PEP 400 & PEP 500
Scan Converter

In the late 1970's the polar format weather watch radar picture was scan converted to produce a high resolution monochrome TV raster display in the regional offices of Sydney and Melbourne .

A single-ended silicon target scan-converter system the PEP 400 (& later PEP500) manufactured by Princeton Electronic Products Inc. New Jersey USA performed the conversion under control of an in-house designed interface unit.

In Sydney the scan conversion was done at the WF44 radar head site, beside the runway at Mascot Arport. It was then transmitted over a Collins 8GHz microwave link to the Regional Office in Darlinghurst where it was displayed on small (about 10inch) National monochrome monitors.
In Melbourne the conversion was done in the Regional Office with the scan coversion equipment connected to the remote control equipment of the Laverton WF44 radar.

With the introduction of the RDRS in the early 1980's the scan conversion systems were removed from service.

PEP Inc.
Princeton Electronic Products Inc.,which produced the first silicon-target, scan-converter tube which, in turn, led to the birth of video imaging. PEP provided the image computers for airport X-ray systems, for ultrasound medicine, for space image conversion and for the FBI's fingerprint-imaging systems