The ISS will be broadcasting SSTV images from December 25th, starting at 1500 UTC until January 5th, ending at 1400 UTC on 145.800 FM. As long as you have a 2m radio, you can receive these images without spending one red cent!

This is what I’ve used in the past for my Android phone, I’ve done some research and have [hopefully] listed the equivalent apps for Apple.

At minimum, all you need is a handheld radio with a halfway decent antenna (not a rubber ducky), an app on your phone that tracks the ISS and an app on your phone to translate the received signal to an SSTV image.

The process is quite simple:

1. Load the apps on your phone and in the ISS tracking app TURN OFF off the option that limits the app to visible passes only - you don’t have to see the ISS to receive a signal from the ISS!

2. When the ISS is above the horizon, tune your HT to 145.800 FM and wait for a signal. The SSTV images take about two minutes to broadcast, followed by a two minute break, then the next image is broadcast. So be patient! Depending where you are in the cycle when the ISS rises, you may not hear anything or you may be mid-image.

3. Turn on the SSTV app when the ISS rises and hold the HT’s speaker close to the phone’s microphone. You don’t want to miss the start of the image, so don’t try to start it when you hear something, just let the app run the entire time the ISS is above the horizon.

4. Experiment with the orientation of the antenna to see if you can improve the signal quality.

5. Enjoy the pictures that appear on your phone!

The best reception will be when the ISS is crossing your meridian, because the doppler shift will be minimal.

Extra stuff to improve upon a basic HT:

If you have a radio that can change its receive frequencies by small increments (I use an IC-705), you will be able to tune to correct for the doppler shift (+/- 3kHz) during the ISS pass. Also, if you have a small yagi, like a foxhunting antenna, you will be able to improve the signal’s quality immensely - but you will have to “twist” the antenna to accommodate possible changing signal polarity. I actually use a tape measure yagi that I built! (https://www.instructables.com/The-Tape-Measure-Antenna/)

Hope this helps you successfully hunt an SSTV image form the ISS!

Android apps:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issdetector

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xdsopl.robot36

Apple apps:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iss-detector/id1198597805

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sstv-slow-scan-tv/id387910013