... Just want to say another very big thank you for recommending the NCH Photo Pad image editor program last year. An excellent program ...
In that case, Brian, you might be interested in this image converter from the same stable: http://www.nchsoftware.com/imageconverter/index.html
Free for personal use - the only downside being that you can only process one file at a time - it is excellent for resizing images to suit the forum - if Jamie reads this, he might like to take note!
- and the level of jpg compression can be adjusted to suit. I do a lot of work with png files but with this I can resize and convert to jpg (or any other format) in one operation.
Hi I have not been able to upload pictures to the forum due to size problems, I sent the pictures of my 2000 to Chris and he did them for me, but I can't keep bothering Chris every time I want to put some pictures on!
I had a look at this site but when I clicked on the free download I got a message saying " this could harm your computer" 
Now I could do without that!
I am not that good when things go wrong with software so it would really mess things up if that happened..
Is it just a warning that I need not worry about or is it a real risk?
I would love to get the picture issue sorted but not at the expense of a new laptop...
Any help or caveats welcome 
Rich
... Just want to say another very big thank you for recommending the NCH Photo Pad image editor program last year. An excellent program ...
In that case, Brian, you might be interested in this image converter from the same stable: http://www.nchsoftware.com/imageconverter/index.html
Free for personal use - the only downside being that you can only process one file at a time - it is excellent for resizing images to suit the forum - if Jamie reads this, he might like to take note!
... I had a look at this site but when I clicked on the free download I got a message saying " this could harm your computer"
Hmmm. Very strange! I've been a fan of NCH software for some time, now - they used to make a very good audio editing program freely available for private use that was streets ahead of anything else I've ever tried - including Audacity ...
My PC gives their site a clean bill of health. Downloads for the Pixillion software are available from several sites - perhaps it would be worth trying an alternative, Rich?
When all else fails, read the instructions
My PC gives their site a clean bill of health. Downloads for the Pixillion software are available from several sites - perhaps it would be worth trying an alternative, Rich?
No problems downloading NCH software here either.
I'm pleased to report the MTV9000 VHF/UHF modulator has arrived today from the Dutch supplier, it even had a Euro to 13A adaptor supplied. My only minor gripe is it lackes the RF lead. The fact there's also only two phono sockets (IE: mono sound) may be a problem for some users although I'd imagine full stereo will be available from the SCART socket.
Having found a known good RF lead I put it to the test on the GEC 2015 switched to 625-lines VHF.
Remembering this set has probably never seen a 625-line signal before it was not surprising to find the line lock well out, it's also one ended and remains out of lock for sometime so will have to set up the pre-set line hold control as per manual later.
There was no sound due to defaulting on System B, adjusting for System I gave surprisingly acceptable sound. Pictures are stunning!
Highly recommended. Many thanks again Terry for finding this.
Cheers,
Brian
The fact there's also only two phono sockets (IE: mono sound) may be a problem for some users although I'd imagine full stereo will be available from the SCART socket.
Brian
Nope, it would need a stereo encoder eg.Nicam/Zweitone or other encoder for it to accept a true stereo source to also match the recievers over the air stereo system, If such a standalone animal existed it would be prohibitively expensive for our purposes 
I am not saying such an animal does not exist anywhere, just that it would be uncommon and also not cheap.
Also the fact I have never seen one offered anywhere, ever, (now watch someone prove me wrong! )
To feed normal modulators with a stereo sound signal requires a bit of bodgery by making a resistive 'mixer', or maybe a capacitive one, examples of which has been documented here as well as other fora.
Just my opinion, of course . 
I was thinking of stereo sound from a DVD player for example, even if compressed into mono as it would be from the Aurora which has L & R and video phono inputs. I've yet to try the modulator with a Scart lead to see if this compresses both L&R channels.
At £15 plus £2 postage the MTV9000 modulator is excellent value for money.
Cheers,
Brian
Oh I agree, your modulator is fine, but in common with all other types of "normal/simple" run of the mill modulators, they are necessarily simplish beasts that usually transmit both sidebands in full, with no means of catering for a complex stereo transmission over the air/cable via RF.
There is a way of feeding such a beast with stereo baseband signals, usually by using two resistors to combine the L+R signals at the input to such a beast.
... it would need a stereo encoder eg.Nicam/Zweitone or other encoder for it to accept a true stereo source to also match the recievers over the air stereo system, If such a standalone animal existed it would be prohibitively expensive for our purposes ...
I think that Nicam receivers are very few and far between in the range of preserved TVs and most folk would simply require a simple resistive combiner to provide a source for the mono modulator.
It is a great shame but a large number of professional NICAM encoders have probably been skipped over the past 10 years ...
Traditionally, CATV head-ends used translators to convert the off-air channels to cable channels, thus introducing the minimum of degradation into the signal path.
This was fine until DTV came along. Invariably, one of the muxes sat in the adjacent channel to the analogue one. When DTV muxes were added the CATV head-ends, the error performance of muxes adjacent to the analogue off-airs was very poor. What was happening was the the 8MHz bandwidth of the SAW filter in the translator was also passing a very narrow burst of DTT signal from the adjacent mux. The only solution was to take the off-air signals back to baseband and remodulate them. For this, NICAM encoders were also needed ...
In most, if not all, head-ends, the analogue signals were turned off very early on, thus meaning that all the analogue equipment - including the nearly new NICAM encoders - was now surplus to requirements ...
However, I wonder how many Vintage TVs with NICAM decoders have been restored? If there were many, it might be worthwhile considering a new NICAM encoder project - my memory of the specification is of two ADCs and the necessary logic to generate the digital bit stream - perhaps a certain ppppenguin of this parish might be tempted to take it on using one of the modern high performance processors that abound these days ...?
But, as I say, just how much demand is there? Combining two stereo signals into one mono signal for traditional AM mono reception is simple - as has already been said - requiring nothing more complex that 2 resistors ...
For the benefit of anybody wishing to pursue the NICAM route, a quick Google finds these ...:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1990-06.pdf or its EBU equivalent: http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_i_ets/ ... 63e01p.pdf
This might be easier to digest: http://www.distel.co.uk/data_nicam.htm and, if the special chips are still available, here's a full blown solution: http://techdoc.kvindesland.no/radio/tra ... 526499.pdf
When all else fails, read the instructions
From memory, doesn't the Philips PM5518TN pattern generator have a NICAM encoder in it?
As for the idea of "restoring a NICAM-capable telly" - bit modern, surely?!
... As for the idea of "restoring a NICAM-capable telly" - bit modern, surely?!
I entirely agree, which was why I put a caveat in my post, yet the subject of NICAM does seem to crop up here now and again although I think the term is used in error for creating a mono (analogue) signal from two (analogue) stereo signals ...
However, on the basis of backing things both ways, I did ask (twice) for details of the numbers of restored NICAM TVs in existence.
Like you, though, I'm expecting a large round figure result ...!
When all else fails, read the instructions
... As for the idea of "restoring a NICAM-capable telly" - bit modern, surely?!
I entirely agree, which was why I put a caveat in my post, yet the subject of NICAM does seem to crop up here now and again although I think the term is used in error for creating a mono (analogue) signal from two (analogue) stereo signals ...
However, on the basis of backing things both ways, I did ask (twice) for details of the numbers of restored NICAM TVs in existence.
Like you, though, I'm expecting a large round figure result ...!
Does my 4:3 Panasonic 'Prism' (1991) still being in service count...? I know there are people out there who simply cannot understand why anyone, let alone an old eccentric like myself, would still watch a 4:3 CRT out of choice!
In a month or so's time I am going to become a great-uncle; I have every intention of being the eccentric great-uncle!
