Welcome to Andrew Chilcott's Web Pages
This site is currently under
construction......
Last Update: 29th September 1999
The aim of this site is to present low cost solutions to many of today's little technological problems.
My main gripes are;
1) the Sony Playstation will not let you play imported disks (or even your own CDR backups). I find this situation intolerable, I accept the need to stamp out piracy but I believe that every user has the legitimate right to create their own personal backup copies. Contrary to popular belief, CDs are not indestructible and even a single scratch can be enough to ruin a disk. When we are asked to part with up to £45 for each game (almost 50% the cost of a Playstation!), I think that we are justified in taking a copy of the game in case the worst happens. We regularly photocopy important documents for safe keeping - why not electronic information too?
2) recording pay-per-view films from digital satellite or creating backup copies from pre-recorded videos / DVD's does not give a satisfactory image. This is due to a copy protection system implemented by manufacturers. Again I respect manufacturers wishes to stop piracy but I also demand the right to take backup copies of my data.
Now that I have made my position clear, on with the interesting stuff. J
Future Articles
This will detail my project to modify a Sony Playstation to work with CD backup copies
Frustrated by having to buy a Mod Chip just because you cannot program one? Fear not, in this article I will present a low cost and simple to use PIC Programmer. The programmer is being developed primarily for use with the other projects on this page.
Video Recording Stabilizer
If you have tried to record programs from SkyDigital (possibly ONdigital) or from DVD or Video tape you probably end up with the picture alternating from very dark to bright. This is due to a copy protection system that fools your Video. This project seeks to devise a low cost fix that gets around this problem.
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This page is
still under construction, people have visited this site!!