The ISS or International Space Station is still enthusiastically in orbit around the earth. And you can hunt for it yourself. Nice for a clear evening, for example. Or listen to it with a scanner. If you want to follow the ISS, ISS Tracker 3D for iPhone and iPad can help.
Whatever the reason for your quest for the ISS, if only to try out your ultra-super-telephoto lens, you have to find it first. Fortunately, the space station’s orbit is predictable. There is some math involved, but the app does that ISS Tracker 3D with love for you. In real-time you can see exactly where the ISS is located. Because the station makes a full circle every 91 minutes, there is a good chance that the whole thing will pass right above your head every now and then. However, that is certainly not the case with every round, because the earth’s axis also wobbles a bit.
That’s why the app is very useful, because if you also have to take all that into account in your calculations, you’ll end up being way behind the facts if you were to do it old school manually.
Flat or in 3D
The operation of the app is basically simple. Start ISS Tracker 3D and tap the leftmost button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You now see the ISS projected on a world map. As long as that is far away, you can quietly drink a cup of coffee or do something else. In case it’s close by, it may be time to grab that camera or binoculars.
Don’t expect too much from it, for most people the ISS will mainly manifest itself as a fast-moving dot on the infinite sky. But thanks to the app, the thing can now at least be found and identified.
To get an overall view of the track, tap the button right next to the button you just tapped. You now see a handy 3D view, on the basis of which you can already estimate whether it is worth staying awake, for example.
Notification via calendar
If you want to be warned when the ISS passes just about right above your head, tap the third button on the button bar at the bottom of the screen. You will now see a list of predictions (which are always correct, for a change). If desired, you can add it to your calendar app, so that you receive a notification on time.
These ‘very close’ messages are also interesting for another purpose. There is an amateur radio station on board the ISS. And sometimes it’s good to hear something about that. The only requirement is that the station is somewhat nearby, for which the app comes in handy again.
Listening in is also an option
To actually listen you need a scanner. Such a thing no longer costs you your head, for around € 100 you can score a new device from a good brand (think Uniden Bearcat). Or go for a third-hand copy on something like Marktplaats. Note that the most interesting frequency can in any case be received: 437.800MHz. At least that is the frequency at which we at least sometimes hear something.
However, the amateur station is not always manned. Sometimes you have to make do with a rattle of Morse code as a simple identification code. The ISS has many more frequencies in use, for example, see the overview on https://issfanclub.eu/iss-frequencies/† There you also read that the frequency mentioned above is actually a repeater. By the way, whoppers of antennas are not needed for anything; After all, as the crow flies, the distance that is bridged is not that great.
Anyway, if you add the notifications to your calendar and set an alert about 15 minutes before the ‘highlight’, the listening can begin. Reception is already possible if the station is not yet visible. And of course also during a cloudy day. Or when the station passes a bit further north or south of your location.
About scanners
You may be wondering what exactly the ‘scanner’ mentioned in this article is. It is a special type of radio receiver that scans a series of preset frequencies one after the other at a very high speed. If something is received on a set frequency, the scanning stops and you hear what is being broadcast.
In the past, scanner listening was a popular hobby. What made the scanner popular was that you could receive calls from police and firefighters, among others. Kón, because that time has long since passed in the Netherlands since everything has been switched to a firmly encrypted digital communication system. With that, the scanner’s popularity quickly declined, and nowadays you have to do some detective work to score one.
In itself there is still plenty to listen to with such a scanner. Think that ISS, aviation, shipping, radio amateurs and so on. But that’s more of a specialist hobby. The masses gave up on the disappearance of the police channels.
It is also possible without an app
Don’t have an iPhone or iPad at hand, but if you are sitting behind a standard PC or, if necessary, a smart TV, you can also follow the ISS live in terms of location. Pay a visit for that https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm† Looks graphically less beautiful, but ‘it does the job’.
However, the app we use has some nice extras on board. For example, you can request the current occupation of the ISS by tapping the astronaut-shaped button. Or watch live from space down with the live stream from the space station. To do this, tap the fifth button from the left.
Incidentally, there is sometimes nothing to see, which is manifested by a black screen. Then just try again a little later, very occasionally the connection drops for a while.
The last button on the toolbar takes you to NASA TV, the American space agency’s television channel. In short: there is more fun to be had with the app, which besides the ISS also tracks some other highlights in space.