Slow-Scan TV from the International Space Station (ISS) was on the air again late in December 2019. The ISS SSTV event was in memory of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. We had our satellite station running to track the ISS and capture the SSTV images during the event. It’s pretty easy to receive these images – it can be done with an HT, hand-held antenna, and a laptop…
This article includes a gallery of the images that we received during the December 2019 ISS SSTV event and some how-to information that you can use to receive SSTV images from the ISS with just an HT and a handheld antenna.
The Amatuer Radio gear on the International Space Station (ISS) supports digital and SSTV modes as well as FM voice communications. The astronauts onboard periodically fire up the SSTV system and transmit images to commemorate milestones in space travel. We recently received a set of 12 images from such an event which commemorated Cosmonautics Day. You can read more about how this is done and view the images via the link below.
Portable Satellite Station With Additions For Digital and Packet
We’ve recently upgraded our Portable Satellite Station 2.0 to add digital and packet capabilities. The upgrade was simple – we added a SignaLink USB Soundcard and a Windows Laptop PC. Most of the software for packet and digital Amateur Radio communications is written for the Windows OS, so using a separate laptop running Windows 10 was the simplest way to go. Another benefit of the second laptop was added screen space to use when doing packet communications via satellites and the International Space Station (ISS).
The video above was made during the reception of an SSTV image from the ISS during a pass over the United States. The video gives a good idea of what it is like to receive SSTV from the space station.
Another SSTV Image From The ISS
We were able to receive several different images from the ISS during the period that it was transmitting SSTV worldwide.
A Third SSTV Image
It was easy to capture the SSTV transmissions from the ISS with our Portable Satellite Station 2.0 setup. The signals were strong, and I imagine the SSTV transmission could have also been received with a simple portable satellite setup with a hand-held yagi antenna.
We hope that the ISS will send SSTV images again in the near future. It was fun receiving them.
Source: December 2019 ISS SSTV Event – Nashua Area Radio Society
