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ARVN Amateur Radio Video News  |
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The ARVN Story...
October 2009. For some reason there aren't many high-quality video programs for and about ham radio.* I've been a video editor since the early 1970's, a ham since the mid 60's, and with the advent of affordable, high-quality "desktop video" I decided to have some fun documenting various aspects of ham radio by producing the highest quality video programs I could on a shoestring budget. The 2006 ARDF USA Championships is my first full-fledged production. Last year I finished my second, Digital Voice for Amateur Radio, and I'll throw in a couple of Dayton Hamvention Tours (2007 and 2009). I've got a lot of footage "in the can" waiting for editing (a BIG Field Day, BPL, the Collins museum and club stations). What are you doing at your next club meeting? Who's the market? Hams, of course. At less than $25 for the feature DVD's, I think some individual hams would enjoy having a collection to watch and show friends. But I'm also hoping that clubs will latch onto them as meeting programs. I'll try to keep the programs to 40 minutes or less - that's about as long as most clubs can tolerate. Perhaps you'll let whoever is responsible for your club's programs know about ARVN! I've also been covering some forums and seminars, particularly at the Dayton Hamvention® and the TAPR DCC. Some of these are condensed to "club meeting time," and some are more suitable for individual viewing. Since these usually require less work, I price them lower. Streaming? Profit? Streaming for Profit? As I've described ARVN to many hams, I get two consistent comments.... The first thing people tell me is that hams are cheap. You'll never get them to spend money on these programs. I have enough experience now to show that's not true! Every year we do a little better, and 2009 was our best year yet, despite the recession. I haven't achieved "mass market" yet. But as hams discover ARVN, they've been buying the programs. Alas, ARVN can't be a charity or a free lending library. If I cover my costs and make a little money off of it, I'll keep doing it (the feature programs like "Digital Voice" take over 100 hours to produce, so maybe I need to make more than "a little" money off of it). Second, some hams ask if I'll be streaming the videos on the web. My answer: I want to. But I don't know how to set up a "paid" web streaming system, and I don't have time to learn how. If anyone wants to offer a fully-baked solution, drop me a line. I prefer the high-quality video of DVD, but I know many of you are satisfied with the smaller, lower resolution but very convenient picture you can stream. And these days, the quality gap is growing ever smaller. A few people have wondered if the programs can be played on community access cable TV. So far, the answer is "no." It's still the money deal. Access channels don't pay for programming, and if everybody sees it for free, nobody's going to buy it. If you know a way to make this work for them and me, let me know! You may play them (those that don't have music) over ATV.
Do you have an idea for a program you'd like to see. Are you involved in an activity you think would make a good ARVN Video? Comments on the videos you've seen? Problems? Send me some mail! Other Ham Videos Out There... *Some of the DXpedition videos are very good. CQ Magazine produced a very professional series of "how-to's" back in the early 90's (you'll see my wife, Cyndi KD4ACW, getting bitten by the DX Bug in the DX Video). The ARRL also has a catalog of videos, some for sale and some they loan free. The ones I've seen are in the "home movie" class of production. Many are available only on VHS and they're getting kind of old. Nothing wrong with that! I encourage you to check the catalogs and look for interesting titles. They can be informative and could make a good club meeting program. And there's more and more video on the web. ICOM is producing their own series, and there's a ton of ham video on YouTube and other individual sites. But still, little really polished production. I think that'll make a difference you'll appreciate (and pay for?). I want to give a special plug to this web site: www.amateurlogic.tv. These guys have been putting together a 30 to 45 minute "podcast" video every month or two for several years. And they give it to you for free! Production values are a little rough, but they try some neat stuff. And they get a little more technical than I usually will. And I've recently discoverd the videos of a young ham, Chris N7ICE. He's going to give me some competiton some day! Find him at his web site: 73s.org. His site is also got something called "social newtorking." You know, I'm well aware of things like Facebook and MySpace, but I haven't started playing there. I'm doing good just having some stuff on YouTube. Old dog, new tricks take time. Go Chris! Technical Information ARVN videos are produced in "NTSC Standard Definition" - that's 525 scan lines, 30 frames per second. If you are outside North America, you may need a multi-standard TV/monitor, or a converter to play them. However, I have received reports that the videos play fine on computers equipped for DVD playback. I do NOT restrict them for regional DVD playback. If you're outside the USA and you want to give it a try, I'll refund your purchase if you can't get it to play. For those interested, I shoot with a Sony PD170 DVCAM camera (seen in the photo above), and I edit on Adobe Premiere PRO CS3. I build the DVDs using Adobe Encore. I have a set of wireless mics (two TRAM TR-50 lavs and an EV RE-50 hand mic using Sennheiser wireless TX/RX in the 640 MHz spectrum). This makes "broadcast quality" video with excellent sound. High Definition someday? I'm going to have to sell a LOT more DVDs to pay for that. DVD Playback Problems: "Home made" DVDs are notorious for playback problems, usually freezing, stuttering or skipping. Mine aren't immune. I've scoured the web for information, but I've found no universal solutions. I'm trying the best tips I've found: using high-grade 8x blank media, and burning at low speed (usually 4x), and keeping the encoded data rate below 7Mbps. That seems to have done the trick, and I'm seeing very few returns. If you have a problem with an ARVN DVD, let me know and I'll replace it free. I "spot-check" each DVD before it goes out to make sure it plays, but I can't watch them all the way through. And even if I could, DVDs that play fine on one player may have problems on another. "The movies" - the big Hollywood productions and any other program that sells in the thousands, use a different duplication process (called "replication") that makes more reliable playback. If and when ARVN gets to that level (ok, you can laugh now), I'll go to that process. It's actually cheaper "per DVD" to do that, but it starts with runs of 1000. I'm looking at sales of maybe a couple of hundred, so it's out of range. 73,
Gary KN4AQ |
