More about SSTV

Having a keen interest in both Photography and Amateur Radio, I'm fascinated by an aspect of Amateur radio communication that allows pictures to be exchanged using Slow Scan Television, usually abbreviated to SSTV.

For those not familiar with Slow Scan TV (SSTV) or Amateur Radio, SSTV is a method of sending pictures long distances using Amateur Radio equipment. Normal 'fast scan' domestic TV sends a picture frame 25 or 30 times a second. This needs a lot of radio space (called bandwidth). An SSTV picture frame takes much longer to send (can be minutes) but uses much less space, no wider than voice telephone voice conversation uses (the bandwidth is less than 3KHZ). It is only suitable therefore for sending still pictures. Using comparatively low transmission power (sometimes less power than a domestic light bulb uses) on the Short Wave radio bands (we call them the HF Bands) it's possible to send pictures to other countries and continents ! The pictures are sent and received using an Amateur Radio transceiver and the pictures are encoded, decoded and displayed using either dedicated hardware or a PC computer program.

Below are a sample of some of the pictures I've received from other amateurs I've had radio contacts with using SSTV. These were mostly over the 20 metre HF band (frequency 14.0-14.3 Mhz). I've used two radio callsigns since I started ; Foundation level M3GXJ (10 watts max power) and the current Intermediate level 2E0UNI (50 watts max power).

Callsign - M3GXJ (Before March 2005)

IK0VJH ITALY	SP2AJP POLAND	YU1NR SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
	HG3IPA Hungary

Callsign - 2E0UNI (after March 2005)

CT1AR PORTUGAL	EA7GOJ SPAIN	RU4WG RUSSIA
SM3KIF SWEDEN	UA3LEO RUSSIA	UX0DL UKRAINE
	YU1NR SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

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