diff --git a/Intro to weather satellites.html b/Intro to weather satellites.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6e8c6c --- /dev/null +++ b/Intro to weather satellites.html @@ -0,0 +1,112 @@ +
+
+

Early in quarantine I saw +this wonderful video on how to grab images from satellites, and I was super +interested in the idea. The idea is that there are satellites called NOAA-15, +NOAA-18, and NOAA-19 that orbit the earth roughly every 102 minutes. They are +broadcasting through their entire journey and anyone can listen in and receive +images of earth that they are broadcasting.

+ +

The biggest problem is getting the images where I live (the suburb). There +is just so much stuff in the way to block the signal. Compared to other +satellites, its signal is pretty strong, but still not strong enough to go +through the concrete jungle. Therefore, I did a few months of research into how +to get a good signal from where I am. And thankfully, alot of people have +gotten good results with easy to make/buy antennas. I chose to buy a dipole kit +off of amazon to start, then attempted (but failed) to build a cross dipole out +of stuff from Home Depot, and some printed parts.

+ +

The other tools required were pretty easy to source (for me at least). The +hardest one would be the SDR, however I already owned a HackRF, so that was +pretty easy. If you don't have one already I would just get a RTL-SDR, they're +only 30 bucks and operate on a pretty solid range of frequencies. They also +have the biggest aftermarket support out of any of the SDRs I have seen.

+ +

Beyond those two and the miscellaneous bits (SMA/Coax, places to mount the +antenna, measuring tape, etc), all you need is the right software. I used +CubicSDR to receive the talk with the SDR +because it was simple and worked with the HackRF out of the box (at least on +windows), and WXtoIMG to convert the audio to an actual image.

+ +

So more of the technical details:

+ +
+
+
+ +
NOAA-19 before it was launched
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Here are some example images before we get into a how-to:

+
+
+
+
+
+ +
NOAA-19, 08-07-20, 22:54 UTC
+
+
+
+
+ +
NOAA-19, 08-25-20, 22:44 UTC
+
+
+
+
+
+

You can pretty clearly see the mitten of Michigan in both (its upside down +in the image on the left). The orientation of the image is determined by the +direction that the satellite is traveling when it flys overhead.

+ +

Hopefully you find this cool enough that you want to try this out +yourself. Its alot of fun and feels great to see the progress over time.

+ +
+ +

To get started with this hobby you won't need much, just a +laptop/desktop/raspberry pi, an SDR, and a decent antenna (sometimes comes with +the SDR). I've provided some amazon links to the hardware I've actually used.

+ +

With this I would watch some of the tutorials on youtube, or maybe I'll put +a tutorial up myself at some point. It's suprisingly easy to do and only takes +maybe 10 mins to setup each time.

+ +

A full repository of every attempt I've had can be found +here.

+
+
+
+
+ +
+