Amiga Video Terminal - Get it CHEAP!

[Rabbi]

Looks like this puppy is used with an Amiga as a slow-scan television interface & would be used on the HF amateur (ham) radio bands.  W/o instructions and a possible h/w driver, is not of much use.

Being a kosher ham radio operator myself (U.S. General class license), I just might decide to bid on it out of curiosity.

My only question being, is it a 5-finger special.  I would've thought that the seller would know what he's got or at least have a manual & a s/w disk for it.  It could be from an estate sale, too.

[Rabbi]

Yeah, I saw the link to Surplus Sales, but missed the Wikipedia reference.  I placed the bid.

Nlandas wrote:
Interesting - Wikipedia has an entry on the technology and a nod to the AVT.

This company claims to have new in stock for $169. Amiga AVT

[Rabbi]

Not even in the first group of web pages archived in the Wayback Machine @ http://www.archive.org under www.blackbelt.com instead of www.blackbeltsystems.com that they are now using is there any mention of Amiga anymore.  I remember an SSTV program that Black Belt had for sale for the Amiga @ US$39.95 that I lusted after when it was listed a couple years earlier on their web site when Amiga stuff was included.  I wish I had bought that back then.  Oh well! :roll:

Black Belt Systems, aka Ben Williams, is still alive and kicking, and still admit to building AVT:

http://www.blackbeltsystems.com/bx_cor2b.html#gphist

However, nowhere on their web pages do they mention Amiga, not even in relation to the AVT! Like many other such outfits, I doubt Ben would talk  to you about former Amiga products or support, espcially given the HAM-E history.

[Rabbi]

Well, I won it.  I wrote to Ben, AA7AS, at his company's web site, Black Belt Systems asking him if he still had the AVT version 5.1 program for sale, as well as his Board Master PCB program for the Amiga that he used to design the layout of the AVT.  He wrote me back that it'll take him a couple days searching in a warehouse that's not too close to see if he's got any still there.  He said that he'd like to put the old Black Belt Systems Amiga programs up to D/L (for free?) but that a project like that requires more time then he currently has.  I'm planning on possibly getting some assistance for this project, so no one, please do not e-mail him any further about anything Amiga, or this might spoil our chances of getting this done.  I will update this further when there is something to report, but please be patient in the meantime.

My last request/project like this was AmiBroker, and that was successful.  Let's hope I can be successful here, too.

BTW, there's a discount price of 50% for his WinImages program for Amiga Imagemaster R/t owners.  :-D