ISS Amateur Radio Status: July 28, 2006
SpaceCam1 Slow Scan TV project for ISS, Update
By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-NA News
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment, North American Division
SpaceCam1 Slow Scan TV project for ISS, Update
During this weeks ARISS meeting with the engineers at the Russian Space Agency, it was announced that ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov,, 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 know 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 The uplink will not be published until testing has been completed.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 receive will 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
www.marexmg.org
Until we meet again
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
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http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html
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Hello All,
The ISS hamradio system is switched in the SSTV mode this weekend on 144.490Mhz FM downlink. PY4MAB received (at Friday 28-july 19:00UTC) a SSTV picture from the ISS Space Station in Brasil.
The ISS SSTV picture is to see on my website: http://www.pd0rkc.comabout:blank
73's Cor PD0RKC
Over the next few weeks we maybe 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 you images, please rename the images using the following format.
Year 2006, Month 07, Day31, z, (UTC time), Call sign, Short text description, .JPG
Example
20060731z1905wf1fwindowshot.jpg
If we break this down Year =2006 Month = 07 Day = 31 Z = spacer to help find time Time = 1905 UTC Call sign = wf1f Description = Windows shot Image format = jpg
Image Quality Please do not put a lot of 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.
Thanks you very much
Sincerely
Miles Mann WF1F
Marex
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ISS Amateur Radio Status: July 29, 2006 SpaceCam1 Slow Scan TV project for ISS, Update By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREXMG News Manned Amateur Radio Experiment SpaceCam1 Slow Scan TV project for ISS
On Friday July 28, 2006 the crew of the International Space station activated the Amateur radio project Slow Scan TV for the first time. ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, activated the SSTV system and manually sent a few test Images from ISS to Earth. Images were received in Russia and South America. The SSTV system was then switched off and the Packet system reactivated.
As time permits the ISS crew may reactivate the SSTV system for more testing. Eventually when the testing is completed the SpaceCam1 software can be left running in Automatic Slide Show mode. While in Slide show mode, the SpaceCam1 software will automatically send up to 400 images per day from ISS to Earth. At the present time we do not have a time schedule for when Slide Show mode will be activated.
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.
When to Listen: For the rest of this week, Listen to both 145.800 MHz and 144.490 MHz FM. If you hear packet on 145.800, then you know SSTV will NOT be active. If you do not hear Packet, then monitor 144.490 MHz and be ready to decode your images. Do not try to send images up to ISS at this time. The ISS crew is awake from 0600 to 2200 UTC time. Try to monitor every pass the crew is awake. Then end images to marexmg@comcast.net
Please pass the word on to SWL organizations.
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 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 receive will 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 www.marexmg.org Until we meet again DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
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