Starting the decoder…
Pictures draw here, line by line.
Input level
Transmit plays a test picture through this speaker, for checking a second phone.
Pictures
Received pictures are saved here automatically. Try the demo to see how it works.
Receiving the ISS
- Tune to 437.550 MHz FM. Current ISS events send Robot 36 there; older ones used 145.800 MHz and PD 120. Leave the mode on Auto and Downlink follows either.
- Follow the drift. On 437 MHz the signal slides about 10 kHz during a pass: start near 437.560, pass through 437.550 at the middle, and finish near 437.540.
- Open the squelch fully, so quiet parts of the picture are not cut off.
- Moderate volume. The level bar should sit in the middle, never in the red.
- Phone a few centimetres from the speaker, and keep both still while the picture draws.
- A pass lasts about ten minutes. A Robot 36 picture takes 36 seconds, then the station pauses for two minutes, so a good pass gives three or four. If one is already under way, Downlink picks it up from the next line it hears.
- Check pass times and the ARISS announcement before you head out: the frequency and mode can change between events. Once loaded, Downlink works with no signal.