What is Slow Scan TV? 

It's not television like you're used to, however, it's similar in that fact that you're sending pictures (TV just does it at 24 pictures per second)...we're not that fast (especially on HF), but the technology works just fine...Information here pre 5/2011 was under my previous call KD8JGR.  I'm now N8ZAK as of 5/3/2011.

All slow scan TV is, is a way to transmit images back and forth to radio operators or anybody listening and that can decode the images.  This is typically done with a receiver and some type of device that will grab the sound from the radio broadcast and pass that to a computer via a sound card for decoding thus reconstructing the image.

Once the image is decoded you can view/save, etc the images just like you would any ordinary photo.  You might have seen some of this technology used in and out of war-torn areas as a means of communication or in emergency communications as a way to get photos out where typical phone and data transmissions have failed (Hurricane Katrina, etc)

Here are some images from around the world I've received...

YV6DYA - Is from Venezuela (2514.6 miles from me) and UA6JQ - Is from Russia (4888.5 miles from me)

These were both picked up with just an 18 ga wire 5 feet off the ground! (NVIS antenna).  The images are a little noisy due to the following Tennessee storms in the area (lower frequencies such as 14.230Mhz are susceptible to this type of lightening static, etc).

You can get more information about SSTV and the software that you'll need from Makoto Mori's (JE3HHT) MMSSTV web page at http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/pages/mmsstv.php

It's pretty easy once you get familiar with the software.  If you've got a PC and a transceiver or scanner you're in business.

73 - Zack