I’m thinking about getting a simple signal generator – preferably in the 50-100 MHz range – with multiple wave forms for modulating video signals. Are there any cheap ones you know of?
I’m open for DIY/kit suggestions, but I’d prefer just bying a ready made box with some BNC connectors ready to be plugged in.
Where do you source your MHz oscillators? - _ *
Jonas Bers CHA/V video synth is kinda of OG.
Great starting point to learn. He has an updated version 3.0:
but if you want to learn circuit bending electricity into light the first link is a good starting spot.
And if your interested in potentiometers Lo-Fi Future has a pretty easy build:
Lofi also has some gear you can buy since you’re interested in a ready made box.
Thanks. But by signal generator I mean a good old function generator, not a video synth. I already have a synth!
What do you consider as cheap?
I bought one of these and it’s really cheap. The internal reference clock is just a standard quartz oscillator but there are mods to put a more stable one inside. However it can only output a 60MHz sine wave. The arbitrary wave forms only go up to 6 Mhz. But if that is enough for your purpose it will work fine.
I don’t know of any cheap wave form generators that can output arbitrary wave forms up to 50 MHz. If someone knows any please post them here :))
im a fan of this ZEEWEII DSO154Pro 18Mhz - mainly for an entry level scope for inspecting video signals but i use the function generator on this all the time to test my video circuits.
wrote a bit about some entry level scopes here
from memory it goes up to around 1Mhz - has all the usual function generator waveforms (not arbitrary wave forms) - i like that it can go quite slow too - down to like 0.1hz - good for slow changing modulation… - i soldered a 3.5mm socket onto mine to use more easily with eurorack patch cables…
the output is fixed at 3v3pp tho - one thing that i miss from the other cheap function generators like FG-100 / FG-200 DDS is they have adjustable amplitude and dc offset which can be very useful… (otherwise the interface is trash tho) was thinking of adding a small opamp circuit to my ZEEWEII to achieve this same functionality…