Hello- I’m trying to output to an XY monitor, to create the Rutt-Etra style effects with live action video footage. I’ve done this before using my Visual Cortex and Video Blending Matrix, But this time I just cannot get it to work- I’ve tested all my cables, checked the video output is working. It seems Horizontal and Vertical ramps just won’t put out a live video signal to my Oscilloscope, just a basic square image (see photo). What am I doing wrong? Help! Has some jumper fallen off of the back of my module?
thanks,
Alex
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What do your ramps look like on a video monitor?
Does your scope want a stronger signal than Cortex’s 1V ramps?
Here is the recommended Vector re-scan workflow:
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Hi- thanks for the advice. I have used the same oscilloscope (on xy settting) before and it worked with the VC. I’ve tried this with a modded Vectrex as well and the same block pattern comes up. It’s as if the live action video signal isn’t getting through to the ramps. Did you see my photos?
You need a z modulation signal, for the brightness. Take the luma output from cortex decoder to the z of your scope.
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Thank you- I should have mentioned I have sent a z signal to the vectrex and still no live action video. That square on the xy monitor is what the ramps are sending out- so it’s definitely getting enough z signal.
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How do the ramps look on a regular video monitor? Does Cortex behave normally with its intended use?
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Hi @Alex 
I know it’s nearly 2 years since your post but did you ever get to the bottom of this issue?
I didn’t think that the Ramps would be changed by an incoming signal, hence @Z0NK0UT’s link to the patch suggested by Lars where the H & V powers of the Navigator and Shapechanger are brought into play. Were they used in your original patch? It’d be really interesting if not. I could imagine the 2 ramp outs going into either of the VC channels or both into channel 2 & setting the switches (sum/multiple for example) a certain way but I can’t imagine this working. It’s only mixing & the composite output to oscilloscope simply doesn’t work.
The Z input on this (and many 'scopes) is the opposite of what you’d expect - directly from the manual “an input pulse of +5V will blank the trace”…
With no input, the beam is traced. It needs 5V to blank the trace.
I believe the Luma on VC will only be 1V max at the brightest point and 0V at the darkest, to achieve “normal” scanning you need to both invert and amplify it so the brightest point is 0V and the darkest is 5V.
I tried running ramps and luma on my oscilloscope and ended up with just a big green square, which means I need to prioritise the build of my Cadet Scaler to boost the Luma!
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