On the 5th August Mike G8AXA and Mark G8PHM, managed to receive pictures sent down to Earth from the International Space Station. This section shows how it can be done.
A simple hand held receiver can be used as shown in the photograph below. If you have a base station receiver, all the better. The space station transmits on the 2 Meter band on a frequency of 145.8Mhz. This frequency is reserved for the space station.
Using the audio output jack from your receiver, the audio signal is then fed into ether the sound card of your computer or into a separate sound card plugged into your computer via a USB port.
You will need software to find out the times the space station is passing overhead.
There are several free satellite tracking programs available. One that covers satellites used by radio armatures is Gpredict. This program is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, this includes the Raspberry Pi. See links below.
The picture to the right, shows the ISS in the bottom left, as it just came into view over the UK.
Other satellites used by radio amateurs, are also shown.
The other software required, is for decoding the audio and tuning it into a picture. Again several packages are available, depending on your computer. For Windows RX-SSTV is an easy one to use. If you have a Raspberry Pi, QSSTV is also a good program to use. See links below.
The picture left, shows RX-SSTV in action receiving a picture on 14.230 Mhz. With a lot of radio interference.
Satellite Tracking Program Gpredict
Decoding Program Windows RX-SSTV
