 Chelmsford
ARS member receives ISS SSTV pictures
The astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) are all
Radio Amateurs and they have recently completed commissioning the SpaceCam1
Amateur Radio Slow Scan TV (SSTV) system. This will enable them to send
pictures to Radio Amateurs on Earth.
 The
system seems to be working fine as on Saturday August 12th during the
23:35 UTC pass Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society (CARS) member David Worboys
M0ZLB successfully received two SSTV pictures from the Astronauts on 145.800
MHz.
David received the pictures using his Icom 706MkIIG with a Maldol GHX-510
tri-band vertical. The decoding of the SSTV picture was done using the
free MMSSTV software and he used Nova for the satellite predictions.
What is SpaceCam1?
SpaceCam1 is a software-based Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) system, developed
by MAREX-MG for deployment on the International Space Station. It will
be used by future ISS crews for SSTV image communications with amateur
radio operators worldwide.
Will I be able to receive images from SpaceCam1?
Yes! SpaceCam1 will transmit and receive images on amateur radio frequencies,
using standard SSTV formats. Although SpaceCam1 is capable of operating
in several modes, the standard format will be Robot 36. This format offers
the best standard compromise between image quality and transmission time.
In addition to two-way "interactive" operation, SpaceCam1
provides the following fully-automatic functions:
· Transmission from camera at specified intervals
· SSTV beacon
· "Slide Show" operation from a set of images stored
on the system
· SSTV Repeater
What equipment will I need to receive the images?
· 2-meter (144-146 MHz FM) radio receiver, such as a VHF/UHF scanner
with a discone or similar omni-directional outdoor antenna
· A PC with SSTV software
· Satellite tracking software (optional, although it helps a lot!)
What does SpaceCam1 look like?
Here's a picture of the current software:
When will SpaceCam1 be operational?
Initial trials of SpaceCam1 took place at the end of July and it became
fully operational in mid-August. Transmissions take place on the ISS Amateur
Radio frequency of 145.800 MHz FM.
Further information on SpaceCam1 and how to receive SSTV on the can be
found on the MAREX-MG website. The site also has some of the pictures
already received from SpaceCam1.
Additional Information
MAREX-MG: http://www.marexmg.org/
Slow Scan TV Software MMSSTV:
http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/
AMSAT Online Satellite Predictions: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/
Google Earth Satellite Tracking:
http://www.n2yo.com/
Satscape Satellite Tracker:
http://www.satscape.co.uk/
ISS Fan Club:
http://www.issfanclub.com/
ARISS:
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/
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