World first DVB-T RTX on 434.500 with 2MHz bandwidth

[oe7dbh]

A new era for ATV has arrived – affordable for every radio amateur!!


From the first idea (I started with a DVB-T Receiver with 2MHz bandwidth from SR-Systems, which costs 390 EUR without housing...) until today 4 years passed by.
8 months ago I started to contact manufacturers of DVB-T receivers intensively with the request for a receiver with 2 and 3 MHz bandwidth. A radio amateur in Germany gave me a hint for the website of HiDes Inc. http://www.hides.com.tw where I found the UT-100 but with 5, 6, 7 and 8MHz bandwidth only.

After about 50 e-mails we came to an agreement about a product line which will be available for the next 2 years.

I think that I don’t have to accentuate what exciting new possibilities for radio amateurs all over the world are now here – ATV will now be possible with DVB-T at the 70cm band (where reflections are welcome!) at places where no ATV had been possible. Now almost every radio amateur can start with ATV at a new level - as a side effect we will protect our 70cm band with this new activities.

Of course with SR-Systems we had a supplier for DVB-T receivers and transmitters but the price for a receiver started at 390 EUR; a transmitter costs 1200 EUR minimum without housing. A project was quickly nipped in the bud.

The upcoming productline from HiDes Inc. will have the following key parameters:

1. PC USB stick RX and TX for 70cm band at a suggested retail price of US$ 200 (I received already a prototype for testing!)
2. Standalone DVB-T Receiver for the 70cm band (works like a set-top box) inkl. remote control for about US$ 150
3. Standalone DVB-T Transmitter for the 70cm band (input CVBS and HDMI) for about US$ 500 (see: http://www.hides.com.tw/product_cg74468_eng.html )
4. Transponder RX 23cm DVB-T à TX 70cm DVB-T with integrated after-run time and possibility to setup a callsign for US$ ???

All products will work with an adjustable bandwidth of 2, 3 or 4 MHz; with 3 or 4 MHz it will be possible to use H.264 for higher quality.

My job is now to evaluate the USB stick (with our already existing DVB-T repeater signal from the nearby Krahberg http://www.amateurfunkverein-tiroler-ob ... tr-atv.htm ) for the amateur radio use, examine the results, publish the findings in amateur radio boards and find a distributor in the European marketplace. It will still be possible to buy the products directly from HiDes Inc. http://www.idealez.com/hides/home/en_US - but you should be aware of the additional amount for customs duty and tax in your country.

Today I had not very much time to live test the newly arrived toy. I hoped that the supplied CD would install all programs on my PC in auto run mode – but this was not true (I’m not an intimate friend of my PC...) and I ran into troubles. At this hard moment – thanks god – OE7ALT (a PC specialist) called me. Asking him for help he came to me immediately and in less than half an hour we could install the software on 2 computers.

Now we wanted to check if we could receive the DVB-T signal from the Krahberg ATV repeater. Adjusting the parameters, connecting the antenna – the signal could be received immediately! At an excellent quality for only 2 MHz bandwidth.
It worked also without any problems with my 2nd computer. After that I tried different attenuation elements between the antenna and the USB-stick. The signal was receivable down to 34dB. The video and audio recording to the hard disk worked also flawless.

Now I wanted to use the transmitter of the USB stick. I used the already mentioned SR-Systems receiver for about 390 EUR. It recognized the transmitted signal immediately and showed Signal 100% - Quality 100% but without showing video or audio.
At that time I had to leave for my QRL.

Result from today:
The DVB-T USB stick receiver works perfect with the nearby 2MHz DVB-T Signal from the Krahberg ATV Repeater at 434.500 MHz.


Update 06.04.2013
News from HiDes Inc.: They will also produce a DVB-T USB Receiver only – price will depend on demand between 50 – 75 US$



New result:
Now transmitting also works!
... mistakes are mostly made by men – I’m not sure if it was my fault or the files on the supplied CD are not ok.
I always used the supplied files from the CD for my tests with the transmitter – that did not work. It is possible to transmit the video signal of a PC attached webcam or stored streaming files. I tried to transmit the recorded files from yesterday and that worked fine!

First transmit test with UT100B on 434,500MHz & 2MHz Bandwidth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_NkSGZ1 ... rw&index=1 video data come from Harddisk.

A successful day – I can truly recommend this USB DVB-T Transceiver !!!

Next time I will try to transmit with my PC camera.....

Any questions ??? But please don’t ask me about PC stuff or streaming – no skills...

From original http://www.oe7forum.at/viewtopic.php?f= ... 6c1c#p1005 translated by OE7AAI

[G8XZD-TV]

This is very good news. I think the ut-100b was mentioned on the batc bbs a few weeks ago.
At the moment it seems quite affordable (if it was in the uk) but not sure it is worth taking the gamble on
customs/tax/delivery situation at the moment.
Not quite sure whether the aforementioned products are in production or prototype stage at the moment. I wonder if the company
have an European distributor/rep - or someone lined up in the wings ready.
Fair play for getting the manufacturer to listen - I'm sure there are enough hams that would be interested in getting their hands
on this.
I guess it's just a waiting game at the moment.
Wonder if it is possible to make a mini repeater with this

73. Ian.

[dave51c]

This is great news and thanks for your efforts in making this happen. I'm very new to (D)ATV and have no RF operations available yet, and spending time researching options and learning all about ATV. Something like this sounds like it will get people up and running quickly - always a good motivator for a beginner, like myself - and then progress from there.

Look forward to hearing more about these products.

Regards, David.

[oe7dbh]

PC USB Stick UT-100B RX Part work also with VLC Player new version 2.0.6
Picture below http://www.oe7forum.at/viewtopic.php?f= ... t=15#p1028

[oe7dbh]

NEWS !!!!

New DVB-T USB Stick variants announced.
UT-100C only transmitter
UT-100D receiver only
data: http://www.hides.com.tw/product_cg74469_eng.html#310685

prices: http://www.idealez.com/hides/home/en_US

[G4GUO]

The receive only dongle is interesting as I can easily add 2/3/4 MHz DVB-T support to DATV-Express
it is just a parameter change (clock frequency).

- Charles G4GUO

[G8XZD-TV]

All we need now is a UK/European distributor...

[g8gtz]

Which units are people particularly interested in - I'll see if we can buy a quantity at a reasonable price and hold stock / sell through the BATC shop.

73

Noel - G8GTZ

[G4GUO]

Well Noel, I would only be interested in the UT100D that is the 2/3/4 Mhz demodulator.

- Charles G4GUO

[M0ATV]

I'd be interested in a dabble at the UT-100C & D depending on final prices of course.