....and if so what can I do about it?

I have a cobbled-together setup that almost works. I coach swimming, and I
have a small video gadget that links to a Tivo and a TV via one of those
video transmitters that you can get from ebay. I think it is a 1.2 gHz
50mw version.

The kids swim and then watch, and having the Tivo means there's a
continuous flow of action. The problem is that the picture quality is bad.
I'm only 20 metres away and there is a direct line-of-sight from
transmitter to reciever - ocassionally with a body or two in the way; but
even without, there is considerable jumping and colour distortion and
generally a bad picture. If I stand still at just about any distance I can
find a place that gets a good picture, but moving - even turning - makes it
change.

The ceiling and the upper half of the inside walls of the pool are panelled
with strips of aluminium sheathing - about 6 inches wide and 20 or more
feet long. These are separated by about a 1-inch gap along the long edges,
and mounted to a framework (which is mounted to concrete) with some sort of
clip arrangement. This is a box about 220 feet long and 25 feet high.

What's the best guess for improving the picture? More power? Different
frequency? Antenna mounting (I could wear a beanie with it sticking up
from the top - that'd be cool)?

On 1 mayo, 13:43, _
wrote:
...and if so what can I do about it?

I have a cobbled-together setup that almost works. I coach swimming, and I
have a small video gadget that links to a Tivo and a TV via one of those
video transmitters that you can get from ebay. I think it is a 1.2 gHz
50mw version.

The kids swim and then watch, and having the Tivo means there's a
continuous flow of action. The problem is that the picture quality is bad.
I'm only 20 metres away and there is a direct line-of-sight from
transmitter to reciever - ocassionally with a body or two in the way; but
even without, there is considerable jumping and colour distortion and
generally a bad picture. If I stand still at just about any distance I can
find a place that gets a good picture, but moving - even turning - makes it
change.

The ceiling and the upper half of the inside walls of the pool are panelled
with strips of aluminium sheathing - about 6 inches wide and 20 or more
feet long. These are separated by about a 1-inch gap along the long edges,
and mounted to a framework (which is mounted to concrete) with some sort of
clip arrangement. This is a box about 220 feet long and 25 feet high.

What's the best guess for improving the picture? More power? Different
frequency? Antenna mounting (I could wear a beanie with it sticking up
from the top - that'd be cool)?

Hello,

When the multi path effect only affects received signal strength, you
can find many places with good reception and many with bad reception.

Best thing is to try it in an empty swimming hall. Your environment is
stable in that case. Move slowly 1"/s and see what happens. At 1.2
GHz (WL about 10", 0.25m), the distance between bad reception and good
reception can be as low as some inches.

50mW is more then sufficient power for such an indoor application, so
assuming reasonable receive and transmit antenna, increasing power
will not help. You might switch to another channel or look to the
picture with transmitter off to check for interference from a similar
or other system sharing the same frequency.

In case of severe multi path effects bad and good reception may
alternate within a yard (1m). When in the good places the reception is
noise free, signal will have sufficient strength.

With severe multi path, where path via reflection can be many yards
longer then the direct path, not only signal strength, but also
received signal quality is affected (delay spread). In this case
you will find few places with reasonable reception, even under good
signal strength.

Given your equipment (probably Frequency Modulated system with one
receive antenna), a directional receive antenna may give improvement.
The disadvantage is that you need a second person to have the antenna
aimed at the transmitter (in case of moving setup).

If this all is not possible and it must be wireless, you have to
divert to multi antenna systems (space diversity) in combination with
channel equalization or real wide band systems based on OFDM or other
multi path resistant modulation scheme.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Wim
PA3DJS
www.tetech.nl
please remove abc from the address in case of a direct reply.

On May 1, 7:43*am, _
wrote:
...and if so what can I do about it?


yes it seems so...I have seen the same thing with those devices.

it is very difficult to solve, you would need better antennas...

in your case it may be more practical to use a coax wired connection

For electrical saftey around water...be VERY careful that all
equipment is properly grounded, that the outlet grounds are wired
properly and I would also use GFI circuits.

Mark

_ wrote:

I have a cobbled-together setup that almost works. I coach swimming, and I
have a small video gadget

Well that's the first problem. Those cheap video transmitters are
barely worth what you paid for them. There is a huge quality and price
difference between models. Pay $50 and you get $50 worth of video quality.

The ceiling and the upper half of the inside walls of the pool are panelled
with strips of aluminium sheathing - about 6 inches wide and 20 or more
feet long.

Ok, so not really a perfect environment for wireless.

What's the best guess for improving the picture?

Get a better unit. Can you possibly run cable? Either use a better
grade of video cable, or use a video-over-copper extender if the cable
path is pretty long. Oh, and stay away from cheap video baluns too.

More power?

If you have true line of sight, you are probably ok with the power.

Different
frequency?

Is this really something you can change? I mean more than just a
frequency within a range? If you can change bands, then maybe --- that
usually takes dual-radios etc.

Antenna mounting (I could wear a beanie with it sticking up
from the top - that'd be cool)?

The other poster Wimpie is right on. If you think it's multipath, then
either use antenna diversity by using two antennas (which of course your
radio has to support), or try using a directional antenna with a tight
beamwidth. The stronger (higher dbi gain) antenna will have a smaller
horizontal/vertical beamwidth. And so the chances of multipath will be
lessened.

Keith

"_" wrote in message
...
...and if so what can I do about it?

I have a cobbled-together setup that almost works. I coach swimming, and
I
have a small video gadget that links to a Tivo and a TV via one of those
video transmitters that you can get from ebay. I think it is a 1.2 gHz
50mw version.

The kids swim and then watch, and having the Tivo means there's a
continuous flow of action. The problem is that the picture quality is
bad.
I'm only 20 metres away and there is a direct line-of-sight from
transmitter to reciever - ocassionally with a body or two in the way; but
even without, there is considerable jumping and colour distortion and
generally a bad picture. If I stand still at just about any distance I
can
find a place that gets a good picture, but moving - even turning - makes
it
change.

The ceiling and the upper half of the inside walls of the pool are
panelled
with strips of aluminium sheathing - about 6 inches wide and 20 or more
feet long. These are separated by about a 1-inch gap along the long
edges,
and mounted to a framework (which is mounted to concrete) with some sort
of
clip arrangement. This is a box about 220 feet long and 25 feet high.

What's the best guess for improving the picture? More power? Different
frequency? Antenna mounting (I could wear a beanie with it sticking up
from the top - that'd be cool)?

No beanie but, http://www.detroitatvrepeater.com/rcplane.htm
Mike

On May 1, 7:43�am, _
wrote:
...and if so what can I do about it?

Are you holding the transmitter while you're moving?

I am picturing you walking along the side of the pool as the kids swim
from end to end.
It's quite possible you are detuning the transmitting antenna when you
step.

This could be electromagnetic coupling, capacative, or who knows
what??.
The fact that you can stand still and get a good picture is a clue. -
one that would seem to eliminate the multi-path thoeries....

I generally agree you get what you pay for. But at 1.2GHz, these are
going to be very small wavelengths. My first inclination is that this
is not a multipath problem, though it is impossible to tell without
further experimentation, and knowing a lot more about exactly what
type of modulation scheme is being used.

I second the thought about electrical safety around kids and water.
-mpm


.

On May 1, 10:48�pm, mpm wrote:

I second the thought about electrical safety around kids and water.
-mpm

.

Oops, another thought just came to me.
If you're moving the camera / transmitter, it might have a real
chicken-s^it timebase (crystal?) or whatever and could be sensitive to
motion and going slightly off frequency with every bump (step taken).
Maybe you can eliminate this possibiliity by walking very softly.
Like that Karate guy on TV used to do on the onion paper...

On May 1, 9:58 pm, mpm wrote:
On May 1, 10:48�pm, mpm wrote:

I second the thought about electrical safety around kids and water.
-mpm

.

Oops, another thought just came to me.
If you're moving the camera / transmitter, it might have a real
chicken-s^it timebase (crystal?) or whatever and could be sensitive to
motion and going slightly off frequency with every bump (step taken).
Maybe you can eliminate this possibiliity by walking very softly.
Like that Karate guy on TV used to do on the onion paper...

It is almost certainly multipath: The frequency, mobility, and
environment are wrong for what you're trying to do. If you can lower
the frequency - the lower, the better - then this will help. For
example, 72 MHz. You an make it legal by applying for an
experimenter's permit (if in the USA, see FCC form 442).

I'm not sure if you can find any commercial transmitters below 900
MHz, so you may need to DIY.

There may be wireless products for DVB-H, DVB-T which would
theoretically be an improvement.

As one poster mentioned, your best bet may be a cable.

Frank Raffaeli

Frank Raffaeli wrote:
On May 1, 9:58 pm, mpm wrote:
On May 1, 10:48�pm, mpm wrote:

I second the thought about electrical safety around kids and water.
-mpm
.
Oops, another thought just came to me.
If you're moving the camera / transmitter, it might have a real
chicken-s^it timebase (crystal?) or whatever and could be sensitive to
motion and going slightly off frequency with every bump (step taken).
Maybe you can eliminate this possibiliity by walking very softly.
Like that Karate guy on TV used to do on the onion paper...

It is almost certainly multipath: The frequency, mobility, and
environment are wrong for what you're trying to do. If you can lower
the frequency - the lower, the better - then this will help. For
example, 72 MHz. You an make it legal by applying for an
experimenter's permit (if in the USA, see FCC form 442).

I'm not sure if you can find any commercial transmitters below 900
MHz, so you may need to DIY.

There may be wireless products for DVB-H, DVB-T which would
theoretically be an improvement.

As one poster mentioned, your best bet may be a cable.

Frank Raffaeli


What about a plain old modulator?
They make some decent frequency agile ones for whole-house distribution
and whatnot,some have up to ~1W of output. (CATV modulators)