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Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment For discussions about vintage test gear and workshop equipment such as coil winders.

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Old 6th Jul 2013, 7:38 pm   #1
woodchips
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Default Zone Plate Generator

Another find from the depths of the shed. A search indicates that it is some type of composite video tester, my one did come from the BBC. The question is, is it of more general use outside of video? Not really found any understandable description of what it does and why. It is in a very large tin box and the space it occupies could be more usefully employed, unless it is useful.

Thanks
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Old 6th Jul 2013, 9:31 pm   #2
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Default Re: Zone Plate Generator

Purely a video item. It makes a pattern of loads of circles which make certain sorts of distortion and interference visible. Once a high faluting piece of kit.

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Old 7th Jul 2013, 9:42 am   #3
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Default Re: Zone Plate Generator

Hi Woodchips

There are a few collectors of old BBC kit, so there could be some interest in it? so please don't break it up. Here is a BBC heavy duty paper describing the zone plate http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1978-23.pdf

What age is your unit? is there a type number? Picture?
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Old 7th Jul 2013, 4:44 pm   #4
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Default Re: Zone Plate Generator

Ah, it was made, very poorly, by VG Electronics with the chips dated 1979/80. The socketted 74 logic has now joined my misc stock.
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Old 13th Feb 2014, 9:20 pm   #5
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Default Re: Zone Plate Generator

Amazing that you still have one of these. Was it working before you took the 74 chips out? Could it still be got working ?

I'm currently trying to build a 405 line standards converter ( see other thread ) and thought I'd emulate a 2D Zone Plate generator to prove the back end. The VG generator was actually a 3D Zone Plate Generator as it had controls for:
t, y, yt, t^2, y^2, phi, x, xt, xy and x^2.

I've managed to get x^2, y^2, yt, xt, and t implemented so far in a single Xilinx chip.

It would be great to bring it back to life!
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Old 14th Feb 2014, 7:11 pm   #6
woodchips
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Default Re: Zone Plate Generator

Never tested it, didn't then and still don't now know what they do. Isn't it something the standard video generators can do?
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