Decoding SSTV from ISS

Forum for discussion of SSTV topics. Slow Scan television (SSTV) is a picture transmission method used mainly by amateur radio operators, to transmit and receive static pictures via radio in monochrome or colour.

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby Steve Anderson » Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:11 pm

Yes, reluctantly I agree, they'll never recover their costs, so I perfectly understand. It is my own fault, no-one else's. If I were in the UK I could re-sit the exam and get a fresh ticket, but first see if there's any reciprocal arrangement for Thailand with the UK. (Later, there is).

Up until recent times I've been complaining that there was only CW, SSB, FM and AM allowed here on all bands, and that was it! No SSTV, no ATV, no packet radio, no digital modes, nothing at all outside those four modes.

The 'powers that be' seem to have been given a bit of a shake up. I downloaded a new band-plan for Thailand and it seems some/most of those other 'specialist' modes to some degree are now possible. More investigation required.

Aside from trying to reinstate my UK license I could see if it's possible for me to obtain a Thai license, HSxxx or whatever it is now. Previously it was only a reciprocal arrangement, you HAD to have a valid, current license from your home country. That may be different now. Again, more investigation...that includes going along to a RAST meeting as part of that process when COVID allows them to resume.

But the requirement that the transmitter/receiver must be commercially made and tested once a year is still in place. It still makes me think, "Why bother?"

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Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby acl » Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:54 am

Blog showing times and dates of SSTV transmissions

https://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/?fbclid ... mhYLiYTN-U
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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby kd2bd » Thu Dec 02, 2021 5:19 am

Not much to brag about with the deep signal fade at the bottom of the frame, but this was what I was able to copy from the ISS today (01-Dec-2021) at 17:32 UTC. The crew reports that NO transmissions are scheduled for tomorrow.

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby kd2bd » Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:35 am

Received from the ISS on 145.800 MHz today, 28-Dec-2021 at 15:34 UTC, PD120 format, using QSSTV software (and some manual noise removal afterwards).

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Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby acl » Wed Dec 29, 2021 7:11 pm

Well done John,

I had a look last night but the orbit path was too low,

Regards Chris Lewis G6ACL
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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby kd2bd » Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:47 am

Thanks, Chris.

I'm only using a 4 element beam indoors so the signal isn't very strong. On a good pass, I may copy 3 images, but only one will be relatively noise-free (if I'm lucky).

Here's one from this morning (the best so far):

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby Steve Anderson » Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:04 pm

Good results! I wonder if you might still have the audio recordings of those recent files (and any others)? I'd be interested in seeing how I might be able to decode/display them. As they've come from the ISS I assume they're all in PD120 mode?

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby kd2bd » Sat Jan 01, 2022 3:53 am

You are correct, Steve. They are in PD120 format, some details of which can be found here.

Here are a few SSTV images from the ISS I recorded during last year's event. The image on the left was decoded using QSSTV software under Linux, while the image on the right employed Robot36 software running under Android. The corresponding sound files are attached.

5-12.png

27-1.png

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby Steve Anderson » Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:24 pm

Happy New Year to all!

Thanks John, I'll have a go at demodulating them and eventually displaying them after the current item is completed.

They look like clean, interference-free and strong signals during that pass.

I wonder how/where the images are created? I would assume here on Earth and taken up to the ISS on a flash-drive or similar. I doubt they would have the facilities or time to do that in orbit. Perhaps uplinked? But doubtful.

I would say the Robot 36 results are slightly better, though I would be most happy with either!

Steve A.

P.S. I've been in contact with Paul, G4IJE, some years ago, mostly regarding some of his other modes. Particularly 'Micro SSTV' which only sent and received 8 and 12 second black-and-white. But the results were very good. A short item can be found on the site John linked to above, look under the tab labelled 'Projects' on the opening page.

...Paul's callsign now corrected...
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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby Harry Dalek » Sun Jan 02, 2022 3:25 pm

I have not tried the space station but i would suggest a helical horizon to horizon works well on polar orbiting satellites, for some thing like this so much easier that having to point a directional antenna and the fading . You would get some thing like a signal 3 degrees above the horizon both directions should work similar on the equatorial orbit.
last time i tried i could get Noaa satailltes from Antarctica to New Guinea depending on the weather ; )
Makes the effort hardy worth it whe you can get this these days
http://satview.bom.gov.au/
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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby smeezekitty » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:15 am

Steve Anderson wrote:
I wonder how/where the images are created? I would assume here on Earth and taken up to the ISS on a flash-drive or similar. I doubt they would have the facilities or time to do that in orbit. Perhaps uplinked? But doubtful.

SSTV software on a laptop doesn't seem far fetched to have on the ISS
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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby Steve Anderson » Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:01 pm

smeezekitty wrote:SSTV software on a laptop doesn't seem far fetched to have on the ISS

True, whether they have the time is another thing maybe? Plus the 'style' of the images is very consistent between crew changes. Whatever, I guess there's somewhere where the question can be asked? It's not that important, just a "Nice to know." factoid.

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby kd2bd » Fri Apr 15, 2022 5:16 am

Some PD120 SSTV received from the ISS by KD2BD in New Jersey (USA) on April 11 and 12, 2022 on a downlink frequency of 145.800 MHz FM:

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Equipment included an 8 element yagi (~10 dBd gain) manually rotated in azimuth, elevation, and polarization, 10 feet of RG-58 coax, and a Realistic HTX-202 handheld transceiver with a direct audio connection to a Samsung Galaxy S10 Android smartphone running Robot36 SSTV software.

Here's is the official "Certificate of Achievement":

ARISS_Diploma-Series_20.png

April 12th is the annual Cosmonautic Day to commemorate the first human flight in the Space by Jurij Gagarin in 1961. The images of this ARISS SSTV event series 20 are also honouring the "Women in Space". Our ARISS award shows from the left to right: Linda Godwin - the first female astronaut to conduct ARISS school communications from the ISS; Peggy Whitson - the first female ISS commander; Valentina Tereshkova - the first woman in space.

The ARISS SSTV event was realized thanks to the commitment of Sergey Samburov RV3DR from ARISS Russia and Frank Bauer KA3HDO – ARISS International Chair, as well as many other people. The official ARISS awards are provided by the ARISS Ad-hoc Award Committee: Oliver DG6BCE (chair), Armand SP3QFE, Francesco IK0WGF, Bruce W6WW, Shizuo JE1MUI, Darin VE3OIJ, Ian VE9IM.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio.

For more info:
https://www.ariss.org/
https://www.ariss-eu.org/
https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/

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Re: Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby Klaas Robers » Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:15 pm

Marvellous John.!

Regards, Klaas PA0KLS
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Decoding SSTV from ISS

Postby acl » Sun Apr 17, 2022 1:56 am

Excellent work John.

Regards Chris Lewis
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