Tag Archives: International Space Station

The ISS will be sending SSTV in April

(Source: ARRL via Eric McFadden, WD8RIF)

Space Station’s Slow-Scan Television System to be Active in April

The Amateur Radio Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) system on the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to be active in April on 145.800 MHz (FM). The Russian segment’s MAI 75 SSTV has announced transmissions on Monday, April 2, 1505 – 1830 UTC, and on Tuesday, April 3, 1415 – 1840 UTC.

“Reviewing the crew schedule, the SSTV activity, which uses Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) radios, was coordinated around ARISS school contacts and is listed for April 2 and April 3,” said NASA ISS Ham Project Coordinator Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO.

The SSTV system, which uses the call sign RS0ISS, is also expected to be active from April 11 – 14 worldwide to mark Cosmonautics Day in Russia on April 12. Specific transmission times are not yet available. Images on all dates will be related to the Soviet Union’s Interkosmos cooperative space ventures project.

SSTV images will be transmitted in PD-120 format on 145.800 MHz (FM) using the Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver in the ISS Russian Service Module. ISS transmissions use the 5-kHz deviation FM standard. It’s possible to receive SSTV transmissions with only a handheld transceiver and appropriate SSTV software[…]

Click here to read the full article on the ARRL website.

Spread the radio love

Receive SSTV images from the ISS today

2 Replies

This image from the ISS was received by Kim Elliott at about 0130 UTC on July 20, 145.8 MHz FM.

(Source: Southgate ARC)

The International Space Station is transmitting SSTV pictures to radio amateurs around the world on 145.800 MHz FM

The Slow Scan Television image transmissions are expected to continue until 1800 GMT Sunday, July 23 and can be received on simple equipment such as a handheld radio or scanner with an outside antenna.

Some of the pictures already received can be seen at
http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php

Useful links on receiving SSTV from the ISS
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

ARISS Celebrates its 20th Anniversary through SSTV Event
https://amsat-uk.org/2017/07/09/ariss-20th-anniversary-sstv/

If you receive a full or partial picture from the Space Station your Local Newspaper may like to know
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/july/now-is-a-great-time-to-get-ham-radio-publicity.htm

Spread the radio love

ISS SSTV: Receiving images from space

4 Replies

(Source: Southgate ARC)

Slow-scan television (SSTV) transmissions are planned from the International Space Station (ISS) on February 13-14, 2017

The SSTV images will be transmitted as part of the MAI-75 Experiment on 145.800 MHz FM using the Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver located in the Russian ISS Service module. It is thought they may use the PD-180 SSTV format.

The MAI-75 activities have been scheduled for the Russian crew on Monday, February 13 from 09:25-18:00 GMT and Tuesday, February 14 from 11:25-16:30 GMT.

Note the ISS transmissions on 145.800 MHz FM use the 5 kHz deviation standard rather than the narrow 2.5 kHz used in Europe. If your transceiver has selectable FM filters try the wider filter.

The ISS Fan Club website will show you when the space station is in range http://www.issfanclub.com/

ISS SSTV information and links at
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

ARISS-SSTV Images
http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.co.uk/

Listen to the ISS when it is over Russia with the R4UAB WebSDR
http://websdr.r4uab.ru/

Listen to the ISS when in range of London with the SUWS WebSDR
http://websdr.suws.org.uk/

If you receive a full or partial picture from the Space Station your Local Newspaper may like to know
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/july/now-is-a-great-time-to-get-ham-radio-publicity.htm

Spread the radio love

ARISS contact today: stream on the web or perhaps listen with your radio!

6 Replies

NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson’s 7th Spacewalk (Image source: NASA)

Last night, my buddy Eric McFadden (WD8RIF) notified me that the International Space Station would be making a pass this morning and doing an ARISS contact with three schools in Belgium.

It appears this pass will create an opportunity for some of us at least in eastern North America (and elsewhere) to listen to the transmission live.

Eric notes:

The frequency of the downlink should be 145.800MHz. As the ISS climbs above your horizon, because of doppler-shift, listen on 145.805. Switch to 145.800 as the ISS approaches zenith. Switch to 145.795 as the ISS drops toward the other horizon. You’ll know when to switch frequency when the audio gets bad.

[…]The ISS runs real power so an HT with anything but the shortest rubber duck should be OK, particularly when the ISS is well above the horizon. A 1/2-wave whip on the HT is better.

The contact starts at 13:47 UTC (08:47 EST)–about one hour from time of this posting.

As Eric notes, pretty much any VHF handheld radio or scanner can easily receive this contact as long as you can tune to 145.80 MHz +/-.

Last time I was in a place to tune to the ISS, it was with my kids and we all got a kick out of hearing astronauts answer questions from children here on Terra Firma. I wrote a short post about this.

Don’t worry if you miss this ARISS contact–they happen all the time. Check the ARISS “Upcoming Contacts” (http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html) page where future ARISS QSOs are listed. No doubt, it will pass over your part of the globe at some point!

Southgate ARC also posted the following announcement with a link to the live webcast:

ARISS contact webcast

On Thursday 12 January 2017, an ARISS contact is scheduled with three schools in Belgium.

Two schools will operate from the Euro Space Center.

The event will be web streamed live on:
https://www.facebook.com/eurospacecenter

The radio contact is scheduled at 13.47 UTC, which 14.37 CEWT.

The web streaming will start around 14.00 local time.

73,

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS past chairman

Thanks again, Eric, for the tip!

Spread the radio love

ISS Slow Scan TV reception opportunities in April

ISS Slow Scan TV in April

ARISS reports that International Space Station (ISS) Slow Scan Television (SSTV) transmissions on 145.800 MHz FM may take place between April 11-15, 2016

The schedule for the ARISS commemorative event is currently:
• Setup and activation on April 11 about 18:25 UT.
• Paused April 12 from 12:15 until 14:15 UT to allow for a school contact with Romania.
• Paused April 13 from 12:45 until 14:30 UT to allow for a school contact with Argentina.
• Deactivation on April 14 at 11:35 UT.

This opportunity should cover most of the world during the operational period. The image transmissions should be on 145.800 MHz and the mode is planned to be PD180.

In addition, MAI-75 (SSTV Experiment) will be conducting two sessions afterwards. The first one is April 14 from 14:45 until 18:00 UT.
The second session is on April 15 from 14:10 until 19:00 UT. These times do not cross N. America but will provide opportunities for Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and S. America.

Check the ARISS SSTV Blog for the latest updates
http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.co.uk/

For information on how to receive SSTV from the ISS with sample audio from John Brier KG4AKV and a link to his popular hints page see
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

Information on the MAI-75 SSTV experiment
http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/researches/education-26.html

Click here to read this article on the Southgate ARC website.

Spread the radio love

Listening to the International Space Station (ARISS) with a Yaesu VX-3

13 Replies

Yesterday, my buddy Eric (WD8RIF) sent the following message:

“Take your girls outside with an HT and listen to the ARISS pass in just about 10 minutes. The downlink freq is 145.800.”

Though I was in the middle of another project, I took Eric’s advice: I grabbed my Yaesu VX-3, corralled my daughters and ran outside. Eric’s message was already eight minutes old when I read it, so I only had about two minutes to get ready.

My Everyday Carry (EDC) pack, loaded with all of the essentials.

Fortunately, I always have a Yaesu VX-3R loaded with fresh batteries in my EDC pack (above).

Official NASA portrait of British astronaut Timothy Peake. Photo Date: August 28, 2013. Location: Building 8, Room 183 - Photo Studio. Photographer: Robert Markowitz

Official NASA portrait of British astronaut Timothy Peake. Photographer: Robert Markowitz

With the VX-3 tuned to 145.8 MHz, we waited as the ISS made its way above the horizon. The downlink audio of astronaut Tim Peake (KG5BVI) communicating with Walter Jackson Elementary in Decatur, Alabama, started to punch through the static after a minute or two. We listened the entire time we had line-of-sight to the ISS–about five minutes or so. We were pretty deep in a valley at that point, so I’m pleased we were able to catch even that much of a pass.

Of course, we could only hear one side of the conversation: the downlink from the International Space Station.

It was a memorable event for my girls who have seen ISS passes at night, but had never heard live audio from an astronaut before.

Here’s a short video of two of the exchanges we heard:

(Click here to view on YouTube.)

Eric pointed me to the ARISS “Upcoming Contacts” (http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html) page where future ARISS QSOs are listed. Evidently, this particular ARISS QSO was the third Eric had monitored in two weeks.

Pretty much any receiver that can tune to 145.80 MHz FM–or a VHF scanner–can hear the ARISS downlink as long as the ISS is passing overhead during the transmission. Of course, if you have a high-gain antenna that can track the ISS as it moves across the sky, you’ll get even better results than I did with my basic rubber duck antenna.

My advice? If you want to impress a child (or your inner child–!) find a little time to listen to a future ARISS QSO!

Indeed, the next step for me is to see if I can propose an ARISS QSO for our school group!

Spread the radio love

Sean’s recording of an International Space Station EVA

4 Replies

ISS Sean Gilbert, WRTH’s International Editor, recently shared this audio he originally recorded on June 19, 2014. Sean writes:

With all the interest in space and the ISS at the moment, I thought I would share a recording I made on 19 June 2014 @ 1715 UTC. This is from the Russian part of the ISS and the audio (which is in Russian) is of the cosmonauts talking during a spacewalk (EVA as they are known). The person speaking is actually in space, outside of the ISS. The audio begins about 2 mins into the recording and lasts for about 5 mins.

[Listen via the embedded player below, or click here for the MP3 version.]

[…]This was received on 143.625MHz NFM (+/- a few kHz due to doppler shift). Receiver here was a Funcube Dongle Pro + into a 2 element circular polarised turnstile in the attic. Signal was lost at a distance of 2000km (to the East of my location in IO92ma) at 3 degree elevation. Altitude of ISS was 418km above earth.

The image [above] shows a grab of the signal, exhibiting doppler shift due to the ISS orbit in relation to the earth.

[…]I would be interested to know what they are saying. […]To me this was far more exciting than receiving SSTV pictures from the ISS. I may never hear another EVA – I am just thankful that I found this as it was an announced/schedules EVA.

That is very cool, indeed, Sean! At some point, I must make an effort to venture up to the VHF neighborhood and attempt to hear the ISS.

I hope there’s a Russophone reader out there who can help Sean interpret the EVA dialog! Please comment!

Spread the radio love