How to receive SSTV images from the ISS

[@thateldoo]

N2RDO here...have two passes I'll try on my HT...this morning at 10:35 and tomorrow morning at 9:47. We are in Klamath Falls till the 3rd. THANK YOU, RANDY...!!!

[@rickarzadon-n8xi55]

I have been away from SSTV since 2010 and only had a few SSTV QSO's. I had a homebrew interface which lost it's PTT capability so purchased a SignaLink USB. I was trying all the modes PSK31, FT-8, etc. Then decide to see how it worked on SSTV using MMSSTV last month (April 2022). Works great! Then I started searching KZbin for pointers. Randy, Thank You so much for this video. You brought out several things that I didn't know about. I think I will go through the manual. Thanks. Rick - N8XI

[@sandrainthesky1011]

Wow! This brings back memories! I remember SSTV'ing from Canada to Aussie on the long drive home from work every day. This was before internet was was any faster haha! Thanks for the experience, still have some radios and my SSTV rig from the sailboat, may set it back up again :)

[@ke7uia]

Thank you Randy. This was always a mystery for me. You have simplified each step. For me this will be a wonderful opportunity for local ecomm. I have a presentation to give on digital communication. I will now include in my fldigi presentation this section on transmitting and receiving pictures of an event.

[@nelsonmotta5093]

Congratulate you K7AGE...you have didactic enough to pass your knowledge simply and efficiently to us...it's not enough to know...we need to pass on our knowledge so that future generations don't have to start from scratch...amateur radio through people like you do that...sorry for my poor english....hugs from a friend from Brazil

[@K7AGE]

I appreciate that! Thanks for the nice comment,

[@davesthedude]

there is a web based sdr out of Murmansk russia that has the 144-146mhz band available and u can receive signal thru it... hopefully they will do more of these..it also has the 136-137mhz band... i have been receiving Noaa Signals thru it lately... ... just gotta change the ground station on gpredict to see when satellites are overhead

[@K7AGE]

Good to know. There is equipment problems with the SSTV station. It will be a while before it is running again.

[@fredWaxBeans11111]

Great Video Randy. I'm not a HAM, but I feel like I am. I've been following you for years. I've been using a Software Defined Radio for a few years and love it! I have listened to every possible transmission from about 24 MHz to 1.6 GHz, especially my local 2 meter HAM band. I catch most of the local Weather SkyWarn Training Nets, Ares Nets, and Traffic Nets. I've downloaded ISS images, NOAA satellite images, Russian Weather satellite images. All the software is free open source. I can listen to Digital as well as analog: school buses, taxi services. Of course all the local police, fire and public works vehicles. I can view ACARS (aircraft information), Digital "packets" transmissions (like ham radio fax machine), Even Pager transmissions (mostly hospitals... so much for Hippa privacy lol) The best $8 I ever spent, and I've barely scratched the surface of the stuff that can be done. I haven't downloaded an image from the ISS in a while. Thanks for the heads up to ARISS event! 😃

[@K7AGE]

Fred, hope you get loads of images. You are deep into SDR!

[@MatthiasLenardt]

Wow ... the ISS is still sending SSTV ... good to know 😌

[@K7AGE]

Yup

[@ericschecter7886]

Super video Randy..I caught the very last pass/transmission of the campaign on Friday using a SDRPlay RSPdx receiver, my Quadrifilar Helix (weather sat antenna) and the MMSSTV software. Totally noise free. 73, KC7ES

[@K7AGE]

Glad you got a great picture.

[@keithleggett5427]

Thanks Randy .. a great intro to SSTV reception.

[@raa6504]

I love you sir, I totally forgot about the programming of sstv. Im leaving hometown tomorrow for the city and tonight is my last chance to get my first sstv image pass. If i fail with the sdr set-up, my last chance is to go outside in negative degrees weather at 3am with the baofeng and robot32 app on my phone 😂 Man I love this hobby

[@K7AGE]

Radu, I'm not going outside when it is that cold. Good luck.

[@raa6504]

@@K7AGE It's my first anticipated pass, I will if I have to. Hopefully, thanks to your video, I will just setup mmsstv with the airspy and vb cable.

[@ronwolenski-n8wcr]

Today I was able to receive a SSTV image from the ISS! II was using my Icom IC-746 and a Diamond CP-22E about 10' high on a dipole into QSSTV and got a clear loud signal, and the ISS wasn't even directly overhead, it was on the outer edge. Shows you that you don't need a extreme setup to get a signal, at one point it was coming in full quieting!

[@K7AGE]

It does work!

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Great job Randy!

[@K7AGE]

Thanks

[@dougtaylor7724]

This is so comprehensive I think it will make it possible for me to get set up. Me and computers don’t geehaw. Thank you for sharing the ham hobby with everyone. I personally want to thank you. Always thought it was funny the state of the art space station uses one of the oldest technologies for data transmission. It’s like NASA woke up one morning and said “what are we going to use all this old stuff for?”

[@K7AGE]

It may be old, but it is simple. I don't think NASA has much to do with the SSTV, it is the ARISS group that manages this. Have fun, hope you get some pictures.

[@walkingtowheels]

Brilliant thank you, it's great to watch a video about something I love to do, (I'm always listening to the iss) and have someone who is equally passionate about it and knowledgeable to boot!

[@K7AGE]

Thanks for watching. It is interesting to receive the images.

[@tomperone9338]

Nicely done! I got into this (and weather satellite reception) about a year and a half ago and enjoy it immensely. Seems like I'm always waiting around for the next event to start. The 'Russia only' events are kind of frustrating, but even with those I try capturing images from remote SDR receivers located abroad.

[@K7AGE]

I never noticed that AUTO would automatically be re-selected. Leave it in AUTO. I do that all night long and it works fine.

[@bradnicoll2282]

Randy I was able to capture images 1/12 and 2/12 last night / this morning in almost perfect copy after watching your video. Thanks again for the video. Lots of fun. 73! from W8RAD

[@K7AGE]

Glad that I helped

[@N7ZKF]

Thank you Randy, many years in amateur radio and still learning. Many new sat tracking programs I’ll look into. 73’s N7ZKF

[@K7AGE]

Lots to learn, good luck with SSTV

[@TheREALJosephTurner]

This video just appeared in my suggestions, and wow, great info! So of course I subscribed. I am actually an Extra Class license holder, though I still haven't got a working rig setup to use. I'm on a limited VA disability income, so I have more time than money (so I spent the last few years learning and advancing through the license classes). But I do listen to the online SDR's almost daily. This gives me something new to try- I should be able to track the ISS using your instructions, then go through the process of finding SDR locations that are receiving the strongest, then base my software settings based on the location of the SDR that I am using at the time. Then record it and bingo! What other hobby is so robust that you can still participate in the fun without the actual traditional equipment?

[@K7AGE]

The online SDRs are handy to play with.

[@BronsonTheCat]

Thanks for this video Randy! I’ve been meaning to give it a go awhile back but I’ve forgotten about it but now you’ve motivated me to give it a crack in a few days!

[@K7AGE]

Now is your chance!

[@mcb187]

Darn, I missed this one! I don’t have a very professional setup, but it works for me. I point my rubber duck antenna at the horizon(or wherever I get the best signal), and record the signal on my phone. After that, I play the signal to my computer, which has a program for SSTV image decoding. It is a little noisy, but it works! It does need to be fairly high above the horizon though, as I don’t have a directional antenna, and the closer it gets to the horizon, the less clear it is.

[@K7AGE]

It works!

[@raymondmartin6737]

Thanks for the video about video from the ISS. Some years ago we saw the ISS fly over our town from NW to SE at about sunset. Ray W2CH

[@joeddejohn]

Nice video Randy. Learned a lot. Thank-you. Nice ham shack!

[@TheNostalgicFuture]

Okay. 1, WOW what a video subject. 2, its not clickbait?? This was a fantastic video.

[@wshanney]

Thanks Randy, my grandkids loved watching the downloads. Happy holidays...W6QR

[@K7AGE]

Happy holidays!

[@OC35]

Like your digital clock. I've built the same one to receive GPS time!

[@timW7WHN]

Great video Randy, lots of great information.

[@K7AGE]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@N6PCD]

Outstanding explanation of this process! Clear and to the point. If scheduling permits I’ll give it a try to this week. 73 de N6PCD.

[@siscamoningkey702]

I want to learn more about satelit tracking. Thanks for K7AGE about how to receive SSTV image from the ISS

[@PoddyIta]

No way Santa is a radioamateur

[@konstkarapanpro]

😂

[@MrTimT001]

Thanks, great video! I tried to receive the iss today on two overpasses, but didn't see any signal. I use a RTL SDR and a DIY Groundplane Antenna for 146MHz. I mounted the antenna on a tripod in the garden with OK visibility at the sky for higher elevations. Should I see something with this setup? How important is line of sight to the sky? Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[@K7AGE]

You should be able to hear it. Are you able to hear other signals? Maybe play with the gain, I forget where that is.

[@raa6504]

Put your gain to max, make sure the antena ground is not touching the middle pin connector, make sure to use 50 ohm coax, i use rg58. A good starting diy antena is a quarter wave dipol set perpendicularly on the direction of the pass so the polarisation matches. This is all I could think of from my very limited knowledge

[@jayceew2j202]

Good video straight to the point

[@DK5ONV]

Hello Randy, nice to see you. The FT-990 is a keeper if you got plenty of room on the Shack Desk. I should have kept mine. Merry christmas Randy, stay healthy & keep up the Good Work. 73 de Your Friend Uncle Guenter

[@K7AGE]

UG, thanks for the email the other day. My wife gave me the FT-990 for my 40th birthday, nearly 30 years ago. It is a nice solid all analog radio.

[@DK5ONV]

@@K7AGE Wow Randy that's awsome. I did not knew you had this FT-990 from your wife. Mine was from 1995 with DCPlug. I loved the Sound. May be you a dx live stream one day making callswith the FT-990 with a little help from your friend AL. I still remember these words when you said them in your earlier videos running a little group on 20m SSB. Meryy christmas to you, Randy! And merry christmas to everyone else in your house hold and neighborhood living. 73 de Your Friend Uncle Guenter

[@veizour]

Thank you, kindly, sir. Take care!

[@zack41564]

I'm ordering a Baofeng to just tinker with this, so cool.

[@K7AGE]

have fun

[@FreeStyleSloth]

Hey all! First, thank you! New radio user here (>2 weeks) at 17:56, K7AGE showed that the ISS was slightly too far west of his location to properly hear the broadcasts. - Would he have been able to use a repeater of the west coast to reach the ISS when it was over water? - If I wanted to receive more transmissions than just what is overhead to my location, could I receive on a repeater somewhere in the southern US vs. NE US? Got my heavens above times printed and highlighted for this week! This looks so cool.

[@timcravey7770]

Great video, where did you get the clock?

[@alainbroekema5000]

Thanks Randy, interesting video !

[@docfoot316]

A great help this ,many thanks for sharing .73's

[@billrobertson5878]

Great video thanks. Looks like I'm fairly near you. We're in Brookings.

[@skyfalls2746]

Excellent video M3DCI 🇬🇧

[@lukasgayer5393]

Thank you! Nice and understandable tutorial.

[@K7AGE]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ericvanderneut3764]

Hi Randy,was wondering if I should set radio to FM, WFM or NFM,thanks for the informative video regards Eric

[@K7AGE]

You should set to FM

[@cupodllc4340]

Very Educational!! Thank you!

[@zl1hog]

Great Video. I watched and downloaded the software right away. Running a IC-9700 and got two images on my first two passes. Thanks for the intro to a new part of the Hobby. I would also like to know how to rename the rigs in the sound card part you talked about.

[@davidmackey4553]

Hi Randy, Thanks for the great video and the reminder that this event was almost upon us. About 15 years ago I briefly played with SSTV on 20m SSB . Thanks to your video, I’m going to give it a try. Maybe a tool to get the grandkids involved too. My K3S which does cover 2m does not have FM capability, only CW, SSB, and AM. I presume these ISS transmissions will be on FM. On the positive side my small 2M EME array has AZ/EL capability. I have an old IC 706 which I think I can get interfaced to the PC. Already got MMSSTV cracking away downloading a number of frames on 14230. Thanks again. 73 Dave K1KA

[@K7AGE]

Sounds like you have a project! Hope you receive loads of images.

[@davidmackey4553]

@@K7AGE Hi Randy. Things are going well. As of the end of passes on Thursday, I have 35 downloads including all 12 images. Thanks again.

[@K7AGE]

@@davidmackey4553 outstanding!

[@mikecraft4506]

Thanks for your very helpful video

[@stevemuenich8406]

Randy, thanks for this video. I have my 9700 with a 2m eggbeater antenna and MMSSTV all setup and ready to decode. How did you rename the Codec for the 9700? I have my 7610 USB codec named but forgot how I did it. Thanks and Happy Holidays.

[@K7AGE]

Go to the Sound Control panel, select the audio device, the properties, and then change the name.

[@Joe-KN4IFI]

Nice introduction to receiving SSTV. Thanks Randy. I hope you and your Family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 73 de Joe KN4IFI.

[@K7AGE]

Happy holidays!

[@davidanderson4552]

Hi Randy. I like to run MMSSTV and RX-SSTV at the same time. One program usually decodes better than the other.

[@K7AGE]

Sure, run two side by side!

[@bradnicoll2282]

Very good! Thank you Randy!

[@DarylSawatzky]

Great info, I'm going to do this ASAP!... I have a radio coming to me any day now. I just can't get Orbitron to behave. The ISS is circling the world every 60 seconds, even though my settings are 'realtime' not 'simulated'. That's 90 times too fast!.

[@K7AGE]

Well, the event is over. We will have to wait for the next one. ??? Where the time is shown on the right are 3 small boxes above the time. The left box may show SIM, click it for RT, real time.

[@HAMRADIOJOE4178]

MERRY CHRISTMAS RANDY

[@courtainret]

Great video and thanks for taking "Elmer" time to make it. I'm in Yuma, AZ., for the winter AND Santa (dressed in a Fed Ex outfit) delivered my new Icom ID-52A, yesterday. I'll be using that as well a new IC-9700 (Santa was real nice to me year) and a IC-705, to record these passes. Question 1. Do you think I should I open the squelch to record these with the ID-52, or will the signal be strong enough to open the auto squelch? Question 2, will I need to adjust frequency for these passes to account for the Doppler effect? I'll be using a Comet antenna on the 9700, and the IC-705 gets the Arrow II - BP. I'll keep it tracking with the help of my smart phone. The ID-52 will just have its ducky. Should be a lot of fun. I'll keep you updated/posted if successful. Maybe even buy ya lunch this summer when I return to Oregon. (about 90 minutes North of you in Lakeside) Thanks again! 73, Wayne - W7WGC

[@K7AGE]

I haven't tested this, but I would leave the squelch open while recording to the SD card. If squelched, and the signal drops out, the radio may stop the recording and start a new file when the signal comes back. You may then end up with several files. Look to see if you can set the radio with a wider filter. I know the 9700 provides for filter selection. Good luck Sunday morning,. Randy

[@1TylerM]

SEtting up my antenna today - thanks for the tips! Got my timezones messed up for today though..oops :) Can you confirm that heavens above site uses the local time based on your location entered?

[@K7AGE]

yes

[@varickveit2245]

Now this is cool.

[@konstkarapanpro]

Iss sstv enent starts this monday. I have an rtl sdrv3 and a vhf/uhf antenna which states 176-174mhz for vhf. Do you think that i will be able to pick it up or should i try to build a quarter wavelength dipole with some electrical wire i have laying around? Thanks in advance sir

[@K7AGE]

Try what you have. You can build the antenna and see which works better.

[@CesarLuis-xs5py]

Very Good video, Thank you 73 from CT2JBJ

[@K7AGE]

Thank you too!

[@bones007able]

I know nothing about ham radio... but did I miss how the signal is interfaced with the computer? where does the software get the signal from?

[@K7AGE]

My radio has a computer sound chip inside. The MMSSTV is then configured to use this sound source.

[@JoeJalopy]

Good information, thanks.

[@Caniculus100]

Thanks!

[@skiphorni]

I need a bit of hardware before I can do this. You know like a radio (I DO have an FT857) and and antenna. :) In the meantime, where/how did you get your clock? 73, Skip - W5UTW

[@K7AGE]

start getting your radio together for the next time. mitxela.com/shop/clock

[@kicktree]

Could be that the ISS is simply a giant reflector for a ground station ? Hmmm.

[@K7AGE]

could be.............

[@billbolen8115]

Thank you so much.

[@SeasparrowDD979]

Do you need a virtual AV cable for this to work?? I need help ASAP..

[@K7AGE]

If doing this on one computer, yes. Play the video on your phone to decode on your computer.

[@sbennettyt]

Is the ISS always broadcasting SSTV is there an event schedule?

[@K7AGE]

Sorry no. Only during schedule times. No new event scheduled at this time.

[@f.allenrisler5303]

I have a partial image. I assume it is attempting to complete 1 image on each pass today, Dec 30?

[@K7AGE]

The picture takes 2 minutes to transmit, they pause for 2 minutes and then send the next picture in the rotation. Good luck..

[@davet9900]

What is the point in doing this. Can SDR be used to send large amounts of data or email??

[@Dougsterxplor]

Thanks for that. I installed Orbitron but the ISS seems to be flying round the World in about 30 seconds. Anyone help with my settings?

[@Dougsterxplor]

I think my TLE wasn't updating properly and doing it automatically has reset it to YEARS ago. Doing it manually with TLE file on the webpage has solved the problem for now. amateur, cube, orb, noaa, nnss, musson and visual loaded.

[@K7AGE]

Good. above the clock on the right it will toggle between RT and SIM mode. Thanks for watching. Randy

[@Dougsterxplor]

@@K7AGE Thanks for the reply Randy but I still seem to have TLE update issues every time I start up. Doug, Glasgow, Scotland, MM7DCD

[@anonhollmuller4032]

73 de dg2r?? thx a lot++!

[@bigg2904]

Skip to 3:30 to get to the point

[@markhodgson2348]

Modify to receive much more information

[@lennymears672]

Why can't I find any pictures of earth only cgi artists impressions or painting.

[@K7AGE]

because.......

[@lookingbehind6335]

Ask Sci Man Dan, he will explain it for you.

[@lennymears672]

@@lookingbehind6335 0pen your mind there's truth inside FE blue dot.

[@tangoalpha8381]

👍👍👍🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 73!!!

[@grandprime7397]

പോളിസാനം

[@ecleveland1]

Just hack into NASA’s mainframe or the down stream from the space station and then you can see the top secret UFO stuff also.

[@rcard23yb]

So now you are hacking ISS?

[@K7AGE]

Nope, just receiving their signal.