HamTV Reception Reports

[IU2KAC]

Hi Liborio,

on a test today with the 90cm dish static pointed for an 83 degree elevation pass, the time for the ISS signal to emerge and then disappear back into the spectrum analyser noise floor was about 24 seconds. There was about 20s above the threshold for demodulation, with the receiver taking about 5s to lock, giving up to about 15s of video, with a peak of D14. There was sufficient viewing angle and strength of signal to see pickup on the first side-lode of the antenna.

The antenna was aligned with very simple tools. Although for any particular location, one should take into account the local variation of Magnetic North versus True North.

Jen G4HIZ

Edited to add 2 photos and a bit more explanation

Hi Jen,

Thank you for your valuable information, which will be very useful to other OMs interested in receiving the ISS.
Congratulations again on the work you've accomplished!

[EA6WQ]

Another good reception in EA6 Mallorca Island - 8 Aug 2025 17:00 - 17:11 locat time max elev 80º

120 cm dish, Spid Ras /HD 0.1 º rotator , QO-100 Poty feed, DG0VE preamp, 35 mts Sat Coax , Minitonuer Rx, peak MER 12 D11 - Black picture
Most of the time video decoded during the second half the the pass , up to about 20º


73's de

2nd HamTV ISS RX

2nd HamTV ISS RX.png (1.8 MiB) Viewed 478 times

2nd HamTV ISS RX

2nd HamTV ISS RX.png (1.8 MiB) Viewed 478 times

Tom, EA6WQ / KE0KQT

[EA6WQ]

Just for info:- It is possible to receive pictures using a cheap aliexpress MMDS BT-281 2.2 - 2.4Ghz downconverter. Downconverting to 557Mhz into the Minitiouner. Just remove the dipole, fit an N Socket, and connect directly to the feed. Even with a quoted NF of 2.5 dB I managed MER of 7.4 on a 1M dish.

Nick.

Hi Nick, tnx for you report.
I tested one of these last year without success, trying to receive Coriolis Satellite,installed a N connector that fited perfecly and powered it with 12v inline the coaxcable, can you please share
how did you powered your one ???

Tnx,

Tom, EA6WQ/KE0KQT

[G4IMO-TV]

Hi Tom - I just connected it to the MiniTioune F Plug input, so that would be about 17 volts up the coax to the converter. I think you might need more than 12 volts.

Nick
G4IMO

[EA6WQ]

Hi Tom - I just connected it to the MiniTioune F Plug input, so that would be about 17 volts up the coax to the converter. I think you might need more than 12 volts.

Nick
G4IMO

Thanks alot Nick, will try with 18v
73s

[IU2KAC]

I wanted to try two days ago with a 60 cm dish and an old 30 dB LNA with 0.8 NF.
I managed to receive it for 3 seconds with a D2 signal.
Today I wanted to try with an 80 cm dish, but incredibly, I didn't receive anything!!?

Was ISS HAMTV turned off today by any chance?

Thanks for the reply.

73 Liborio IU2KAC

https://imgur.com/a/o2bcZY5
https://imgur.com/a/0DzSvlw

[EA6WQ]

I wanted to try two days ago with a 60 cm dish and an old 30 dB LNA with 0.8 NF.
I managed to receive it for 3 seconds with a D2 signal.
Today I wanted to try with an 80 cm dish, but incredibly, I didn't receive anything!!?

Was ISS HAMTV turned off today by any chance?

Thanks for the reply.

73 Liborio IU2KAC

https://imgur.com/a/o2bcZY5
https://imgur.com/a/0DzSvlw

Hello Liborio, i did not try today so i dont know.
I will try again in a few days.

tom, EA6WQ/KE0KQT

[g4hiz]

Hi all,
personally, I have not tried to receive the ISS since Saturday.

One thing I do before attempting reception is to transmit a low power local calibration signal to check out my equipment, ie is it working in general, is it on frequency etc. ? I use a CW carrier of -40dBm into a small antenna and observe this on the Portsdown Bandviewer or my Spectrum Analyser, with the source being about 10m from my antenna. An ADF4351 programmed to 2395MHz would do the job, suitably attenuated.

It would be useful if there was a HamTV status page available somewhere showing for example, Tx status On/Off, Video status Black/Camera, in order to inform folks who may be testing their receive setup.

73
Jen G4HIZ

[IU2KAC]

Hi all,
personally, I have not tried to receive the ISS since Saturday.

One thing I do before attempting reception is to transmit a low power local calibration signal to check out my equipment, ie is it working in general, is it on frequency etc. ? I use a CW carrier of -40dBm into a small antenna and observe this on the Portsdown Bandviewer or my Spectrum Analyser, with the source being about 10m from my antenna. An ADF4351 programmed to 2395MHz would do the job, suitably attenuated.

It would be useful if there was a HamTV status page available somewhere showing for example, Tx status On/Off, Video status Black/Camera, in order to inform folks who may be testing their receive setup.

73
Jen G4HIZ

I completely agree with what you said.
It would actually be helpful if there was a HamTV status page (ON/OFF) somewhere.

[IU2KAC]

I wanted to try two days ago with a 60 cm dish and an old 30 dB LNA with 0.8 NF.
I managed to receive it for 3 seconds with a D2 signal.
Today I wanted to try with an 80 cm dish, but incredibly, I didn't receive anything!!?

Was ISS HAMTV turned off today by any chance?

Thanks for the reply.

73 Liborio IU2KAC

https://imgur.com/a/o2bcZY5
https://imgur.com/a/0DzSvlw

Hello Liborio, i did not try today so i dont know.
I will try again in a few days.

tom, EA6WQ/KE0KQT

Ok Tom let us know.