The ISS or International Space Station is still enthusiastically in orbit around the earth. And you can hunt it yourself. For example, nice for a clear evening. Or listen with a browser. If you want to track the ISS, ISS Tracker 3D for iPhone and iPad can help you.
Whatever the reason for your ISS quest, before you can try your ultra super telephoto lens, you need to find it first. Fortunately, the orbit of the space station is predictable. There’s some math involved, but the ISS Tracker 3D app does it lovingly for you. You can see exactly where the ISS is in real time. Since the station makes a full circle every 91 minutes, there’s a good chance that everything will run over your head every once in a while. However, this is certainly not the case with every round, because the axis of the earth also wobbles a little.
That’s why the app is very useful, because if you have to factor all this into your calculations, if you do it old-fashioned manually, you’ll end up far behind the truth.
Flat or 3D
The operation of the application is basically simple. Launch ISS Tracker 3D and tap the leftmost button in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You now see the ISS projected on a world map. As long as it’s far away, you can have a quiet cup of coffee or do something else. If it’s nearby, it might be time to pick up that camera or binoculars.
Don’t expect too much from it, because for most people the ISS will present itself as a fast-moving point in the endless sky. But thanks to the app, now at least something can be found and identified.
Tap the button next to the button you just tapped to get an overview of the track. You now see a useful 3D view, where you can guess, for example, whether it’s worth staying awake.
Notification via calendar
If you want to be alerted when the ISS passes just above your head, tap the third button in the button bar at the bottom of the screen. You will now see a list of predictions (always correct for a change). If you want, you can add it to your calendar app to get timely notifications.
These ‘very close’ notifications are also interesting for another purpose. There is an amateur radio station on the ISS. And sometimes it’s good to hear about that. The only requirement is for the station to be a little nearby and for that the app is useful again.
Listening is also an option.
You really need a browser to listen. Such a thing would no longer cost your head, for around €100 you can get a new device from a good brand (think Uniden Bearcat). Or get a third-hand copy of something like Marktplaats. Note that in any case the most interesting frequency can be obtained: 437,800MHz. At least, that’s the frequency at which we sometimes hear things.
However, the amateur station is not always manned. Sometimes you just have to settle for a Morse code rattle as a simple identification code. The ISP has many more frequencies in use, for example, see the overview at https://issfanclub.eu/iss-frequencies/. There you also read that the frequency mentioned above is actually a repeater. By the way, you do not need a large number of antennas for anything; After all, the distance bridged as the bird flies isn’t all that great.
Anyway, if you add notifications to your calendar and set an alert about 15 minutes before ‘highlight’, the listening can start. If the station is not yet visible, reception is already possible. And of course on a cloudy day too. Or when the station passes a little further north or south of your current location.
About browsers
You may be wondering what exactly is the ‘browser’ mentioned in this article. It is a special type of radio receiver that repeatedly scans a set of preset frequencies at a very high speed. If something is received on a certain frequency, scanning will stop and you will hear what is being broadcast.
In the past ‘crawl listening’ was a popular hobby. What made the scanner popular was that you could receive calls from police and firefighters, among others. Kón, because it’s been a long time since everything in the Netherlands switched to a tightly encrypted digital communication system. With this, the popularity of the browser has waned rapidly and nowadays you have to do some detective work to get a score.
There’s still a lot to listen to with a browser like this in itself. Consider that the ISS, aviation, marine, radio amateurs etc. But this is more of a private hobby. The masses have given up on the disappearance of police channels.
Also possible without app
If you don’t have an iPhone or iPad at hand, but are behind a standard PC or, if necessary, a smart TV, you can also follow the ISP live as a location. To do this, visit https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm. Graphically it looks less pretty, but ‘does its job’.
However, the app we use has some nice extras. For example, you can request the current occupation of the ISS by tapping the astronaut-shaped button. Or watch live from space with live streaming from the space station. To do this, tap the fifth button from the left.
By the way, there is nothing to see, sometimes manifested by a black screen. Try again later, very rarely the connection drops for a while.
The last button in the toolbar takes you to NASA TV, the television channel of the American space agency. In short: there’s more fun with the app that monitors the ISS as well as some other events in space.
Source: Computer Totaal
I am Bret Jackson, a professional journalist and author for Gadget Onus, where I specialize in writing about the gaming industry. With over 6 years of experience in my field, I have built up an extensive portfolio that ranges from reviews to interviews with top figures within the industry. My work has been featured on various news sites, providing readers with insightful analysis regarding the current state of gaming culture.
