SpaceCam Status, active Aug 26
By Miles Mann WF1F
Hi everyone,
The SpaceCam1 Imaging project on the International Space Station is
being operated intermittently on weekends.
During his spare time, the ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov
has been activating SpaceCam1 project for few orbits randomly. Due to
the crew's heavy work load, we do not have a regular schedule for the
SpaceCam1 project. The ARISS team is still testing various settings and
monitoring the status of the project. It may be a few more weeks before
we have a predictable SpaceCam schedule.
Our thanks to the many stations that received and decoded the test images.
SpaceCam Images from ISS were received in many countries, including Russia,
United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia and many more. Below is a link to the
SpaceCam home page and list of some of the images we have received.
www.marexmg.org
Images have been received on the following dates:
July 28, July 30, Aug 13, Aug 14, Aug 15 and Aug 26
To date, I have 9 unique images from ISS and many repeats. Ir you have
any new images; please forward the images to MAREX at:
marexmg@comcast.net
During the testing phase the ISS Slow Scan TV system may be intermittently
transmitting on the frequency 145.800 MHZ FM.
For information on how to receive these messages, check out the MAREX
link: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html
Over the next few weeks we may be receiving images from
the International Space station via Slow Scan TV (SSTV).
The MAREX team will be collecting these images from the amateur Radio
and SWL community and we will post the best.
We would like to collect all images received. However in order to properly
catalog the images we request you use the following image naming format.
After you receive your images, please rename the images using the following
format, All Lower case letters. I have updated the file naming format
to shorten the file names.
Year 06, Month 07, Day 31, (UTC time), Call sign,
Short text description, .JPG
Example:
Old format:
20060731z1905wf1fwindowshot.jpg
New format:
0607311905wf1f.jpg
I removed the first two numbers of the year and the “Z” for
UTC time. All dates are assumed to be in UTC dates. The images coming
down from ISS will also have a time stamp
embedded into the image. You can also use these numbers to generate you
file names. If you are a Short Wave listener and do not have a call sign,
just place your Initials after the time (0607311905abc.jpg)
If we break this down
Year =06
Month = 07
Day = 31
Time = 1905 UTC
Call sign = wf1f
Description (optional) = Windows shot
Image format = jpg
Image Quality
Please do not put any text over lays on the images,
Example, do not put web page or advertisements in the
image. Your own call sign and date are acceptable.
Send all images directly to MAREX at
Marexmg@comcast.net
We would also like to know the following information in your email.
Name or Call sign
Country / State
Receiver
Software decoding tool
Elevation or range of ISS when you decoded the image.
Slide Show Mode:
The MAREX SpaceCam1 software contains a feature called
“Slide Show” mode. It allows the crew to preload a directory
full of images that will be automatically transmitted to Earth. The crew
will not need to keep pushing a button to send images. In theory the system
can run for weeks at a time without crew involvement. The SpaceCam project
will be able to transmit over 200 SSTV images per day (Robot 36 format).
During the next phase of testing may use the frequency
145.800 MHz FM for the SSTV down link. The Slide Show mode will only be
testing the Down link. The uplink frequency will not be published.
SSTV Decoding Software
http://www.barberdsp.com/
There are many choices in SSTV software, some Free, others with more
features cost a few bucks.
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html
So have fun, find your best setup and start practicing how to decode
SSTV on 2-meters.
Marexmg Web page
http://www.marexmg.org
ARISS Web page and other great Space projects
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/
73 Miles WF1F
MAREX-MG
Until we meet again
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
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