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G8MNY  > ATV      29.10.22 09:48l 197 Lines 9406 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Y Analogue SAT RX Bad for ATV
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Sent: 221029/0843Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:32310 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G8MNY@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To  : ATV@WW

By G8MNY                                                      (New Feb 05) 
(8 Bit ASCII graphics use code page 437 or 850, Terminal Font)
(This is a Prize winning article published in BATC's CQTV 207 Aug 04 & includes
schematics left out of the original.)

Many satellite receivers give good service in ATV work after some
modifications. Here are typical symptoms & problems with there use for ATV
work.

With weak signals a typical satellite receiver will receive the sound 1st, then
colour information, & lastly a locked picture. Whereas dedicated narrower ATV
receiver will receive a black & white picture 1st, then the colour, & the sound
last, but all at a much lower signal level. Also radar overload & your
transmitter look-though overload, are less troublesome with a proper receiver
than a satellite receiver.

Here are some off the reasons why.

TYPICAL PROBLEMS
RF
 1/ Coax permanently/unsafely powered, some receiver used to blow up on
    shorting!

 2/ Many receiver are very insensitive as they are designed for a 50dB gain LNB
    input level.

 3/ The untuned 1GHz wide front end, lets lots of unwanted noise through to
    the mixer stage, where it can degrade the wanted signal.

 4/ RF stages are easily overloaded, as receiver is designed for a band full of
    the same strength signals, & of limited level range.

 5/ Image Noise/QRM can be a problem with a wide lightly filtered front end.
    e.g. TV signals 470-800MHz & cellphones systems 0.9, 1.8, 2.7GHz etc.

 6/ The 30MHz Wide IF lets too much bandwidth through for ATV, & often with
    not much skirt rejection of adjacent frequencies.

 7/ Permanent wide locking AFC, & not designed for weak signals.

 8/ FM discriminator circuit not optimised for narrow deviation.

VIDEO
 9/ Set up for wide deviation, video gain needs 2-3x more for ATV to give 1v.

10/ Poor LF response to remove 25Hz energy dispersal sat signals, causes
    corruption of frame syncs on ATV. Sometimes also caused by too fast AFC.

11/ Sometimes proper CCIR 405 de-emphasis curve not used.

12/ Video needs 6MHz traps to reduce subcarrier patterning.

SOUND
13/ Sound IF needs to be set for 6MHz UK. (or 5.5MHz EU)

T Y P I C A L   B R O A D B A N D   S A T   R X
(Problems /)
1/ 2/   4/   3/ 4/ 5/  6/        8/       12/    10/   11/   9/ 10/
wide-  900MHz-  UHF    width           Optional          De-
 band   2GHz    mixer  30Mhz     F.M.  6.5-8MHz >50Hz  emphasis  Preset
 amp   ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ IF ÚÄÄÄÄ¿  ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿   Gain
   ³\  ³.--.³ ³ \ / ³ ³.--.³³\  ³\  /³  ³-. .-³ ³  ,--³ ³--.  ³  ³\ /\  Video
o)´ `>´|  |ÃÄ´  X  ÃÄ´|  |ô `>´ \/ ÃÂ>´ | | ÃÄ´ /   ÃÄ´   \ ÃÄÄ´/`>Ä75Äo)
F )³/' ³'  `³ ³ / \ ³ ³'  `³³/' ³    ³³ ³  V  ³ ³/    ³ ³    \³ /³/'     Out
  )    ÀÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÂÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÙ ampÀÄÄÄÄÙ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÙ
  )    Filter    ³    1st IF   discrim³  Sound    L.F.   CCIR
  ³             /³\             (PLL) ³  Traps    Cut    405
+12/18v          ³                    ³
fused?           ³                   \³/          H.F.             De-
                 ³          DC-30Hz   ³ >6MHz    Mix  I.F.  F.M. emphasis
              ÚÄÄÁÄÄ¿ AFC   ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿   ³ ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿
     Analoge  ³ /\/ ³   /³  ³--.  ³   ³ ³  .-³³ \ / ³³.--.³³\  /³³-.  ³³\ AF
    digital Ä>´ UHF ÃÄ<' ÃÄÄ´   \ ÃÄ<ÄÁ>´ /  ô  X  ô|  |ô \/ ô  \ ô `>Ä>
    tuning    ³ VCO ³  `\³  ³    \³     ³/   ³³ / \ ³³'  `³³    ³³   \³³/'O/P
              ÀÄÄÄÄÄÙ amp   ÀÄÄÄÄÄÙ     ÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÂÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙ
             local osc                        ÚÄÄÁÄÄ¿ 10.7  disc  50us
              1-2.6GHz  7/   10/          13/ ³ /\/ ³  MHz
                                              ³ HF  ³
                                      Sound Ä>´ VCO ³
                                      Control ÀÄÄÄÄÄÙ
                                             17-19MHz

A   D E D I C A T E D   A T V   R X
                                                  Sound        Adj
  1310ñ10          peaked        2nd IF  Lim       trap  peak De-emp
    ÚÄÄÄ¿    ÚÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄ¿    ÚÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄ¿  amp ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿    _
F   ³,^,³ ³\ ³\ /³ ³.^.³ ³\ ³\ /³ ³.^.³ ³\   ³\  /³³_ _³³ Â ³³-.  ³ ³\ /|
o)ÂÄ´| |ÃÄ´ >´ X ÃÄ´| |ÃÄ´ >´ X ÃÄ´| |ÃÄ´ >Äp³ \/ ô V ô ³ ô  \ ÃÄ´/>ÄÄ75-(o
  ) ³' `³ ³/ ³/ \³ ³' `³ ³/ ³/ \³ ³' `³ ³/  o´ PLL³³_n_³³ Á ³³   \³/³/
  ) ÀÄÄÄÙ    ÀÄÂÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÙ    ÀÄÂÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÙ     tÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÂÄÙÀÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙ
12v from       ³    1st       ³   38MHz   Drive      ³  clipper
@100mA         ³    IF        ³   Q 'R'   control    ³
bulb         ÚÄÁÄ¿          ÚÄÁÄ¿              ÚÄÄÄÄÄÙ         De-emp
     UHF OSC ³/\/³      VHF ³/\/³              ³    ÚÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿    _
      Tuning ÀÄÄÄÙ      OSC ÀÄÄÄÙ         Sound³ ³\ ³.-.³³\  /³³-.  ³ ³\ /|
                                        carrierÀÄ´ >´| |ô \/ ô  \ ÃÄ´/>ÄÄ(o
                                                 ³/ ³' `³³Disc³³   \³/³/   AF
                                                    ÀÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙ
                                                     IF   Sound

These problems not only occur with satellite receiver but on many dedicated
23cm ATV receiver designs using satellite modules as well. Digital satellite
receiver also suffer the same RF short comings, but you will never know the
cause of problem as they just won't work!

TIPS ON POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Not all these solutions can be applied to small modern receivers, the bigger
older ones lend themselves to modification much better. But you will need a
diagram & a good understanding of how the circuit works!

 1/ The +12 or +18V is useful for powering preamps, but a 18V 2W lamp or a 47ê
    5W in series with the 1st supply pin to the satellite receiver RF box is
    recommended to stop accidents & allow S/C aerials in safety.

 2/ Insensitivity can be masked with low noise high gain preamp (eg, 1dB NF &
    40dB gain) but the amplified noise floor from the preamp should exceed the
    receiver noise floor by around 10dB. This is because less preamp gain than
    this will show up the receiver noise & more will reduce the overload
    threshold point.

 3/ A well filtered gasfet preamp will help, or use a good inter-digital
    filter peaked on the frequency wanted. eg your local Repeater O/P. [2] [3]

4a/ For Radar overloads, try a good inter-digital filter, reduce preamp gain, &
    even use a video radar clipper. A suckout filter is not usually any good as
    radars often use 4 frequencies at once. [2] [3] [1]

4b/ For look through blocked by your transmitter, try a good inter-digital or
    suckout filter, also try reducing the preamp gain. [2] [3] [4] [5]

 5/ Again for unwanted images use filters before the satellite receiver.
    [2] [3] [4] [5]

 6/ Halving the IF bandwidth will reduce the noise & eliminate much of the
    nearby radar seen by the demodulator, thus improving the signal. But only
    a re-tweeked IF filter can do this job, receiver with fixed IF filters this
    is not a option. Unfortunately this means that narrowing the bandwidth is
    not possible on many receiver designs!

    Too narrow an IF will eventually loose sound & colour, & give starkly edges
    & syncs. But due to the FM capture effect a noisy P1 picture with heavy
    radar on a wide receiver can be a P3 with little radar on a narrow
    receiver.

    Any reduced colour & sound subcarrier levels from the video demodulator due
    to the narrowed IF can be compensated for with less de-emphasis & a 6MHz IF
    preamp, as the baseband video noise floor around these subcarrier is also
    reduced.

 7/ Add a defeat AFC switch before trying more complex AFC systems. Ideally the
    AFC needs to be a sync tip detecting type for narrow IFs. [6]

 8/ Depending on the demodulator design (PLL/discriminator) try different Rs
    for the loop values, or retuning discriminator coils will give a better
    performance.

 9/ Turn up any video gain preset or modify video amp for 2-3x gain to get
    1v p-p terminated with a correctly modulated source.

10/ Poor LF response, video needs ZERO phase change @ 50Hz so lowest frequency
    needs to be as low as 10Hz. Change any small video handing C for bigger
    values, e.g. 47uF to 470uF into 75ê load.

    Slow down AFC by increasing capacitor values if it is too fast, so that
    video frequencies are not on the AFC control line.

    If the pictures are strong enough use a black level clamp to correct. [7]

11/ Use CCIR 405 video de-emphasis curve, modify the circuit to give correct
    overall video response as required for a narrow receiver. [8]

12/ Add/change/retune sound traps in video path. This reduces patterning in TV
    monitors & video amps that can't handle these sub-carriers linearly.

13/ Change any fixed sound filter to 6MHz & retune sound discriminator coil, or
    on tunable sound systems (10.7MHz IF type), retune HF mixer osc to cover
    5.5 & 6MHz.

REFERENCES
[1] Radar clipper               CQTV 168 p21.
[2] 2 24cm filters              CQTV 187 p36.
[3] 24cm Filter Experiments     CQTV 190 p41.
[4] Look through filter         CQTV 200 p14.
[5] Blocking filter             CQTV 200 p18.
[6] Sync tip AFC                CQTV 169 p21.
[7] Black level clamps          CQTV 198 p17.
[8] Setting FM Levels CCIR 405  CQTV 181 p14.
Some of these references may be found on www.batc.org.uk


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73 De G8MNY @ GB7CIP


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