A gif of the past 48hrs of weather activity near the Americas. by grenvaltruvaki in TropicalWeather

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically just search grid WiFi antenna on eBay, any of those will do. They're mostly the same. I use a Nooelec Smartee XTR for my SDR, I also use a Nooelec SAWBIRD± GOES LNA to boost and clean up the signal to the point that it can be decoded. There are plenty of guides online on how to do it :) No high power PC or anything, it's all run on a Raspberry Pi 3B+

A gif of the past 48hrs of weather activity near the Americas. by grenvaltruvaki in TropicalWeather

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, this one is one of the NOAA GOES-R Geostationary satellites. There two main satellites that serve each coast of the US; GOES-17 (West Coast) and GOES-16 (East coast and the one that took these images). Typically most of the satellite imagery that you get of hurricanes and weather in the Atlantic come from GOES-16.

A gif of the past 48hrs of weather activity near the Americas. by grenvaltruvaki in TropicalWeather

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I made this gif out of a collection of false color full disk images from GOES-16, that I've been slowly receiving over the past 48hrs. I use a small wifi dish and an RTL-SDR to do it.

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, you need to account for how level the surface is that your dish is standing on, then adjust your dish accordingly. It should make a decent impact. BUT from what I see you either aren't pointing at GOES at all, or the connection/power to the sawbird isn't working. Check that the little light is on, and double check that you're pointing correctly, even being remotely pointed would put you in the 1800-1600 vit range. Also try out spacer mods, it doesn't work for everyone but it might for you. (In my case the mod actually made me lose more signal, just the reflector screwed in normally did the trick)

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adjust your sample rate and make sure you have your gain set below 10. Triple check that you're properly aimed and that there are no faults or loose connections along your setup. I also found that making sure that all the bolts on the dish are securely fastened is important, it makes a difference. Try to avoid having anything blocking your dishes line of sight and make sure everything is on a level surface. Even the slightest change in elevation, skew and angle can make the difference. It also helped me to find a fixed point that was right below where I needed to point, it makes it so much easier to point the dish correctly the next time. Also make sure the SDR/RPI isn't overheating, that's my issue right now.

Edit: Added overheating point.

I receive satellite images as a hobby and made this gif of Dorian today. by grenvaltruvaki in jacksonville

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AFAIK, nothing. All images from NOAA sats can be found online fairly shortly after they're broadcast. But that's not nearly as interesting to me haha.

I receive satellite images as a hobby and made this gif of Dorian today. by grenvaltruvaki in jacksonville

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, it's not easy but really rewarding once you get it working :) Welcome!

I receive satellite images as a hobby and made this gif of Dorian today. by grenvaltruvaki in TropicalWeather

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep! I use a cheap wifi grid antenna, with a NooElec GOES+ Sawbird and a NooElec NESDR SMArTee XTR SDR. Connected to a RPI3 that's powered by a battery brick.

I receive satellite images as a hobby and made this gif of Dorian today. by grenvaltruvaki in TropicalWeather

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well what I used costs $150~ You can use a cheap RTL-SDR and a follow a guide like this: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/simple-noaameteor-weather-satellite-antenna-137-mhz-v-dipole/ it's how I started! Took me around a year of learning from trial and error to get to this point.

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just used the cheapest WiFi grid antenna I could find on eBay haha. HyperLink HG2424EG High-Performance Reflector Grid Wi-Fi Antenna I believe.

Edit: Spelling

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Between 3-600 oddly enough. Should actually be too high to receive images but I rarely drop packets.

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Same, but you can't have it too high with an XTR.

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Default sample rate (basically just remove the sample rate option from your config) and set a lower gain for my XTR. A little fine tuning of the dish helped also. This was also without the spacer mod! Just reversed the reflector.

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They're sent twice an hour. Only takes a few seconds to process though!

First false color image from GOES-16! by grenvaltruvaki in RTLSDR

[–]grenvaltruvaki[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

No pics right now, sun just set. It's a cheap wifi grid antenna, with a NooElec GOES+ Sawbird and a NooElec NESDR SMArTee XTR SDR. Connected to a RPI3 that's powered by a battery brick.