







                                 OPERATION



          This  is an abbreviated description of how to get the  K3BC  SSTV 

     system  operating. I recommend you use your word processor to  make  a 

     printed  copy  of  this document to  work from! Much  more  detail  is 

     contained  in  TVINFO.TXT. This  program  only  works in DOS. The rec-

     eive and transmit programs break SYNC if run through a DOS Window,how-

     ever, all other programs work fine through a WIN 95 window.  For TXmit

     and Receive,  you must  FULLY  exit into  DOS.  That is,  at bootup in 

     Windows95 click on the START icon  in the  lower  left corner. Of  the 

     5  choices  offered,  now click  on  SHUTDOWN. Of the  3  choices  now 

     offered, click on RESTART COMPUTER IN MSDOS MODE and then on YES. This 

     removes all Windows related stuff and dumps you into C:\WINDOWS. Go to 

     the core directory, C:> and see if you have  an  AUTOEXEC.BAT  and   a 

     CONFIG.SYS. If not, you may want  to  make  a CONFIG.SYS installing  a 

     RAMDRIVE as described below. You will want  to put in an  AUTOEXEC.BAT 

     there with two lines needed for SSTV:


               PATH=C:\WINDOWS

               LH C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE 2048 128

     These can be added if you already have an AUTOEXEC.BAT in C:. SSTV op- 

     eration uses the  C:\TV>  directory .  An INSTALL program is  included 

     in  this package which should now be run. It will create the needed di-

     rectories and place programs and set the parameters to match your video

     card. After doing that return to the RECEIVING section below.
     

     RECEIVING

          If you got the Mode Selection picture screen when you changed  MP 

     to  1  in RT, you  are now ready to copy SSTV.  Reread  the  HELP (F1)

     screen on RT now.  Eventually you'll create a RAMDISK to speed up copy

     ing and provide enough memory for modes 99 (wefax) and 96  (colorfax), 

     but for now we'll just use the C drive, so call up the SYS  CONFIGURA-

     TION with F5 and change line 3050 to DR$="c". Or if you already have a 

     RAMDISK,  put  it's letter designation in 3050. [If you don't  have  a 

     valid  drive  designated here, the machine will remind you  after  you 

     copy the first pix by failing to keep the pix on the screen].  Connect 

     up  the simple clipper interface (schematic in Jan. 1994  QST--a  more 

     general purpose schematic is included herein as pix file  SCHMATIC.FAX, 

     which  you can view by selecting mode 9 in the SS program)  to  serial 

     port 1 or 2 and tune in to 14230 khz to get some audio coming in. Type 

     RT  at the DOS prompt and the mode screen should appear. Hit F5  twice 

     and  check to see that the correct serial port is switched on  in  the 

     SYS  CONFIG.  Now  hit F2 to restart RT. The modes  selected  off  the 

     picture screen do not require ENTER. With modes having two characters, 

     like 99, the second character must be hit immediately or you will  get 

     mode  9 (the allowed delay of 1 sec. between characters is  adjustable 
    
     as described in TVINFO). When you select a specific mode, it will wait 

     for  a VIS code and then start copying. You can tell it is copying  by 

     an  audio tick cue and if in REAL TIME mode, you can see  the  picture 

     being painted. If you missed the VIS by starting late, you can  bypass 

     directly  to copying by hitting any key. Also, in all TV modes  except 

     the AVT modes (5 and 6) the system waits for a 1200 hz line sync pulse 

     before starting. For now hit mode 6 and SPACEBAR to bypass VIS and you 

     should  start  copying. If you get no tick and no noise  picture,  you 

     aren't getting audio through the interface or you're not connected  to 

     the correct serial port and you'll have to either fix that or  reboot. 

     Mode  99  will tick without the interface connected. If  that  doesn't 

     tick, you're probably trying to use a Tandy version of GWBASIC or  you 

     may  have a TSR program which is using too much low memory  and  needs 

     removing  (see TVINFO.TXT). Another possible problem is you  have  set 

     the power supply pin, PN in line 3195 of RT's SYS CONFIG, to the wrong 

     pin  number.  Check the +12 and -12 volts right at  the  IC  terminals 

     after you've activated the program to be sure the interface is getting 

     power.   Once you have the system ticking, let it copy a bit and  then 

     hit H to halt. The multicolored noise will then repaint itself and you 

     can  use the arrows to scroll the picture. To exit the picture,  hit  Q 

     and you will be offered a menu of choices. Now you're ready to copy  a 

     real picture. [Starting with revision K, we changed to a better  copy-

     ing  configuration--but  it  has one disadvantage  in  that  it  needs 

     slightly higher serial port voltages than before, or a better IC  than 

     the  741. We have kept the old RT here as RTOLD.BAS so you can use  it 

     if  you need to. Just rename RT.BAS to RTNEW.BAS and rename  RTOLD.BAS 

     to  RT.BAS. Lowering the 500 ohm isolation resistors in the  interface 
    
     to 100 ohms may also help. Usual symptom is intermittent or no copy.]

          The  system  is configured so you can align it's  timing  in  all 

     modes by just aligning the Scottie 1 mode. It is likely that the first 

     pictures  you copy will not be square--but you shouldn't have to  wait 

     for  a Scottie 1 very long. If the S1 pix leans left as you  copy  it, 

     hit  the lean-right key "/" several times and wait to see how much  it 

     starts  to  square the pix. Each peck at the "/" key gives  about  one 

     pixel offset over the  240 lines  in a picture; ie, 5 degrees of slant

     will take  about 21 pecks  of the  slant key.  Don't just hold the key

     down  as  you  will store an indeterminate number  of  keystrokes  and 

     surely overshoot. The lean-left key "\" does just the opposite. If you 

     haven't  quite  got it square by the end of the picture,  the  program 

     will  tell you what alignment number, LT3 (line timing, mode  3),  you 

     have reached. You can now put that temporarily into line 3100 and  hit 

     F2  to copy another pix to fine tune the adjustment. Once you have  it 

     perfectly  square, SAVE the new LT3. You are now all aligned  for  Re-

     ceive.

          To  align Transmit the LT3 in VT, ALCHVT, LVT, and TVT should  be  

     changed  to the new value NOW! This is found in the SYS  CONFIGURATION     

     in  each  program and is accessed as in INSTALL above  using F5.  Your 

     transmitting programs are now aligned for all modes.

          Go back to RT and copy another picture. Note that you can manual-

     ly  select the copy mode when the sender announces it, or you can  hit 

     F8 and the automatic VIS code detector will switch to the correct mode 

     for  you.  Since the VIS code frequency shift is not very  large,  you 

     need  to be within about 100 cycles of the right frequency for  it  to 

     work.  If VIS doesn't trigger due to QRM, etc., you can still hit  the 

     right  key for the mode, (ie, 3 for Scottie 1) and hit ENTER twice  to 

     still  catch the picture. After copying the pix and Q(uiting) it,  you 

     can SAVE it, Retransmit it, or inspect it with the TUNE screen. Select 
    
     the TUNE screen. This shows the frequency of the first 330+ pixels  in 

     the  pix.  You can scroll through the pix with a  viewing  window  330 

     pixels wide using the same keys as used for picture scrolling. To  see 

     how  close to frequency you were on this pix, key the down arrow  once 

     to get away from the edge of the file, and scroll with the left  arrow 

     to  bring the line sync pulse into view. It should be 1200 hz,  so  the 

     amount it deviates tells you exactly how much you need to retune. Each 

     hit of the down arrow moves you down one picture line, so you can look 

     at several samples and average them if it's noisy. TUNE is useful as a 

     measuring  tool for looking at other's signals, measuring  VIS  codes, 

     etc. You can also access the TUNE screen while copying, but only get a 

     330+ pixel sample, so you may need to key T several times to catch the 

     sync pulse. If someone transmits a calibration tone, you only need one 

     sample.

          The  AVT  modes  have a very long header, so you'll  need  to  be 

     patient to give them time to automatically start. The mode 9  receives 

     FAX480  but  you have to manually start it. If the other  station  has 

     this  system,  his FAX B/W mode 9 transmissions will have a  SSTV  VIS 

     code attached and it will be automatically acquired. 

          Another mode is included, AUTO+SAVE (key F7), which automatically 

     detects  the  mode, copies the pix, and then stores  it  wherever  you 

     choose;  then it returns to receive the next pix. The DEFAULT here  is 

     the  RAMDRIVE which we have temporarily set as "c", so I'd advise  you 

     to pick a separate directory to put these in temporarily. Normally you 

     will  allow  the system to collect and store pictures  while  you  are 

     gone,  and  when you return, you can use either SS (slidesho)  or  TSS 

     (tru-slidesho) to sequentially view them and permanently save the ones 
    
     you like. Then you'll erase the set with a delete. I prefer to use  a 

     RAMDRIVE for this temporary store so it is automatically dumped when I 

     shut down. You can change the DEFAULT choice by changing line 2675  in 

     RT if you decide not to use the RAMDRIVE. In the latest version,   the 

     F7  mode has been changed so it can be used for hands-off  viewing  of 

     the  picture  flow.  As each picture is received, it is  left  on  the 

     screen  until  the VIS is triggered by a new picture.  You  can  still 

     trigger  the mode manually if you want to get a pix that was too  weak 

     to trip VIS. You exit with F5 or F10 as usual. Saving every pix tempo-

     rarily  gives  you  the time later to decide which you  want  to  save 

     permanently. You can even choose a non-existent drive to store pix  if 

     you  want  to use this mode for viewing only. You can still  save  the 

     current pix by exiting and finding the a.p file where all pix are  put 

     for scrolling until a new pix overwrites it.

          In  the above pix copying, if you have experienced a SYNC  break-

     lock (ie; the pix looks like it was cut and the bottom half slid left) 

     you  may have a resident (TSR) program which is interfering  with  the 

     program  or  if the computer is slow, you may need to  adjust  the  GT 

     parameter in SYS CONFIG. I have intentionally made GT lower than  some 

     faster machines need, so you may want to optimise it (GT=138 is  about 

     the max. I've been able to use on my machines. If GT is set too  high, 

     you can get complete loss of SYNC and the screen will show a bunch  of 

     uncorrelated  horizontal  lines).  As before use F5  to  access  these 

     system  parameters. TVINFO has a detailed explanation in it's RT  sec-

     tion on how to adjust GT if you need to.

          When  using AUTO-VIS, F8, after exiting the pix with Q, just  use 

     the default  (ie, ENTER), and you will remain in F8. Or if you want to 

     go back to RT's picture selection screen, just hit F6.
                                        
          It is convenient while discussing a just received pix to be  able 

     to  quick-save a picture you like without exiting it. You just key  F4 

     and  the picture as scrolled at the time will be saved under the  name 

     Q-xxxxx  where  xxxxx  is the number of seconds  since  midnight.  The 

     storage path is specified in RT's SYS CONFIG in line 3280. TSS can  be 

     used at a later time using "Q-" as a file constraint to view,  scroll, 

     and  save permanently those you choose. Then use C:\TMP>del  Q-*.*  to 

     dump the temporary files. F4 only works in trucolor.

          If you have trucolor, another feature is available in RT and TVT. 

     While  discussing  a  received pix, it often is  convenient  to  start 

     locating  one of your pix's in TVT's multi-page album without  dumping 

     the  received picture. This becomes particularly useful when you  have 

     many pix's to choose from and need time to survey them. To accommodate 

     this, a dual screen has been added to TVT with the received pix in the 

     upper left, album pix's below, and the transmit pix to the right. This 

     is  accessed  from  RT while still viewing the just  received  pix  by 

     keying  F9. The dual screen appears and you can select a  picture/mode 

     to transmit next. See TVT below for more info on this.

          Two  new  CONFIG choices have been added to revision  K.  The  IO 

     choice  in  line 3170 of RT allows you to adjust access speed  to  the 

     serial  port  to accommodate large mismatches between  I/O  speed  and 

     microprocessor  speed (more common in 486 machines). RC in  line  3180 

     allows  you to select between best resolution or best color  fidelity. 

     On HF, the best choice will be RC=2 since multipath will almost always 

     limit resolution fidelity. On local VHF, the RC=1 choice may be useful 

     but will require fiddling with the interface balance to improve  color  

     fidelity. Details on both of these are covered in TVINFO.TXT.                                         



     TRANSMITTING

          VT is the View and Transmit program. It is called up from the DOS 

     line  by  C:\TV>vt. By now, you probably have saved some S1  pix's  in 

     full  format (ie, not compressed). So take the DEFAULT choice for  the 

     first  two  questions and choose mode 3. All of the S1  files  in  the 

     current  directory will be listed and you can cursor select one.  Next 

     you're asked what, if any, contemporaneous message you want on the pix 

     header.  The  DEFAULT message is stored in the SYS CONFIG so  you  can 

     change  it. Type in your message  (or pick DEFAULT) and the  pix  will 

     appear.  You  now have a choice of  keying  T(one) to output  a  short 

     1200  cps tone, G(o) to transmit, or Q(uit) to exit the  program.  For 

     now  just  key G and the transmission begins. If you want to  halt  it 

     before it runs out, hit H to halt. After you finish discussing the pix  

     with  the other stations, key Q to go back to a selection screen.  Now 

     hit F5 to look to see if you have selected the right COM port in 2115. 

     With  revision  H,  you have two ways to connect the  output  to  your 

     transmitter; either through pin 7 (RTS) and pin 5 (GRND) on the serial 

     port  as  was described in the original article in Jan 1994  "QST"  or 

     connecting directly to the computer speaker terminals through an isola-

     tion  transformer  (speaker  terminals have +5 volts  on  them).  This 

     OUtput choice is made in line 2120 (see TVINFO.TXT for more  details). 

     Also,  if you have a RAMDRIVE, put it's assigned letter in  2050.  You 

     can get by using your hard drive in lieu of the RAMDRIVE for all modes 

     except  99  and  96. I should mention that this will  be  a  tolerable 

     choice  only  if you have included SMARTDRV.EXE in  your  AUTOEXEC.BAT 

     file.[Windows 95 uses SMARTDRV but for some reason when switching back 

     to DOS, it is shut off. You can turn it back on by C:\TV>SMARTDRV 2048 
                                        
     or to make it more automatic, add SMARTDRV 2048 as a new first line in 

     RT.BAT  or TVT.BAT batch files using EDIT.]  The full capability  will 

     come  from  installing a RAMDRIVE by adding to your CONFIG.SYS  a  new 

     line:  [Recommend you only do this after operating for awhile and find 

     you want to try out the Colorfax high resolution mode.]

               device=c:\dos\ramdrive.sys 3072 512 64/e

     Then when the system is booted up, you note the letter assigned to the 

     RAMDRIVE  and  enter it into the various programs'  SYSTEM  CONFIGURA-

     TIONS.  When  you install it, you now need to modify the  SMARTDRV  to 

     keep  it from interfering. If the RAMDRIVE is designated d:, then  the 

     AUTOEXEC.BAT line becomes:    smartdrv.exe d- 2048 512

     This disables smartdrv operation on drive d:.

          Once  you install a viable Ramdrive, you'll want to include  it's 

     designation in RT, VT, LVT, TVT, and ALCHVT SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS.  As 

     before, use F5 to access the SYS CONFIG as described above. 


     TVT

          The  Trucolor equivalent to VT is TVT. This is like VT  but  adds 

     other  features  which  use the extra pixel/color  capability  of  the 

     Trucolor board. Instead of selecting files for transmission by select-

     ing a file name from a list, it displays reduced size file pix, 10  at 

     a time, across the bottom of the screen. You select one using the  ten 

     numbers  on the keyboard, and it writes in full size on the screen  to 

     confirm  your choice. If you don't like the first 10 choices, then key 

     N(ext)  to see the next ten files, etc. For those of you without  Tru-

     color, we have also added picture album selection of files to transmit 

     with  a  new  program, LVT (aLbum View and Transmit).  LVT,  TVT,  and 
                                        
     ALCHVT  will use the same parameters for SYS CONFIG as VT.  VT  covers 

     transmitting all modes including Robot and FAX pictures. TVT, LVT, and 

     ALCHVT  (used in TR, TG, TT, etc.) cover only the standard SSTV  modes 

     plus Colorfax. When starting out with few files,  answer the File Con-

     straint question with "?" or you probably will see NO small album pix-

     es. Highly recommend you convert 10 or so .JPG or .TIF files to Martin

     1 using TR or CONV before evaluating TVT.

          In  revision  H, we have added the capability  to  transmit  SSTV 

     files in a different mode from that in which it was saved, the  choice 

     of transmit mode being limited to one of equal or less resolution than 

     the original picture file. Note that the other mode either may require 

     trimming  the  pix  edges to fit the new format or  addition  of  gray 

     filler  to  fill the new mode line length. The program does  this  for 

     you.

          TVT has other features which are possible with the trucolor card.

     Like  RT, it now has a picture menu screen (file TX2.S1) which can  be 

     customized to suit your tastes. It gives a choice (F3) to transmit the 

     last  pix  received  (if it hasn't been overwritten).  If  hitting  F3 

     doesn't  paint  a  pix, you've lost your chance, so exit  with  Q  and 

     restart TVT. After you select a pix to send, you then key in the  mode 

     you  want  to send in and the reframed picture is painted in  the  new 

     mode  so you can see what it looks like (ie, was  something  important 

     trimmed off the edges). If you call for a disallowed mode  conversion, 

     the  computer will beep at you. If you want the same mode as  the  pix 

     was saved in, you can either give the mode number or key G to  rewrite 

     in the same mode and also to transmit. As was described above, you can 

     enter  TVT  from  RT by keying F9 while you're still  viewing  a  just 

     received pix. Normally you will then get the dual screen. If you  have 

     large numbers of files, as I do, you have a choice available which  at 

     the  expense of loosing sight of the received pix for a  coupla'  sec-

     onds,  will  give you some file constraint or path or  header  choices 

     which  would have been defaulted. This choice is made in line 2110  of 
                                        
     TVT's  SYS  CONFIG by setting FC=1. Once you have added back  the  one 

     constraint question (which will often be defaulted instantly), you can 

     now access the billboard header (answer "bb") or even a different file 

     path (answer "pt") in the very few cases where you want to. Note  that 

     you must use the same DR$ in both RT and TVT so TVT can find the  just 

     received picture. Note also that once you give a file constraint,  say

     letter F, only file names starting with F will be shown.

          Beyond  revision  L, TVT also has the capability to  Paint  fancy 

     letters or phrases on any picture in real time just before you make  a 

     mode selection to transmit in. Three font files have been installed in 

     TV  subdirectories  F1, F2, and F3. You can select one by  calling  up 

     C:\TV\tvt  and  using F8 to access the LETTERING  CONFIGURATION,  just 

     pick  the desired font and SAVE it with F4. Now, after   selecting   a  

     picture in TVT,  just hit  L  (for Letter) and a  pulsing  cursor 

     will  show  in  the upper left corner of the pix. Use  the  arrows  to 

     position  the cursor (use CTRL and Arrow keys together for fine  hori-

     zontal  motion),  then key in a letter and after a  short  delay,  the 

     letter will paint. Hit L again and the cursor will be positioned for a 

     second  letter (you can move the cursor elsewhere if you like) so  key 

     the  second letter. Using L before each letter, you can key in a  full 

     word  and sit back and wait for the computer to catch up. Five  canned 

     phrases  can be keyed in with F1 thru F5 keys in lieu of a letter.  If 

     you  hit L and decide not to add another letter, the DELETE  key  will 

     deselect the L or you can use the BACKSPACE. If you make a mistake you 

     can  toggle  back  to the previous screen using BACKSPACE  or  if  you 

     really mess it up, key DELETE and return to the original pix to  start 

     over.  If  you  want to toggle over to filling the  letters  with  the 

     Background file, you can key B(ackground) before the L. To toggle back 

     to colored letters, key B again. After calling up TVT, hit F8 to  view 
                                        
     the   LETTERING SYSTEM CONFIG. Play with the color values and  deltas. 

     The  letters and canned phrases are PCX B/W (2 color) bitmap files  so 

     you can make your own with almost any Paint program. TVINFO.TXT  gives 

     more details in it's PCXLABEL section. This capability is also  avail-

     able  in QD and TR, TG, TJ, TT, etc. so you can add words just  before 

     transmit  even  when using CDROM pixes, etc. Since you  may  like  the 

     lettered  pix and want to save it, we have added the ability  to  SAVE 

     the modified pix either permanently under a new name or temporarily in 

     one of two picture buffers, F2 and F7. These pix buffers are  accessi-

     ble  from TVT's transmit screen and can be used to hold a  pix  tempo-

     rarily while you are receiving, etc. until you are ready to send them. 

     For example, you might have a pix all ready to send, and be preempted. 

     To give further flexibility in picture choice, a TRY AGAIN choice (F9) 

     has been added to TVT. It dumps the current picture choice for another 

     try.  Note that pix are painted over the transmit screen so  only  the 

     still available choices are uncovered. For maximum flexibility,  don't 

     select  the final TX mode until just before sending.  [By the  way,  if 

     the lettering cursor leaves "tracks" on the pix change the VP  parame-

     ter in SYS CONFIG. ALCHVT uses the same VP.]

          While  the  VT program above will receive and  transmit  all  the 

     modes  shown in their own full formats or as PKZIP  compressed  files, 

     there  are  pix available in other formats which  can  be  transmitted 

     directly. You, of course, can convert these permanently to one of  our 

     SSTV  formats, but it's sometimes more convenient to convert  them  as 

     you want to View and Transmit them. You may want to pull them directly 

     from a CDROM for example.We include an old shareware program, ALCHEMY, 

     which, as is, will accommodate PCX, JPEG, GIF, TIF, TGA, BMP and  other 

     formats.  As included,  only pix recorded in  640x480  pixels or  less   
                                        
     will  be accepted. If you order the latest version, it  probably  will 

     accommodate  a  wider variety of formats and pixel widths. We  use  it 

     with  it's  output  in TIFF format so it can feed  directly  into  our 

     TIFCONV program to get any SSTV format desired. Several batch programs 

     are included here to create a seamless VIEW/TRANSMIT function.  [Note: 

     a new version of ALCHEMY can be downloaded on the Internet which works 

     with  a  larger variety of JPEG files and has  other  improvements.  I 

     recommend it.].  A great viewing/editing program named LVIEWPRO can be

     downloaded from the internet.  This can be used to crop and resize pix

     files to fit the  640x480  aspect ratio before they are converted.  In

     programs using Alchemy, you'll see a line zipping across the screen as

     Alchemy does it's conversion. If you don't see the dots, you gave it an

     erroneous Path/File Name,  picked a non-supported file format, or  vio-

     lated the 640x480 limit.

          At  the  DOS prompt, you just type TR followed by  the  PATH  and 

     FILENAME of any PCX, JPEG, TGA, TIF, BMP, or GIF file. That is, a file 

     named  GIRL.PCX located in the e:\pcx directory would be done by  typ-

     ing:

          C:\TV>tr  e:\pcx\girl.pcx             and all you have to  do  is 

     answer what SSTV mode you want, and what message you might want on the 

     header.  When  the pix shows, you can key L to  add  lettering.  [Read 

     TR.BAT  to see what's going on here.] This is fine for  single  files, 

     but for large banks of files of a particular format, it's more conven-

     ient to use a different batch file. Incidently, since TR offers a SAVE 

     mode  after you exit the picture with Q(uit), it is a convenient  pro-

     gram to both convert different file formats to SSTV and add  lettering 

     and then SAVE them in the SSTV format.

          The  TG batch file was created so you can cursor select  any  GIF 

     file  from a directory full of GIF files. It is setup to look for  GIF 

     files in a directory C:\GIF. If yours are located somewhere else,  you 

     can  optimise  by  changing  the  DEFAULT  path.  To  do  this,   type    

     c:\tv>tg to access the program. Program will answer FILE NOT FOUND  IN 

     100. Hit F5 to see the SYS CONFIG for PICKFILE. Change line 40 to your 

     desired  DEFAULT PATH, ENTER, move the cursor in the clear and hit  F4 

     to SAVE"PICKFILE. If you want to keep an option of choosing a  differ-

     ent  file path each time, set P=0 in line 30. After saving use F10  to 

     exit and run through the batch file .  Now when you want to transmit a 

     GIF file, just type:    c:\tv>tg      and cursor select any file.  The 

     PATH  can  be a CDROM directory, or any other drive path. Be  sure  to 
                                        
     C:\TV>read tg.bat to see an explanation on how this works.

          A similar program, TJ, transmits JPEG files located in the c:\jpg 

     directory.   The  default  directory  in  this  case  is  located   in 

     PIKFILE.BAS.  Another program, TT, transmits TGA files located in  the 

     c:\tga directory. The default directory here is located in PKFILE.BAS. 

     Read  the  TT.BAT and TJ.BAT to see how this is done, so you  can  con  

     struct  your own batch files. Also note that the TT will allow you  to 

     directly transmit Pasokon files thru this system.

          All  of these "batch file transmit" programs use the  VT  program 

     structure  so the pix to be TXmitted may be DISPLAYED using  the  "256 

     color"  video  mode (excepting colorfax, mode 96, which  can  only  be 

     displayed  on a full trucolor screen). The actual color resolution  of 

     each pixel in the images is 262,144 colors and this full resolution IS 

     DISPLAYED  on the so-called 256 color screen. The trucolor video  card 

     does give a brighter display and allows you to fit the 320x240  images 

     into 1/4 of the screen, but the color resolution is no different.  The 

     actual  transmitted picture is, of course, independent of  what  video 

     card mode is used. For example, my laptop has a B/W screen but a video 

     card with 512 kb. which supports 256 colors on an external monitor.  I 

     use it to copy (in B/W) and transmit images at the full 262,144 colors 

     resolution--even the Colorfax files. Of course, I can't see the color-

     fax  files until they are transferred to the desktop. Now  the  actual 

     color resolution of the images may be filtered down by whatever  proc-

     ess they've gone through. For example, all GIF files have already been 

     permanently  reduced to only 256 colors/pixel. The two byte/pixel  TGA 

     format  used by Pasokon gives 32,768 colors/pixel. JPEG files  give  a 

     much  more complex reduction of fidelity. Some of the digital  cameras 

     have  a small color resolution and give washed-out looking pixes.  For 
                                        
     cartoons,  it doesn't matter. For high quality photos it does  matter. 

     To see the effects, take your highest quality image and convert it  to 

     the various formats and back to the same SSTV format. You can now view 

     four  versions at a time with TSS to make your own  conclusions  about 

     color  fidelity.  It  takes the same time to transmit  on  SSTV  a  16 

     color/pixel picture as it does a 16.7 mil. colors per pixel picture !  

          Another program, CONV, converts PCX, GIF, TGA, JPEG, etc. formats 

     handled  by Alchemy to any of the SSTV formats. Read the  BATCH  FILES 

     part of TVINFO.TXT for more info. I highly recommend that you  convert 

     a  group  of your favorite pix to the SSTV format so you can  use  the 

     picture album selection in LVT or TVT on them. Once you find how  fast 

     and  convenient  this is, you're likely to use  it  exclusively.  This 

     program  uses the TIF program in it's batch sequence, so  check  TIF's 

     SYS CONFIG to make sure that DR$="c", OF=0, and SM=0 when using  CONV. 

     If  you are converting a bunch of files, and the converted  pix  don't 

     seem to have the correct aspect ratio, you may want to change the CONV 

     batch file. In the Alchemy command line in CONV.BAT, the output  shape 

     factor is set to 640x480. Keep the 480 constant and change the 640  to 

     get the desired aspect ratio. This new value, replacing 640, will have 

     to  be  inserted  when you are asked for the  horizontal  pixels.  The 

     modified  BAT file could be renamed CONV625.BAT for a 625  pixel  line 

     conversion. Don't go below the 605 pixel needed for Martin 1 pixes.

          Since  we have added the capability to add lettering and also  to 

     save  pixes  directly  from the TG, TR, TT, TJ,  etc  programs  you'll 

     probably find it more convenient to use them for file conversion.

     OTHER PROGRAMS

          Hopefully  by  now you have gotten enough quick results  to  plow 
                                        
     through  more of the .TXT files to see what other things you  can  do. 

     Also  if  you  want to know more  about  ALCHEMY,  type:    C:\TV>read 

     alchemy.doc      .  Other  programs have their  details  described  in 

     TVINFO.TXT  (under  the  titles in parenthesis below)  and  even  more 

     details when called up at the DOS line. They are:



          TIF         Converts  UNCOMPRESSED TIF files to any  SSTV  format 
                                          (TIFCONV).

          TGA         Converts  UNCOMPRESSED TGA files to any  SSTV  format 
                                          (TGACONV).

          TV2TIF     Converts SSTV and FAX and Wefax to TIF (TV2TIF).

          TV2TV      Converts one SSTV format to another (TV2TV).

          PCX        Adds labels using PCX format stencils (PCXLABEL).

          3D         Creates 3D files from two CAMCORDER pix's (3D).

          QD         Create and directly transmit picture quads (QUAD)

          SS         Slide Show for 256 color video boards (SLIDESHO)

          TSS        Slide Show for TRUCOLOR boards (TRUSHO).

          TG,TJ,TT   Batch files allowing GIF,JPEG,TGA, etc. to be trans-
           and TR    mitted directly. Also for lettering & File conversion
          
          CONV       Batch file to convert GIF,TGA,JPEG,PCX,etc. to SSTV.




     TRUCOLOR SLIDE-SHOW 

          If you have a TRUCOLOR board, type:    C:\TV>tss      and  choose 

     a mode where you have several files existing. Take the default choices 

     for  the  other questions. The first pix should appear. If you  get  a 

     screen  full of slanting lines, recheck the values for BS, BL, and  BP 

     for  mode  112 using VESA as described above. If  that  doesn't  work, 

     you've got one of the oddball video cards, so try the other choice  for 

     BL  in the SYS CONFIG list. That is, Q(uit) the picture and hit F5  to 
                                        
     proceed.  The  only trucolor (ie, BP=3 or BP=4) choices for  BL  I  am 

     aware  of are 1920, 2048, and 2560, but if you still get  slants,  try 

     other values (and be sure to let me know what the other choice was for 

     your  board). SAVE the value that works and install it in all  of  the 

     programs where you installed the VC choice previously. Now you can key 

     N(ext) to see the next file or A to advance automatically (dwell  time 

     on  each slide can be set in SYS CONFIG). When in automatic,  you  can 

     S(top) the advance or restart with G(o). Q(uit) exits the pix  screen. 

     I use the four pix per frame mode in TSS almost all the time.

          SS  works the same way as TSS, but is for 256 color boards.  Both 

     of  these batch files (SS.BAT and TSS.BAT and PK.BAT) should be  copied 

     into your TOOLS or DOS directory so you can call them up from anywhere 

     in the machine (or if you use WIN95, put them in C:\WINDOWS). If,  for 

     example,  you use RT in it's AUTO+SAVE (F7) mode and use the  RAMDRIVE 

     for  temporary storage, you can call up SS or TSS in the  RAMDRIVE  to 

     view  the  new  pix and SAVE the pix's you like  directly  from  these 

     programs.

          This winds up the short Operation instructions. I suggest you not 

     only read Appendices B, C, and D but also all of the UPGRADEx.TXT files 

     to see what else I have missed here. TVINFO.TXT may also be useful for

     additional info, but is ponderous reading, and not completely up to date.


                                                  Have fun,

                                                  Ben Vester, K3BC

     1/8/98


     APPENDIX---A       


                ACCOMMODATING NON-STANDARD VIDEO CARDS

          First, you need to set the programs to match your Video Card.  If 

     it's  a VESA card, the enclosed VESA program will do all the work  for 

     you. Just type C:\TV>vesa. You'll get a printout of the available VESA 

     modes. Only 101h and 112h are used here. If the modes exist,  continue 

     VESA  using the default choice of 112 to determine BS, BP, VP  and  BL 

     for  the card's trucolor operation. Write these numbers down. If  only 

     101h  exists, answer 101 and get the parameters for that. In  revision 

     K,  we have added support for a 65536 color board, VESA mode 111h,  so 

     your  system  might  have that (my NEC Versa V50/C notebook  only  has 

     this mode and uses VC=4, BS=4, BP=2, and BL=1280. It is only partially 

     VESA  compatible).   If the modes don't exist, use Ctrl-Break to  exit 

     VESA  to avoid possibly having to reboot. If you get an error  message 

     and OK with a blinking cursor, you are looking at the BASIC screen and 

     need to type SYSTEM to get back to the DOS prompt. 

          Go  to the DOS line and type: c:\tv> vu  and ENTER. You will see a 

     description  of the VUing program and at the bottom a question  as  to 

     what  picture  MODE you would like to view. If you had  a  VESA  video 

     card, you can now choose F5 to bring up the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION panel 

     and locate and, if necessary, change the values for BS, BL, and BP and 

     SAVE them following the instructions given there. Then hit F2 to reRUN 

     the  program.  There are two sample pix included (M1  and  FAX),  so 

     select either (7) or (9). The next question asks where the pixfile  is 

     located. Normally it will be in the current directory, so that is  set 

     as  the DEFAULT choice. Just hit ENTER to make the DEFAULT choice  (if 

     the  pix were in an XX directory, then you would answer   c:\xx\   and 
            
     ENTER). The picture files in the selected directory will now be  list-

     ed.  Cursor select and ENTER. Next you are offered a choice  of  Video 

     Cards.  The  newer cards are VESA compatible so that  is  the  DEFAULT 

     choice. Your VESA card should give you a picture and you can skip  the 

     next paragraph.

         [ The 6 other VC choices are for several older cards which can  be 

     addressed directly without requiring you to use a VESA driver. If  you 

     get  no picture with a choice, then hit Q(uit) to exit and hit  F2  to 

     try  another  choice.  The picture gets painted in  strips  which  are 

     about 1/5 of a screen tall--the strips should join seamlessly. If they 

     overlap when written, or have a black gap between strips, you need  to 

     reset  the BANK SHIFT parameter, BS. BS too low gives an  overlap--too 

     high  gives a gap. To access the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION list where  this 

     BS value is kept just hit F5. Follow the instructions there to  change 

     BS  in line 2045 temporarily and key F2 to rerun. Save VU (hit F4  and 

     ENTER)  after  you find the right value. BS is only  effective  in  VC 

     choices 4, 5 and 7. If your card is one of the other choices, and  you 

     ONLY  need  BS adjustment, you'll have to find a VESA driver  for  your 

     card  and use VC=7 (or write me and we'll try to accommodate you).  Or 

     if  you  don't get anything resembling a picture, your  card  may  not 

     support  640x480x256 SVGA. If you're sure that it does (must  have  at 

     least 512k. of memory) you need to get a VESA driver from the manufac-

     turer to interface with. The VESA program can be used after installing 

     a VESA driver to see what you got. Be sure to set TC=0 in the  various 

     SYS  CONFIG's if your card supports only 256 colors.  Read  TVINFO.TXT 

     for further help if needed.]

          After getting a proper picture, exit with Q and key F5 to  perma-

     nently  set the VC in line 2030. If both 7 and another choice  worked, 
                             
     set VC=7. You can now also get rid of the manual card choice each time 

     by setting V=1 in line 2020. Insert the values determined for BS,  BL, 

     and BP. Follow the instructions to SAVE the new CONFIGURATION. While in 

     the  CONFIG  list read the other parameters. You can play  with  these 

     later.   BL and BP will be used later when we try the TSS   (trucolor) 

     program.

          Now  we need to insert this VC choice, and put in the values  for 

     BS, BL, BP, and VP (as determined by VESA.BAT above) in all the  other 

     programs.   Use INSTALL2  to do this using  whatever parameters worked 

     above. In all of these cases, you have read the opening screen, so you 

     know what these programs do. In the case of RT, you can make a further 

     change to activate the picturized mode selection screen by going  back 

     to  the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION list (using F5) and changing to  MP=1  in 

     line 3230. Note that if you hit F4 to SAVE and change your mind before 

     ENTERing, you can backspace to remove the writing. BE SURE to move the 

     cursor into the clear before hitting any F key as the F key will  type 

     whatever letters are prestored in it right where the cursor is  blink-

     ing! If you accidentally overwrite this way, move into the clear,  and 

     use F10 to go to DOS and start over again.
                                


     APPENDIX----B
 

                               3D.BAS

          This is a new program added in  Rev C that creates 3-dimension 

     picture  files in our SSTV formats. It is not a synthetic  3D  pro-

     gram,  although  you can get some synthetic depth of  stuff  pasted 

     over the picture files with the LABEL program. It uses the original 

     "two  camera" approach for 3D. You use your video camera  and  frame 

     grabber  to  capture two pictures of a scene, a RIGHT eye  pix  and 

     after  moving  the camera a distance about like your  eye  spacing, 

     capture a LEFT eye pix. It's hard to keep the pointing angle right, 

     so pick some vertical feature in the scene--note where it is in the 

     frame  grabber screen w.r.t. the letters below the screen.  On  the 

     second pix, adjust the camera pointing to keep the vertical feature 

     only a few pixels from where it was on the first pix. The magnitude 

     and  direction of this offset can be estimated by closing each  eye 

     alternately  and  noting what the apparent shift is from  Right  to 

     Left  eye. The final product picture should only show a few pixels  of 

     "red  shift"  as seen without the 3d glasses. If  the  glasses'  color 

     bandpass  matched  the phosphor colors of your C.R.T., then  the  "red 

     shift"  would be of no consequence, since you couldn't see  it.  Until 

     color  matched glasses become generally available, assume  the  person 

     receiving  your  pix  will not be color matched  and  limit  the  "red 

     shift".

          I  store  both of these TIF files in the  RAMDRIVE,  then  use 

     TIF  to  obtain two  picture  files  in  the  desired  mode,  using 

     RIGHT  and LEFT as file names. These feed directly into the  3D.BAS 

     program. Use your 3D glasses to see if the result is  satisfactory. 

     Slow-scanners  seem enamored of synthetically derived 3D where  you 

     take a series of single images and by displacing color frames a few 

     pixels  can get discrete depths for the different images used.  You 

     can get the same effects using the LABEL programs, but it's labori-

     ous. When you put your call  sign on these 3D pix, you can get  the 

     same  effect by pasting the same label on both RIGHT and  LEFT  pix 

     but  displaced a few pixels from each other. You can find out  more 

     about  this by playing with it. You'll get lots of advice from  the 

     synthetic enthusiasts---not all of which is applicable to the clas-

     sic two displaced camera approach which this program is closest to.

          If  you're recording 3D pictures in the field with  your  cam-

     corder, be sure to voice record whether you are in a RIGHT or  LEFT 

     eye  position. KB9MC has located a source for 3-D glasses in  Cali-

     fornia; Reel 3-D Enterprises--tel:(310)837-2368.

     

     APPENDIX----C


                              QUAD.BAS

          This  program  is called at the DOS line as QD and  it  offers  a 

     quick way to assemble any four files that were saved in the same  SSTV 

     format into a four picture "quad" which can either be saved as another 

     picture  file or immediately transmitted. It's primary use will be  to 

     instantly playback four pictures that were just received. It would  be  

     useful for net operation and more efficient than using S2 , for  exam-

     ple.  It allows you to play back groups of pix previously  stored  for 

     comparison  by others. Or maybe a medley of pictures of your  favorite 

     grandchild, etc.


     APPENDIX----D

                                HEADERS

          The  original  16 line "shades of gray" header was made  red  and 

     green to give some "color" to the initial part of the pix and also  to 

     demonstrate  the  smoothness  in color graduations you  get  from  the 

     system's  262,144 color capability. Noticing other headers showing  up 

     on the air, we decided to add multiple choices. It was extremely  easy 

     to  do  with a few pokes. First we added a flat gray  billboard  which 

     offers  constant contrast across any messages you might add.  Then  to 

     extend the choice to anything you can dream up, we added a pix  header 

     choice  to the two most used modes, S1 and M1. The header type  selec-

     tion  is located in the SYS CONFIG lists in LVT and TVT. If  you  pick 

     the  pix choice (HD=3), you are offered a chance to pick  a  different 

     header on every picture transmitted--or keep the same one by  default.
                                                       
     This package contains two pix headers (numbers 1 and 2).

          The procedure for generating header pix's is a little involved:

     (1)  First,  create  a numbered picture file, say  HDR12.TIF,  in  TIF 

     format which is between 610 to 640 pixels wide and 34 pixels down. You 

     will  typically take pix with other aspects and stretch them  to  fit. 

     This is standard practice in pix manipulation programs (like LVIEWPRO). 

     Now  take the TIF file and using our TIF program convert the  file  to 

     2 pixes in SSTV format, S1HDR12.S1 and M1HDR12.M1. View these with VU, 

     SS,  or TSS. Now to get these into an assembly language  module,  type 

     the following:

          C:\TV>debug s1hdr12.s1

          -m100 4000 4f00:100

          -q

               When the DOS prompt reappears:

          C:\TV>g

               And the BASIC screen appears. Just type two lines, then:

          def seg=&h4f00

          bsave "s1hdr12.asm",&h100,&h4000

     To return to DOS line from the BASIC screen, type SYSTEM and hit ENTER.

     You  now  have a number 12 pix header stored for use on S1  mode.  The 

     same  procedure  is  used  for  a  number  12  header  for  M1,  using 

     M1HDR12.M1.  Keep a descriptive list of these to help you  choose  the 

     right number. The chosen one shows up in TVT when you choose M1 or S1.  

          I  have  chosen to eliminate painting the Default  message,  CS$, 

     when  using  the  pix header. If you want to keep  it,  eliminate  the 

     letters:  CS$="":  in line 4025 of TVT and in line 164 of LVT.



     January 18, 1998


