Hi all,
After reading some of the posts about the SSTV on AO-51 I decided to give it a try. I downloaded and installed MMSSTV and waited for a pass. There was a good 40 degree pass over San Angelo, Texas beginning at about 00:14 UTC. I connected my radio's data jack to my computer with my USB adapter and recorded the pass with my digital voice recorder. Lucky I did as nothing showed up on the computer via the data jack connection. I used my Elk Antenna to receive the signals.
After the pass I brought everything back into the house and connected the voice recorder's ear jack to the computer's mic jack. After adjusting the volume so MMSSTV wasn't complaining about an overload I ran the recording. MMSSTV was in Auto Rx Mode and changed to Robot 36 as it received the information.
The image isn't very clear, but at least I was able to receive something.
If anyone would care to look at the image and help me identify why it is not clearer it would be appreciated. It has been uploaded to my photobucket account at the following URL:
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/badfrog88/Amateur%20Radio/?action=v...
Kent,
If you have a 20m antenna dial in 14.230 USB and just wait...
Simon Brown, HB9DRV www.ham-radio-deluxe.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kent Frazier" [email protected] To: "AMSAT-BB" [email protected] Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 1:24 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] First SSTV Rx
Hi all,
After reading some of the posts about the SSTV on AO-51 I decided to give it a try. I downloaded and installed MMSSTV and waited for a pass. There was a good 40 degree pass over San Angelo, Texas beginning at about 00:14 UTC. I connected my radio's data jack to my computer with my USB adapter and recorded the pass with my digital voice recorder. Lucky I did as nothing showed up on the computer via the data jack connection. I used my Elk Antenna to receive the signals.
After the pass I brought everything back into the house and connected the voice recorder's ear jack to the computer's mic jack. After adjusting the volume so MMSSTV wasn't complaining about an overload I ran the recording. MMSSTV was in Auto Rx Mode and changed to Robot 36 as it received the information.
The image isn't very clear, but at least I was able to receive something.
If anyone would care to look at the image and help me identify why it is not clearer it would be appreciated. It has been uploaded to my photobucket account at the following URL:
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/badfrog88/Amateur%20Radio/?action=v...
-- 73, Kent K5KNT AMSAT #36765 ARRL _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On Fri, 2009-03-27 at 07:24 -0500, Kent Frazier wrote:
Hi all,
After reading some of the posts about the SSTV on AO-51 I decided to give it a try. I downloaded and installed MMSSTV and waited for a pass. There was a good 40 degree pass over San Angelo, Texas beginning at about 00:14 UTC. I connected my radio's data jack to my computer with my USB adapter and
I usually just use the speaker connector. The whole point of SSTV is that it is audio tones...
recorded the pass with my digital voice recorder. Lucky I did as nothing showed up on the computer via the data jack connection. I used my Elk Antenna to receive the signals.
I try to record the signal rather than decode directly. Make sure the recording isn't clipping, and that you are recording at a high quality setting. If it sounds "okay" for voice, it won't be good enough for SSTV.
After the pass I brought everything back into the house and connected the voice recorder's ear jack to the computer's mic jack. After adjusting the volume so MMSSTV wasn't complaining about an overload I ran the recording. MMSSTV was in Auto Rx Mode and changed to Robot 36 as it received the information.
The image isn't very clear, but at least I was able to receive something.
If anyone would care to look at the image and help me identify why it is not clearer it would be appreciated. It has been uploaded to my photobucket account at the following URL:
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/badfrog88/Amateur%20Radio/?action=v...
Kind of hard to tell. Make sure the recording isn't clipped as mentioned before, and get a good music-quality recording rather than speech-quality.
Gordon
Hi Kent,
I think Gordon is on to something with the volume comment. The image almost looks like it was recorded on a very bad mechanical tape recorder with a lot of wow/flutter - the lines aren't vertical, which means that the SSTV program is having a hard time synching onto the lines. Since the recorder is digital, it can't be a mechanical problem, so the only thing left is the quality of the audio itself.
If there is a setting for the audio quality (vs record time, usually), pick a higher setting (lower record time). You might also skip the audio cable and just put the recorder mike near the radio speaker, or turn the volume way down, sort of like you did when you played it back to the PC.
Ah, another idea... Work on getting the radio->PC connection audio connection going (you can just use the national weather service channel for an audio source), and use the PC's audio recorder to get the sound quality and volume right. I expect (though I haven't used MMSSTV or Windows for Ham stuff for several years) that you can play back the digital audio on the PC directly into MMSSTV.
Good luck,
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:20:50 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: First SSTV Rx
On Fri, 2009-03-27 at 07:24 -0500, Kent Frazier wrote:
Hi all,
After reading some of the posts about the SSTV on AO-51 I decided to give it a try. I downloaded and installed MMSSTV and waited for a pass. There was a good 40 degree pass over San Angelo, Texas beginning at about 00:14 UTC. I connected my radio's data jack to my computer with my USB adapter and
I usually just use the speaker connector. The whole point of SSTV is that it is audio tones...
recorded the pass with my digital voice recorder. Lucky I did as nothing showed up on the computer via the data jack connection. I used my Elk Antenna to receive the signals.
I try to record the signal rather than decode directly. Make sure the recording isn't clipping, and that you are recording at a high quality setting. If it sounds "okay" for voice, it won't be good enough for SSTV.
After the pass I brought everything back into the house and connected the voice recorder's ear jack to the computer's mic jack. After adjusting the volume so MMSSTV wasn't complaining about an overload I ran the recording. MMSSTV was in Auto Rx Mode and changed to Robot 36 as it received the information.
The image isn't very clear, but at least I was able to receive something.
If anyone would care to look at the image and help me identify why it is not clearer it would be appreciated. It has been uploaded to my photobucket account at the following URL:
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/badfrog88/Amateur%20Radio/?action=v...
Kind of hard to tell. Make sure the recording isn't clipped as mentioned before, and get a good music-quality recording rather than speech-quality.
Gordon
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™ SkyDrive: Get 25 GB of free online storage. http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_skydrive_032009
On Fri, 2009-03-27 at 22:09 -0700, Greg D. wrote:
Ah, another idea... Work on getting the radio->PC connection audio connection going (you can just use the national weather service channel for an audio source), and use the PC's audio recorder to get the sound quality and volume right. I expect (though I haven't used MMSSTV or Windows for Ham stuff for several years) that you can play back the digital audio on the PC directly into MMSSTV.
Yes, -ish. Some sound cards let you select "Mix Out" as a record input, so you're capturing whatever is being played back. Quite often the Windows drivers for cards disables this in case you use it to steal pennies from record company execs and they can only afford 14.5kg of cocaine that week instead of their usual 15kg.
Gordon
participants (4)
-
Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ -
Greg D. -
Kent Frazier -
Simon (HB9DRV)