SSTV (2015)

I came across the SSTV protocol while researching the strange phenomena of Number's Stations. These strange transmissions of computerised voices happen all the time but most of us are oblivious to them. It is thought that they used to be used to send encoded messages to spies in the field, and indeed they seem incredibly antiquated, even so, some are still active in 2016.

Groups of enthusiasts have come together to classify and document these transmissions, in the hope that one day they may be understood. Many of these same enthusiasts have gathered information on the signal strength from different points on the globe, and have managed to pinpoint and find some of the enormous transmitters that are required to send signals around the world.

The SSTV protocol is used by enthusiasts to transmit and receive images over voice channels, as well as being used by weather satellites to transmit images of the earth's surface. I am able to use the protocol on my computer, with the aid of MMSSTV, a program designed to send and receive images through all of the different sub-categories of SSTV. These different sub carriers vary time taken to send the image, at the expense of resolution, quality and robustness of the transmission. The shortest setting being 8 seconds for a thumbnail sized black and white images to 294 seconds for a full colour 'standard definition broadcast' resolution image. I used this protocol along with a tape machine to effect the images, the techniques I employed varied from recording images over one another, recording images in sequence within one transmission length to recording normally but playing back with varying speed. These changes in speed of the 'reception' and disruptions in the signal cause disruptions in the image also. I used a colour spectrum, to investigate how playing back the image at the wrong speed changed the colours for example.