SpaceCam1 Slow Scan TV project for ISS
By Miles Mann WF1F
During this week's ARISS meeting with the engineers at
the Russian Space Agency, it was announced that ISS
Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, may have some time to
start testing Slow Scan TV from the
International Space Station. http://www.arrl.org/?artid=6627
This testing may be very limited. It is not known when the Project will
be officially opened to the world wide public.
The tentative down link for SSTV will be on 144.490 FM.
The uplink will not be published until testing has been completed.
SpaceCam1:
The MAREXMG / ARISS SpaceCam1 SSTV System is an entry-level PC based Slow
Scan Television system designed to be used on board the International
Space Station. This system will support multiple common SSTV transmission
modes. SpaceCam1 has been specifically designed to be accessible to as
many Amateur Radio stations as possible around the world.
The original proof-of-concept system was built by the
MAREX-NA team and successfully flown on the Russian Space Station Mir
(December 1998 until August 1999). The proof-of-concept system has proven
the ability of the hardware design and it has taught us how to make additional
improvements for the next generation SSTV system for ISS.
http://www.marexmg.org/marexmirweb/fileshtml/galleryimagepage1.htm
In January 2001 the SpaceCam1 the ARISS program accepted project at one
of the future Amateur Radio projects for the International Space Station.
http://www.marexmg.org/
The SpaceCam1 software has been under development since 1999 and is being
created by the SiliconPixels team managed by Jim Barber (N7CXI). http://www.barberdsp.com/spmain.htm
The ARISS Hardware Manager Lou McFadin (W5DID) was
assigned the task of building an Audio interface box for the SpaceCam1
project. The Audio interface box will allow the audio from a standard
Laptop PC to be plugged into the existing Amateur Radio station on ISS.
When will SpaceCam1 fly?
In October 2005 the last component needed for SpaceCam1 arrived on ISS.
All of the required Hardware and software is currently on ISS. The initial
big problem was locating a computer on ISS to use for this project. All
of the existing laptops on ISS were considered mission critical computers.
Recently a computer was released to Amateur Radio usage, and the software
packages have been loaded.
We are now just waiting for the ISS crew to be giving
permission to start testing the SSTV applications.
SpaceCam1 FAQ:
http://www.marexmg.org/spacecam/spacecam.html
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 a live camera or disk at specified
intervals
• “Slide Show" operation from a set of images stored
on the system
• SSTV Repeater
What equipment will I need to receive the images?
Radio receiver with an outdoor antenna. The radio receiverwill need to
be able to receive FM signals in the Amateur Radio satellite band (ITU
144.000 – 146.000 MHz)
A PC with SSTV software or a dedicated SSTV scan converter.
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html
Tracking software (optional, although it helps a lot!)
Take care all and good luck and please be courteous.
73 Miles WF1F
MAREX-NA
Until we meet again
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
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