Rick Peterson, WA6NUT, in Colorado, is promoting FreeDV plus Video, a digital voice-plus-video application for HF. According to Peterson’s QRZ.com profile, FreeDV plus Video is a soundcard-based scheme to add a 1 frame/second, 36-line video image on the receiving station’s PC display. The signal bandwidth is 3.5 kHz, so it may not be compatible with all HF transceivers. The scheme is compatible with the 1600 mode of FreeDV, however, and no special hardware is needed.

It’s not quite Skype or Google Hangouts, but the receiving station can see a small image on their computer display. WA6NUT has posted a brief demonstration.

The recording shows the video receive screen with RXfftDIFF7K and WinWarbler applications running. The live video from WA6NUT is seen on the RXfftDIFF7K user interface, while on the transmit side FreeDV is handling the digital audio. The WinWarbler waterfall automatic frequency control (AFC) tracks one of the 64 subcarriers. The receiving station tunes to maintain a 2.100 kHz reading on the WinWarbler AFC readout, compensating for drift on both transmit and receive sides.

A Yahoo! group has been set up for FreeDV plus Video enthusiasts. — Thanks to Southgate Amateur Radio News; WA6NUT