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DIY Live Photos From ISS

Posted by kdawson on from the snaps-populi dept.

leighklotz writes "The international amateur satellite organization AMSAT is reporting live reception of TV images directly from the orbiting ISS via the ARISS-SSTV project. The images are said to be preparations for the upcoming visit to the ISS by Richard Garriot (W5KWQ), which will provide images from space as part of the Windows on Earth project."

3 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. 145.800 megahertz by atomicthumbs · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... is the downlink frequency. Listen! Use MMSSTV to decode. Sadly, I can barely hear it at 5:10 PM in California with my HT. I need a better antenna. :(

    --
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    1. Re:145.800 megahertz by Gordonjcp · · Score: 3, Informative

      Have a look for the WA5VJB "Cheap Yagi" articles. They are fairly easy to make, and give quite an improvement. I built a crossed 2m/70cm yagi - 3 ele on 2m, 5 ele on 70cm, with a diplexer - for LEO satellite work. It took about an hour, all told. I found that tuning up the 2m end was a bit tricky because the tuning is fairly "narrow", but if you're receiving that shouldn't be a biggie. If you can hear the ISS *at all* with an HT's rubber duck, then even a bad 3 element yagi will help!

      You might also try angling the radio so that the rubber duck antenna is perpendicular to the satellite pass. Think about it - the antenna has a radiation pattern like a doughnut, so you want that to have its widest point looking at the satellite. Another thing to try is holding it above a car roof or bonnet (yes, really), so that it acts like a reflector. Experiment to find the best distance - you'll hear quite a sharp peak. This actually works best with UHF downlinks, but it should work with VHF too if your car is big enough ;-)

  2. Source for non-slashdotted pix by leighklotz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Their blog has a few of the test pictures received (of of Exp. 17 Commander) Sergei Volkov. These were received in Portugal and the US. Other images will doubtless show on their blogspot site one Garriot gets involted.