BATC Forum

Have just got going on DATV (last Autumn) and can now access my local repeater (GB3UD). For RX I have a Comag FTA Satellite Receiver and for TX (23cms), the Portsdown 4 (a fantastic piece of kit). All works fine and really pleased with it.

I am now looking at the next step, which would be a better receiver, both for my local repeater and hopefully, at a later date (and subject to some trees which are potentially in the way), the Qatari satellite. One alternative would be the Ryde, which I see a lot of people using on the Thursday night BATC satellite net, but I have also seen that there is the "Winter Hill" (a quad receiver) project and the "Advanced Receiver". What is the "Advanced Receiver" or is it just another name for the Winter Hill.

GB3UD uses MPEG2 4.167MS/s FEC 1/2 so anything I use needs to cater for that.

Thanks for any pointers

Roger

Hi Roger,

The 'Advanced' reference is the BATC Advanced DATV Receiver PCB. It is shown here as part of the WinterHill build instructions.

https://wiki.batc.org.uk/Advanced_receiver_hardware

WinterHill is a 4 channel DATV receiver project, which is built on the Advanced PCB and should be available shortly. It will be able to receive GB3UD. With so many signals on QO-100, WinterHill will let you see more of the activity at once.

https://wiki.batc.org.uk/WinterHill_Receiver_Project

There will probably be other projects using the Advanced PCB.

Brian

Hi Roger,

The Ryde and Winterhill are designed for different applications:

The Ryde is designed to be an easy-to-use single channel stand-alone shack monitor receiver controlled by IR remote or push buttons. It can also be controlled by M0DTS quick tune software which enables it to scan QO100.

The Winterhill is a more advanced multi-channel receiver designed primarily for QO100 use and capable of receiving up to 4 channels simultaneously and runs on a RPi desktop environment. It can also be controlled by Rob's software and other network control software.

73

Noel

Thank you both for the very helpful feedback Brian and Noel.

Haven't touched a soldering iron in nearly 40 years. Next step is to decide whether my skills and patience would be up to the job of building either; particularly with SMD components.

73's

Roger

Roger

In that case, I would recommend that you build a Ryde as a gentle re-introduction to home construction. You won't be disappointed.

Dave
G8GKQ

Thanks Dave