Sending SMS Messages Through the ISS (2020) | Hacker News Reader

Sending SMS Messages Through the ISS (2020)

kj7nzl.net

169 pointssquidhunter18 comments

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I read about something called othernet that allows receving those messages with a parabolic antenna

The article describes APRS, a digital ham radio protocol. Othernet is a broadcast system, nothing to do with ham radio.

sorry, this is not really my field, but I think it has some support in one way: http://aprs.org/othernet.html

Othernet is a relay for APRS messages which include “outnet” in the text. A parabolic antenna/dish is not required.

imagine the hilarious conversation between the OP and his buddies/colleagues

"What did you do this weekend?"

OP: "Drank some beer and sent some SMS through space"

Bouncing radio signals off of LEO satellite repeaters like the ISS is surprisingly easy. All you need is a couple of inexpensive handheld transceivers, an antenna (that you can build) and an amateur radio license.

Can you recommend any good guides to get started?

Quansheng* radios, headphone and mic jack adapters for the radio and your phone, and software to decode ham digital modes.

As far as the license goes, arrl online will have resources for your area to take the required test.

* Yes I know most people think of baofeng but after owning lots of cheap radios the best, far and away, is the quansheng. They're very loud and clear with receive audio, they are yaesu accessory compatible (iirc) and the older ones are basically the Nokia handset of handheld radios.

Cool, thanks for the tip. I do have a baofeng that I use for channel surfing here and there.

I was bored one day, decided to receive SSTV from the ISS. https://streamable.com/q9oa0

I have the stuff in your video but no idea what you're doing. Can you explain some more? I assume the ISS transmits some image data modulated as audio, which the computer can then read via the Baofeng and convert back to an image?

Yes.

You can use qsstv and decode it by yourself.

If you use Linux, with Paprefs you can set a loopback audio device.

Excellent, thank you! I will try that.

(2020)

Added. Thanks!

For a second, I thought the title was “…through ISIS.”

This is really neat, glad it made it to the front page! An interesting next step could be: do it with a budget of less than $x, gradually decreasing x each time.

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