ISS Amateur Radio Status: August 2, 2006
Slow Scan TV on ISS update
By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-MG News www.marexmg.org
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment
Hi everyone.
Last Friday and Saturday ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov activated the SSTV project for few orbits from the International Space Station. Pavel sent several manual test images from ISS to Earth. The testing proved that he had the entire basic configuration set up correctly. The SSTV system was then shut down until he can spend more time to finalize the cables connections and configure the system for 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.
On Tuesday the ARISS and MAREX teams worked together to review and agree upon the best settings for the next phase of testing which should include the Slide Show mode. The SSTV configuration parameters were then sent to ARISS in Moscow to be uploaded to Pavel on ISS.
The next phase of testing may use the frequency 145.800 MHz FM for the SSTV down link. You should also check 144.490 just in chase. The Slide Show mode will only be testing the Down link. The uplink frequency will not be published.
SpaceCam1: The SpaceCam project will be able to transmit over 400 SSTV images per day (Robot 36 format).
How to Decode SSTV from Space: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html All SSTV transmissions will be in FM mode and will most likely be on the 2-meter band. This means that the Doppler frequency drift will not be much of a problem and you will be able to use your existing 2-meter station or a police scanner to hear and decode the signals from ISS.
If you have already have been successful in working the Packet station or talked to the ISS crew on 2-meter voice, than you already have most of what you need. Whats left is to connect your computer to the speaker of your radio and some SSTV decoding software, such as ChromaPix or similar 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.
Location of Hardware on ISS This link will show you images of some of the amateur radio hardware already installed on ISS http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/radiohardware.html
Marexmg Web page http://www.marexmg.org
73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG
Until we meet again
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com