New pictures from space
Pictures transmitted from the International Space Station (ISS) were received by Wythall Radio Club members yesterday.
The pictures were received as the ISS passed near the UK on four occasions during the afternoon. Besides pictures of the ISS, the main theme was Russian helecopters.
Pictures were transmitted by Slow Scan Television (SSTV) on the 2 meter amateur radio band (145.800MHz) and make a warbling sound that needs to be decoded using free MMSSTV software.
Signals were received by Chris G0EYO and Chris G3YHF along with other members of Wythall Radio Club, using their normal 2 meter VHF equipment.
G0EYO used an FT847 transceiver linked to his computer via a Signalink sound card and a collinear antenna, while G3YHF used a small FT7900 mobile transceiver again with a Signalink and collinear.
The picture on the left shows the SSTV signal being decoded on MMSSTV.
The ISS astronauts make regular SSTV transmissions. These are part of the MAI-75 experiment at the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) to support video information broadcasting from space in real-time to a wide range of users.
Wythall Radio Club members monitor the bands for these events.
The MAI-75 experiment is carried out using a notebook computer on the ISS, which stores and prepares the photos and videos that are then transmitted to Earth using the ham radio communication system, the primary component of which is the onboard Kenwood TM D700 transceiver of the “Sputnik” ham radio system within the 144-146/430-440 MHz bands.
More pictures received around the world from yesterday’s transmissions – and from previous events – are available here
