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What to listen to · QO-100: the Es’hail-2 satellite

QO-100: SSTV on 10489.620 MHz, pictures through a geostationary satellite

Slow-scan television in the mixed-mode segment of the QO-100 transponder, 10489.580 to 10489.650 MHz, most often near 10489.620: pictures from across the footprint, built line by line by the program's SSTV decoder.

Frequency10489.620 MHz
ModeSSTV

What you hear

A rising and falling whistle that lasts a minute or two, with a short header of tones at the start: that is an SSTV picture going by, line after line, each line a sweep of frequency that encodes brightness and colour. The pictures live in the mixed-mode segment of the transponder described in the main article, from 10489.580 to 10489.650 MHz, and most of the time they are found between 10489.600 and 10489.620. The usual analogue modes are in use, with PD120 and the Martin and Scottie families the most common, and the picture is typically a photo of the station, a test card with the callsign, a dish on a balcony or a greeting for a special event.

Who transmits and why

Amateurs in the footprint who enjoy sending images rather than voices; through a geostationary path the picture arrives without the streaks and tears that shortwave fading leaves, so SSTV on QO-100 looks unusually clean.

When and where to listen

Any time, with most activity in European evenings and at weekends; organised SSTV events bring a steady stream of pictures for a day or two.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → QO-100: the Es’hail-2 satellite → QO-100: SSTV 10489.620. The program picks a public receiver with a dish on the satellite, does the converter arithmetic, sets SSTV and runs the decoder, which builds the picture on screen from the sound as it arrives. No dish, receiver or account of your own is needed.

More stations

QO-100: the emergency frequency on 10489.860 MHz, kept clear for a reason

10489.860 MHz · USB

The emergency frequency of the QO-100 transponder at 10489.860 MHz: silent on an ordinary day, used by amateur emergency groups in exercises and real disasters, when the satellite is the link that still works.

QO-100: the upper CW beacon on 10490.000 MHz, the top edge of the transponder

10490.000 MHz · CW

The Morse beacon that marks the upper limit of the QO-100 narrowband transponder at 10490.000 MHz. Above it the satellite relays nothing; below it, the last SSB and mixed-mode channels of the band.

QO-100: the lower CW beacon on 10489.500 MHz, the bottom edge of the transponder

10489.500 MHz · CW

The Morse beacon at the lower edge of the QO-100 transponder, sent up from the AMSAT-DL ground station in Bochum: an endless CW text that marks where the band begins and gives everyone a frequency and level reference.

QO-100: FT8 on 10489.540 MHz, decodes from the whole footprint every fifteen seconds

10489.540 MHz · FT8

The FT8 spot of the QO-100 transponder at 10489.540 MHz: digital contacts through the geostationary satellite, decoded every fifteen seconds into callsigns and locators from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India.

The D marker: one Morse letter repeated for years on 5292 kHz

5292 kHz · CW

A Russian channel marker in Morse code: the letter D, dah-di-dit, sent over and over on 5292 kHz. A related marker sends T on 4325 kHz. The simplest signal to learn Morse rhythm on, and a check for the CW decoder.

The Squeaky Wheel at night: the same squeak on 3363.5 kHz

3363.5 kHz · USB

Once 5367 kHz stops carrying after dark, the Squeaky Wheel's grinding marker continues on 3363.5 kHz, where night-time shortwave travels far across Europe. The night entry of the Rostov marker.