Dedicated SSTV Hardware

Currently there are 3 popular choices of dedicated SSTV equiptment, capable of receiving and transmitting SSTV with high resolution color.

Some older commercial equipment often appears at a hamfest, but it only has relic value unless very highly modified. The Robot 70 & 80, and Venus Scientific gear was P7 based and though it may still work, would only be heard on "SSTV nostalgia day". The Robot 300 was a disasterous attempt at P4 scan conversion using a double ended vidicon that did not work out, and the Robot 400 was among the first commercial units to really achieve P4 B&W SSTV in the mid 70's. Many of the Robot 400s were modified for color, but the designer screwed up the color system and the resultant Robot 400C as it was called was a farce and unusable with today's SSTV modes.

The Robot 1200 was the first commercial full color SSTV unit to appear on the market. It was controlled by a dedicated 4 bit microcontroller that was reprogrammed by inserting a new EROM IC sold by some enterprising firmware designers. The initial capabilities of the Robot 1200 were upgraded to handle the Scottie 1, Scottie 2, Martin 1, and Martin 2 SSTV modes, plus a few other less popular modes. Although the Robot 1200 has not been made for many years, many SSTVers did get them, and occasionally these units are seen for sale at flea markets, estate sales, maybe even ebay! An original version would be useless, but if it has the multitude of modifications, it is can be used on modern SSTV, especially if it has interfaces & software for adding PC computer capabilities to it.

A currently available piece of dedicated SSTV equipment is the Tasco 70. The Tasco was designed and is manufactured in Japan. It is a small piece of well designed equipment that can have a color TV camera attached for frame grab. The Tasco 70 can send and receive several of the most popular SSTV modes. The unit can store up to 2 pictures, quite inadequate for how SSTV is used on the HF bands. W9AMR has software available for attaching the Tasco 70 to a PC that greatly increases its versitility. W9NTP uses a Tasco 70 in his SSTV mobile with a TV camera mounted to look down the road as he travels around in his big Suburban truck.The cost of the Tasco varies, usually around $400. 

     Click image for more information on the Tasco 70.

Kenwood also recently got into the dedicated SSTV marketplace with an interesting handheld unit called the Kenwood VC-H1. This unit not only receives and sends SSTV, but also has a built in CCD camera and 1.8" LCD monitor. The unit claims to store up to 10 pictures. A PC connection cable is advertised for storing your pictures, and a mobile cable is also advertised. The list price on this unit is $584, but I see that HRO is discounting them down to $299.95, certainly a record price for an SSTV station!    Click on image for more information on the Kenwood VC-H1.