Hacker News Reader

Comment by nopacience | Hacker News Reader

care to explain how to download from ISS via radio ?

Sure, when the ISS passes over (and is transmitting SSTV--check the ARISS blog or issfanclub.com), tune your radio to 145.800, turn squelch off, and hold up your speaker to (for example) your smartphone which is running a decoder like Robot36. That's just one specific way...the app will auto-save an image to your phone when it's done. Example video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAHJfE7EBlI&t=12s

You can use an app like "ISS Detector" to get alerts when the ISS is over; that one also has an IAP that will show you any amateur radio satellite that's over your head, as well as the uplink and downlink frequencies. (Last time I was listening to cubesat AO-92, my social "nerd antenna" apparently went up to about 1 MW transmitting and I ended up pointing into the clear blue sky a lot while explaining to interested random passers-by why people still use ham radio. :-))

That's so cool, and single-handedly just convinced me to take the plunge and buy a radio to learn more. I've been tempted for a while but had no idea you could do this. I liked the idea of talking to people from far away, but being able to receive stuff from ISS is just next-level awesome.

Right on! You picked a great time in history, with a ham operator (Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor) currently on the ISS and making contacts. It's exciting stuff. :-) Here's one operator's contact from this last Saturday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm-6tf7KCs

(That amazing feeling post-contact...funny that he left in those clips, but I definitely identify with the adrenaline rush. :-))

Be sure to check out #hamradio and #hamr on Twitter, and /r/amateurradio on Reddit. Edit: And your local club, too! And welcome!

here's an example of the decoding process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkH5yV4__3U

I can't figure out why, but that clip really made my day. Thanks for sharing it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com