Pictures from Space Received by Wythall Radio Amateurs!
Antennas were turned skyward last weekend as Wythall Radio Club members listened for signals from the ISS – the International Space Station!
Slow Scan Television (SSTV) pictures were transmitted from the ISS amateur radio station using the callsign RS0ISS.
Keen Wythall club members tracked the ISS’s location (see map below) and received the transmissions during its six 10-minute passes over Wythall during the weekend.
The pictures commemorate important events in space exploration.
The ISS used a VHF transceiver with 25 watts output. This provides a very strong signal on 145.800MHz enabling reception using simple equipment – signals were even received on a handheld radio with a simple whip antenna! These SSTV transmissions are planned to fit around the ISS crew’s normal duties, so there are usually only one or two each year.
Each SSTV transmission lasted 2 minutes. As you can see from some of the pictures, we were unable to receive the complete transmission before the ISS travelled over the horizon and contact was lost. Compare the quality of the picture on the right with the much better reception of the same one above!
Luckily the same pictures were transmitted on several passes!
This event continues Wythall Radio Club’s activities with space radio – for more information click here. You can track the ISS and other satellites here and see views of earth from the ISS here.