thanks for taking time to answer my questions!
i'm still following up on the slow scan tv tip. it is another thing i have heard of but not yet found a project for. i had previously found one person's sstv page which presents his work in that area, something about being able to create the illusion of super definition when screening motion picture footage containing dramatic movement (as opposed to talking heads or static landscapes) on an sstv. the site has downloads of slow scan images and it appears he built a modular slow scan device to play back magnetic tape video tracks, but no project plans or schematics are presented.
also along the line i saw something, maybe it was sstv(?), about how to broadcast on radio frequencies. nothing on building a sstv reciever though.
while browsing electronics books at the library i read in the introduction in one book that "...it is quite a thrill to hear your first homemade radio tune in to a station or to see your first television screen light up..." but a television was not one of the projects listed in the book. :x
i have started on electronics with a guitar stompbox b/c it is popular and supported by a web community and lots of schematics, available parts etc. i was also referred earlier to "Rickard's electronic projects page" on diy video games and displays, all of which he provides instructions and plans for, (he claims over 100 individuals have built his projects from his plans).
obviously there are numerous radio projects, even full kits, but why not television? :cry:
i guess diy radios are relatively simple and comperable to modern consumer products in performance, while television is much more sophisticated?