11-09-2020, 10:20 AM
You've probably seen that the Auroras have moved to a new web page: https://www.tech-retro.com/aurora-design/legacy.html Now called a legacy product and no facility for buying online. This is why I emailed Darryl a few days ago at: darryl ***at**** tech-retro ****dot*****com (disguised address) where we have corresponded for many years. No reply, though the message didn't bounce.
At last contact I had with Darryl in May this year he was certainly considering not making any more SCRF converters and it's possible that the current batch have all been sold. We discussed the possibility of making the design fully open source when production has finally ceased. In theory this would allow anyone with sufficient ability to make and modify them though I can't see that happening. In practice it would really be for study and curiosity.
If you need a 625>405 converter at the moment you can buy a fully assembled Hedghog (note unusual spelling) from Stephen Evans in Falmouth, Cornwall.
smevans ?>?>at%$%$%$btinternet"£"£"£dot^&^&^&com (disguised address)
You can also build one yourself to Frank Cuffe's design though you need decent surface mount soldering skills. Personally speaking I'd use Stephen's service: https://electronics.frankcuffe.ovh/hedghog-ii
For basic picture quality there's nothing to choose between the Aurora and Hedghog converters. The Hedghog has a few more bells and whistles, with all user controls on the front panel. The Aurora has better testcard facilities. It can capture a stationary video image and store it in flash memory. The Hedghog is limited to a fairly simple test chart generated in the FPGA.
Disclaimer: Both Frank and Stephen are friends who I have met on various occasions. I regard Darryl as a friend but we've not yet had any opportunity to meet. We've been corresponding since 2004 since he did his first work on standards conversion. Both Darryl and Frank have given me evaluation samples of their converters. You can see my writings on standards conversion on my website.
At last contact I had with Darryl in May this year he was certainly considering not making any more SCRF converters and it's possible that the current batch have all been sold. We discussed the possibility of making the design fully open source when production has finally ceased. In theory this would allow anyone with sufficient ability to make and modify them though I can't see that happening. In practice it would really be for study and curiosity.
If you need a 625>405 converter at the moment you can buy a fully assembled Hedghog (note unusual spelling) from Stephen Evans in Falmouth, Cornwall.
smevans ?>?>at%$%$%$btinternet"£"£"£dot^&^&^&com (disguised address)
You can also build one yourself to Frank Cuffe's design though you need decent surface mount soldering skills. Personally speaking I'd use Stephen's service: https://electronics.frankcuffe.ovh/hedghog-ii
For basic picture quality there's nothing to choose between the Aurora and Hedghog converters. The Hedghog has a few more bells and whistles, with all user controls on the front panel. The Aurora has better testcard facilities. It can capture a stationary video image and store it in flash memory. The Hedghog is limited to a fairly simple test chart generated in the FPGA.
Disclaimer: Both Frank and Stephen are friends who I have met on various occasions. I regard Darryl as a friend but we've not yet had any opportunity to meet. We've been corresponding since 2004 since he did his first work on standards conversion. Both Darryl and Frank have given me evaluation samples of their converters. You can see my writings on standards conversion on my website.
www.borinsky.co.uk Jeffrey Borinsky www.becg.tv
