Agile Modulator

[Don Cavey]

Well, last night I hooked up my Blonder Tongue Agile Modulator. I used a Verizon digital converter as the source. Input was video and mono audio. I connected a 75Ω -300Ω matching transformer. Since my rabbit ears need new cable, I just connected two jumper cables to the leads of the matching xformer. Channel 7 is what it is. That is good since I live in Baltimore and Channel 7 was Washington, DC.

What a surprise. I used a Sony FD-20 portable TV and was able to walk about 50-75 feet into the back yard away from the modulator. Much better than I expected. I will have to reduce the gain of the modulator so that it only works in the house. Don't want the FCC to be a knocking on the door.

Thanks for all of the advice. Now, I can run the B/W TVs in the house with no 75Ω cable running to them. Rabbit ears will look nice
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Don

[philsoldradios]

Yes, I'm in love with my B-T agile modulator setup. For input I normally use one of our satellite TV receivers.

I find it very convenient when working on a vintage TV. Just hook up rabbit ears. As opposed to fumbling with a maddening armload of three separate devices, interconnected by cables and each with its own power cord (let's see, I need a DVD/VHS player, RF modulator, video stabilizer . . . sheesh).

It's liberating to be able to use old TVs with rabbit ears anywhere in the house -- as Nature intended!

Phil

[sofaslug]

I have a B-T agile modulator kicking around and never thought to do that -- great idea.

Those things are really nice. Somewhat expensive when new, but you could sometimes find them for a decent price on ePay. The quality of the picture was *way* better than what you'd get from a cheapo channel 3/4 modulator.

Bob

[radiorich]

Hello Don,
Yes I have seven of those units
Rich
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[Delcoman]

Can you reduce sinusoidal depleneration with Blonder Tongue Agile Modulators?
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Michael T. Downes

[Rene]

Amen to the B-T agile modulators! I have 3, one is fed by the dish receiver, and one by a DVD player.

[cwmoser]

Not familiar with the Blonder Tongue Agile Modulator. Do you hook up an antenna in order to transmit the signal to the TV with rabbit ears?

Is there a specific model number of Blonder Tongue that gives this capability?

CW

[Don Cavey]

[philsoldradios]

I have a Blonder-Tongue AM60-550B. That is more powerful than the AM60-450, although either should suffice for home broadcasting.

It can be tuned to any VHF or cable channel by setting little DIP switches. There's a little pull-out chart that tells you how to do this.

You can use any video/audio source for input -- satellite receiver, DVD/VHS player, digital converter box, etc.

Your antenna can be practically anything. I had good success using a plain set of rabbit ears to transmit. I'm currently using a length of wire maybe 10 feet long tacked on the ceiling.

I bought mine used on eBay for $26. There is one currently at auction with a high bid of $29.99. If you search for "blonder tongue agile modulator" you'll see them advertised at prices all over the map. Of course, you don't want to be the dope who pays hundred$ to an eBay store for something that can be found for much less.

There are other models and methods . . . this is a simple one that I've used.

Phil Nelson

[Johnnysan]

Orchard also makes a video/audio modulator that works well. I have 3 of the IFM-1000, which can be set to any VHF or UHF channel. I decided to modify mine, as it has F connectors for video and audio input, so I changed them to BNC and RCAs. Also, it has video and audio IF outputs and inputs, so I just jumpered these internally and left the original F connectors where they were. The RF output is an F connector, which I left the same.
If you get one of these, make sure you use the RF output and not the Test Point output (which is 30dB lower); I did this, and wasted a good 10 minutes trying to figure out why the signal was so crappy just 45 feet from the transmitter.

[sofaslug]

I don't remember the model number of mine, but it has an LED read-out of the station that it's set to. They made at least two different models like mine. Both had VHF, but differed in whether they had BC UHF or the cable band channels.

Bob