Marco Naccari, IU0FBK

Keeping 20 Metres Under Watch

At home, Marco uses a Yaesu FT-991A as part of his SSTV station. The receiver keeps watch on the international 20-metre SSTV activity around 14.230 MHz, allowing pictures to be received and processed without somebody having to sit in front of the radio all day.

For Marco, the received image is only the beginning. Once a picture arrives, the surrounding information can also be captured and stored.

Mister SSTV and FSKID

Marco's Mister SSTV archive on Diplomiradio has grown into a remarkable collection of received pictures.

The system makes use of FSKID, the identification information that can be transmitted together with an SSTV image. When a valid identifier is decoded, it can be linked to the received picture together with the date and time.

This turns a folder full of pictures into something much more useful: a searchable record of SSTV activity and the stations heard over time.

By August 2026, Marco's public Mister SSTV database had already passed 150,000 received images.

Power from Batteries and the Sun

A field station is only useful while it has power. Marco therefore built his mobile setup around three batteries and portable solar charging.

Two folding solar-panel sets can be deployed beside the car, allowing the batteries to be supported during longer periods of operation without depending entirely on mains electricity.

A Complete Radio Station in a Small Car

The photographs show how much equipment Marco has managed to fit into a compact vehicle. The station includes multiple radios as well as a computer used to control, monitor and operate the station.

It is a practical example of the experimental side of amateur radio: use what fits, build around the available space, solve the power problem and take the station where you want to operate.

From HF to QO-100

Marco's interests extend beyond the familiar 20-metre SSTV frequency. His mobile activity covers different bands, and he has also taken his radio experimentation to QO-100, the geostationary amateur-radio transponder on Es'hail-2.

That is a natural extension of the same idea behind the rest of his station: SSTV and digital radio do not have to remain tied to one radio, one antenna or one operating position.

The SlowscanTV Connection

IU0FBK is also one of the stations followed by SlowscanTV. Marco's continuous reception contributes a steady stream of received SSTV pictures and gives a useful view of what is happening on 20 metres over time.

In that sense, Marco's own work and SlowscanTV share the same basic idea: an SSTV picture is more valuable when it is not simply displayed once and lost, but preserved as part of the history of activity on the band.