Everyone knows helix antenna is needed for capturing NOAA satellite images, due to circular polarization of the signal, right?
As I was listening to ISS APRS repeater (with great success!), I noticed NOAA 19 would pass over me shortly. Since the dipole was already set up outside, I decided to give it a go.
Software used:
- GQRX to capture the audio
- Gpredict to know when to start the recording, and to compensate for the doppler shift
- noaa-apt to convert the audio file to an image
Hardware used:
- RTL-SDR.com branded USB dongle
- 3 lousy USB extension cords
- "Bunny ear" retractable dipole antenna that I got in a bundle with one of the SDRs
Now, there is not much to see in the image, but I sure as hell can spot some clouds there, and that's much more than I actually expected!
Funny enough, my first NOAA image was using a log periodic TV antenna up on our tower, not at all meant for it but I don't think it did too badly, still need to try it out using a dipole and see how that does, but I've been forgetting to do it and today isn't that great weather wise. Here's an image from back in late April from NOAA-18 (iirc)