Pi USB port. See https://wiki.batc.org.uk/The_Portsdown_Receiver for more details.

Getting Started - the guides

Below are a series of guides which have been written by BATC members - unfortunately our hobby moves at a rapid pace so that guides written only 3 years ago are now out of date!

A good place to start is by reading the Getting Started in ATV leaflet also available as an article extract from CQ-TV, our quarterly newsletter:

Or take a look at this introduction to ATV PowerPoint presentation

Receiving and Transmitting ATV

To find out more about receiving and transmitting ATV signals download these "Getting started" guides:

DATV Reception

DATV transmission - take a look at the BATC Portsdown project, a simple easy way to get on air with Digital Television.

Reduced Bandwidth TV

And to find out more about the latest technology called Reduced Bandwidth Digital television (RBTV) take a look at this RB-TV special edition of CQ-TV.

For more technical details take a look at our getting started guide to RB-TV. Getting Started with RB-TV

Video signal basics

If you want to know more about the basics of video signals, Brian Summers has written a series of articles for CQ-TV which are available for downloads as part of our "getting started" series.

Part 1-7 available as a single download: Video Fundamentals parts 1-7

What next?

Having read and digested all the information in these getting started guides and want to get on air, the next thing to look at is the BATC Portsdown DATV transmitter project.

And for a receiver take a look at the Minitioune project.

Or if you want to get on to ATV the really easy way and for very little cost - take a look at this page on using the 5.6GHz Drone FPV transmitters!

And then head over to the BATC members forum to gain even more knowledge and ask those questions you must have - and don't worry the ATV community are a friendly bunch!

Or take a look to see if there's a TV repeater near you on this wiki page.