I am not even sure how I heard about this. It was only a day or so before the event. From April 11 through April 14, the International Space Station was celebrating 15 years of having Ham radio on board. They continually sent photos of Hams having QSOs on board previous ISS missions. The photos were sent down via 2M FM on 145.800 using slow scan TV.
The ISS travels at about 17,000 MPH at an altitude of about 250 miles. Considering we live in a valley, and I have mountains directly behind me, I could receive only one “postcard” per pass. I used MMSSTV to decode the photos sent down. It all worked pretty well. It really was quite exciting to be sitting there in the shack, with the squelch turned off and the constant hiss of the background static. Suddenly there was a burst of tones and the photo started to download on my computer screen. It was quite amazing. I have played with SSTV a few times and read the mail on 14.230 MHz from time to time. But having a photo coming from space was a real kick. Here are some photos I received.
Glenn
WB6RLC
