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By Thomas J. Keene.\\ 
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The following article was made available to us by the author who is also editor of the Inland Empire ADAM (IEAUG) FROM THE PAGES OF AVISA THE NEWSLETTER OF THE VISA (Canada) AUG. 
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By Thomas J. Keene.\\ 
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The following article was made available to us by the author who is also editor of the Inland Empire ADAM (IEAUG) Newsletter.\\ 
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Not all of us have an 80 column screen. In fact, most of us do not. A recent survey disclosed that fewer than 10% even had a monitor. None of this is a surprise to me. I too do not have an 80 column screen. Although I do have a couple of superior monitors, I still do most of my computing with a 26 inch television screen. The image quality of this television is extremely sharp and brilliant and the color quality leaves nothing to be desired. But it was not always thus!\\ 
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I started out on the ADAM with a Module 3 Colecovision. It is still my ADAM of preference even though I own five ADAMs. This Module 3 is not only my first ADAM, it is the one I use the most. There is nothing wrong with the others and the Module 3 has no advantage over the stand-alone ADAM. But it is set up the the way I like it and there is no reason to change.\\ 
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There was one drawback to the Module 3 and that was it didn't have a video monitor outlet. Many years ago, I added a cathode follower transistor in the video circuit and that provided a low impedance video output which I could use with a video moni or, if I wished. But that wasn't what I had in mind at the time. I, like many others, found that the modulator that Coleco used to provide a TV channel 3 or 4 RF output was a pretty sorry design. It was weak (I measured mine at -15 DB) and was noisy and susceptible to stray RF interference. It provided a decidedly inferior screen image. I have found this to be a fault in all five of the ADAMs I own and every one of a large number of my friends' ADAMs using the Coleco modulator.  \\ 
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Chanel 3/4 modulators have been available in huge volume for years at prices under $5.00. These were no great shakes, but even so, they were superior to the Coleco modulator. I enjoyed a vast improvement in my video image as soon as I installed one of these cheap modulators. Later, I got a VIDICRAFT "GUARD STABILIZER-RF CONVERTER". I bought it to remove the copyright signals that were in vogue at one time to prevent copying videotapes. That system was poorly conceived and didn't stay on the market long. So I adapted my VIDICRAFT unit to my ADAM.\\ 
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It worked fine. But I would never recommend it for that purpose, because it was too expensive and it wasn't the greatest modulator either. It was better than the "el cheapos" and vastly better than the Coleco modulator, but it had room for improvement.\\ 
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Being dissatisfied with my set up, I looked around and found an inexpensive modulator listed in the Radio Shack catalog. It sold for $26.95 so I bought one. At that price I couldn't go very far wrong. I was pleasantly surprised at what a great signal it put out!. It performed as good as modulators selling for over a hundred dollars and better than most. It comes with an external power supply (small) that permits using it from your standard 115 volt AC house supply. It has a switchable input of 1000 ohms or 75 ohms video. It has RCA phono jack inputs for both audio and video. The RF output is switchable to channel 3 or 4 and uses a standard TV "F" connector for it's 75 ohm output. It is small (measuring 3" by 4.5" by 1" thick). It draws less than 20 milliamperes. It runs so cool I leave mine turned on all the time. I measured the output with a SADELCO DIGIT-LEVEL-200 field strength meter and found it to be +7.2 DB on channel 3.\\ 
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The Radio Shack Catalog has a poor index and you may have a difficult time finding it in there, so I will give you the description. It is an RF Modulator, part number 15-1273.\\ 
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So, if you are using a TV receiver instead of a monitor, this Radio Shack modulator may significantly improve your video signal, whether your ADAM is a stand-alone or a Module 3.\\ 
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Thomas J Keene,\\ 
IEAUG.\\ 
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EDITOR'S NOTE.\\ (EDITOR ADVISA / VISA). 
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Although I use an NEC composite monitor on my 2 main ADAM's I do have several colour TV's sitting in the basement that are suitable to act as monitors for the third ADAM which I use to format DDP's using MEGACOPY III. The quality of video presentation via a TV being somewhat less than the same through a monitor, I decided I would check into the availability of this inexpensive modulator through the local Radio Shack Store. Here is what I found.\\ 
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On phoning the local store, I was informed that the Canadian parent company, whose name I never did decipher from the phone conversation, is not the same as that in the US. Now, that in itself was not too shocking, because this is true of many of the organizations whose businesses operate on both sides of the Canada-Us border.\\ 
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What was a shock, was the information that very little similarity exists between the Canadian stock and the US stock.  The catalogues are, apparently, quite different, and I suspect that we Canadians are, as usual, being gouged for whatever we buy in the belief that we are being offered the same goods as are offered to our American cousins. 
 
The Canadian catalogue does not include this or any modulator.  If it isn't there, you can't get it. So that's the story. BDC. 

