Domesday Duplicator

Hardware component to the Domesday86 Laserdisc preservation project.

Details

The Domesday Duplicator is a high speed RF sampler that is used to make backups of Laserdiscs. For more information, please visit the Domesday86 project overview page here.

What can I do with it?

When connected to your Laserdisc player's laser RF test point (not the "RF Out" on the back of your player!), the Domesday Duplicator creates a frame-by-frame backup of all the data contained on the Laserdisc. This backup can then be decoded using the ld-decode project, resulting in preservation-quality video, analog audio, digital audio, and even data tracks.

What kind of media can I back up?

Laserdiscs (including LaserActive/Mega-LD) are the primary use-case of this hardware. However, there is currently work on VHS decoding!

What else do I need to get started?

In this listing you can purchase the assembled Domesday Duplicator board or the complete kit. The complete kit includes the pre-programmed FPGA and Cypress FX3 USB boards. Both of these are required for the Domesday Duplicator!! If you do not purchase the complete kit, beware that you will need to source the other two boards and program them yourself. You will also need a 50ohm BNC coaxial cable to attach the DDD to your player. The software is available at the Domesday Duplicator Github, linked here.

As documented on the Domesday86 homepage, the Domesday Duplicator must be connected to your Laserdisc player's internal RF test point. From there, connect the device to your computer and start the capture app.

Also Available

• Player hookup kit (includes 50ohm coax cable, 50ohm BNC jack, and BNC patch cable)

Note about components

I hand assemble each Domesday Duplicator board with BOM-specific components. Substitutions are made only if an exact specification component can be sourced, and the original component is unavailable for purchase or import. It is important to note this, as the Domesday Duplicator was highly tested with the project's provided BOM. Substitute parts, especially in the RF filter stage, can cause unwelcome and indeterminate modifications to the RF signal that you're working so hard to preserve.