In my Radio User Decode column I’ve been describing a receiving station for the NOAA polar orbiting weather satellites and in this post I’m including a few examples so you can see the station’s capabilities. All the images are taken directly from WXtoImg with no other enhancements.

The station here comprises the following:

• QFH Antenna as described by Bill Sykes and Bob Cobey HERE. This is mounted at about 3m above ground but with a reasonably clear view to the horizon.
• Uputronics 137.5MHz filtered preamp mounted immediately below the antenna and 4.7V DC powered via a Bias-Tee. This is an excellent value preamp you can get from HERE
• RG58 cable back to the shack (about 10m long)
• Receivers are SDRPlay RSP-2 and AirSpy-1
• Software is WXtoImg from HERE

Here are a few sample images:

Below: NOAA 15 near overhead pass

Below: Another NOAA 15 low angle pass

 

Below: A NOAA-19 image from 21st Feb. The horizontal band near the top of the image was my fault as I knocked the receiver off tune!