[amsat-bb] Re: First SSTV Rx

[Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ]

On Fri, 2009-03-27 at 07:24 -0500, Kent Frazier wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> After reading some of the posts about the SSTV on AO-51 I decided to give it
> a try. I downloaded and installed MMSSTV and waited for a pass. There was a
> good 40 degree pass over San Angelo, Texas beginning at about 00:14 UTC. I
> connected my radio's data jack to my computer with my USB adapter and

I usually just use the speaker connector.  The whole point of SSTV is
that it is audio tones...

> recorded the pass with my digital voice recorder. Lucky I did as nothing
> showed up on the computer via the data jack connection. I used my Elk
> Antenna to receive the signals.

I try to record the signal rather than decode directly.  Make sure the
recording isn't clipping, and that you are recording at a high quality
setting.  If it sounds "okay" for voice, it won't be good enough for
SSTV.

> After the pass I brought everything back into the house and connected the
> voice recorder's ear jack to the computer's mic jack. After adjusting the
> volume so MMSSTV wasn't complaining about an overload I ran the recording.
> MMSSTV was in Auto Rx Mode and changed to Robot 36 as it received the
> information.
> 
> The image isn't very clear, but at least I was able to receive something.
> 
> If anyone would care to look at the image and help me identify why it is not
> clearer it would be appreciated. It has been uploaded to my photobucket
> account at the following URL:
> 
> http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/badfrog88/Amateur%20Radio/?action=view&current=200903270131.jpg

Kind of hard to tell.  Make sure the recording isn't clipped as
mentioned before, and get a good music-quality recording rather than
speech-quality.

Gordon