ARISS SSTV — October 22–25, 2026: receive pictures sent by the Space Station

1. When — finding pass times

SSTV can only be heard during the roughly 10 minutes when the ISS is above your horizon. It passes 4–6 times a day; passes with a maximum elevation of 20° or more work best. In this site’s Sky & Impact Lab → Sat Pass tab, enter your location to get pass start, maximum elevation, direction and end times in Korea Standard Time (CelesTrak elements, SGP4).

During the event the transmissions run day and night, so daytime passes are usable too. Because the transmitter is on for 36 seconds and off for 2 minutes, you receive 2–4 images per 10-minute pass.

2. What you need — two setups

• Handheld radio (70 cm band, FM) — tune to 437.550 MHz and turn squelch off. Use wide FM (25 kHz) if available. The stock rubber-duck antenna works on overhead passes, but a 3–5-element Yagi or a QFH antenna is much cleaner.
• RTL-SDR (V3/V4) with a PC or Android — watch a wide span around 437.550 MHz in SDR++ or SDR# and follow the signal; route the audio to a decoder (virtual audio cable, or speaker to phone microphone).
• Decoder — Android “Robot36 – SSTV Image Decoder” (free): just let the phone microphone hear the radio speaker and the picture draws itself. On PC: MMSSTV (Windows), QSSTV (Linux) or the SSTV decoder in SatDump.
• Doppler — at 437 MHz the signal shifts up to +10 kHz as the ISS approaches and −10 kHz as it recedes. On a handheld step down 437.560 → 437.555 → 437.550 → 437.545 → 437.540; with an SDR, follow the signal on screen.

3. Step by step

• ① Pick today’s pass in the Sat Pass tab (max elevation ≥ 20°).
• ② Three minutes before the pass, go outside or to a window and point the antenna where the ISS rises.
• ③ 437.550 MHz · squelch OFF · start recording (so you can decode again later).
• ④ A 36-second warbling tone is one image. The next one arrives two minutes later.
• ⑤ Upload your images to the ARISS gallery and claim the certificate.

4. Gallery and certificate

Upload the images you received to the ARISS SSTV Gallery (ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV) to receive an event participation certificate. Partial or noisy images are accepted. Note the reception date and time (UTC), location and equipment when uploading, and follow the certificate procedure given in the ARISS announcement.

5. Notes

• The schedule may change or be interrupted by ISS operations — check the ARISS announcement and @ARISS_intl on X.
• SSTV is receive-only. Transmitting on 437 MHz requires an amateur radio licence.
• All times on this page are Korea Standard Time (KST, UTC+9).

FAQ

See also