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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ucbvax!ucdavis!lll-crg!seismo!brl-tgr!tgr!d3unix!jhs@mitre-bedford.ARPA
From: jhs@mitre-bedford.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.ham-radio
Subject: Re: VOYAGER II transmissions
Message-ID: <300@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 4-Dec-85 15:16:17 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.300
Posted: Wed Dec  4 15:16:17 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Dec-85 16:21:31 EST
Sender: news@brl-tgr.ARPA
Lines: 26

Re: slow-scan equipment.

My cousin John Hain, N4AZY, has developed slow-scan hardware and
software for the ATARI 800XL computer.  It works very well and is flexible
enough to cover many different slow-scan modes of operation.  The interface is
fairly simple, using only about 8 IC chips and connecting to the "joystick"
port of the ATARI.  The same interface will also allow you to copy RTTY with a
software change (though this has not been tested yet.)

The ATARI 800XL sells for about $99 at places like Toys Ya Us (where Ya is the
Russian Cyrillic character that looks like a backwards R).  It is the best
of the cheap personal computers for graphics applications requiring rapid
response, e.g. animated arcade games.  For convenience, a disk drive costing
about $175 is also desirable.  The slow-scan software could probably also
be made available on a cassette or a ROM module if anybody wanted it.

N4AZY has also developed a Morse keyboard program for the ATARI which
requires just one external relay driven by the cassette motor start/stop line.
He and I are working on a modification to the slow-scan/RTTY interface which
will let it copy Morse code also (with still more software).

N4AZY can be contacted via his Huntsville, Alabama address as given in the
Callbook.

						73,
						John S., W3IKG