 Remote Control TV Tower
Submitted to Parallax by Tim Yoos
My name is Tim Yoos and I am an engineer for WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, WV a problem was presented to me to see if I could build an affordable solution of remote control or a live truck receiver at a new remote location. The manufacturers remote controller retails for approximately $10,000.00 so we built one to suit our needs with the BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller for under $1,000.00
 Our studio needed to be able to control a Nucomm central receiver and 4 bay antenna unit for the ability to tune in live shots at the remote site that is located approximately 42 miles away. I was able to meet this design goald using the BASIC Stamp module. The studio unit consists of a BS2X-IC, 4 buttons for antenna control (North,South,East,West) and a BCD thumb wheel for channel selection, also a Scott Edwards 2 x 16 serial lcd display. The studio unit sends its data to the remote unit serially, a rs232 line driver converts the BASIC Stamp module's 5v ttl serial logic to +12 -12 rs232 specs. The data then travels from the studio to the remote site 42 miles away via wireless microwave data network the same network that also provides the video and audio feeding back to and from the remote locations.
 The remote unit interfaces to the third party equipment, rs232 serial data is then converted back to the +5v logic the BASIC Stamp module understands. Commands received then turn on any of the 8 outputs that make up the channel selection and antenna direction. the microwave receiver has a 0 to 5vdc output for a remote signal strength meter. I used an ADC0831 8bit ADC to convert the 0-5v signal to the remote BASIC Stamp 2sx. Lastly, the recorded sample is then sent back to the studio unit serially to display on the LCD display.
Related information
Nucomm Newscaster CR Television ENG
http://www.nucomm.com/prod.cfm?id=020 |