Slow-Scan TV - My Next Digital Mode
Now that I’ve started having fun with PSK31, I’m getting interested in slow-scan TV (SSTV). The term SSTV can be a bit misleading, as there’s both analogue SSTV and digital SSTV. Digital SSTV signals must be less than 500 Hz wide. That allows them to be used in the same band segment as PSK31 and other similar digital modes.
To find out more, one place you can go is K3UK’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Narrow Bandwidth SSTV. It focuses on using the MMSSTV software, but has a lot of good info on operating practices as well.
Another resource is CQ SSTV de KB4YZ. This page has hundreds of links to other sites with SSTV information. There are almost too many links here. It’s hard to decide where to start.
Since I’m now using a Mac laptop in my shack, I was interested in what software is available for the Mac. KB4YZ has two links:
- MultiMode for the Mac by Chris N3JLY. This is commercial software and costs $89. It looks pretty good, but I’m not sure if I want to spend $89 on it.
- MacRobotSSTV for the Mac by Sergei KD6CJI. This looks like a nice program, but the User’s Guide notes, “currently USB audio input e.g iMic is not working.” Looks like I’m going to have to wait for the next version.
