Receiving NOAA Weather Satellite Images
Have any of you hams done this before? It’s actually really easy to do, and it can be fun. You don’t need much in the way of equipment and software, and all of the software is free.
First, you need software to track the satellites. I was using Satscape until they changed it to a Java version that I’m not all that happy with. Now I’m using Orbitron, which has a nicer interface. You can get your coordinates from your QRZ lookup. Make sure that the TLE updater is getting the new data from space-track.org. When I let it go to the default location, the data was incorrect.
Next, you’ll need software to decode the WEFAX signals. I’m using the Pro version of WXtoIMG, but the basic, free version does just fine.
You will need a 2 meter radio and an audio cable to connect from the radio to the computer. You actually don’t need a special antenna to do this, but it will help get rid of some interference. I built this one, which does very well.
Once your tracking software indicates a satellite in range, just fire up WXtoIMG and hit Record. If you’ve never heard a weather satellite, they sound like this.
Here are some images from satellites that I have received. The color images have gone through some processing using WXtoIMG. The grayscale ones are original images.
Tags: amateur radio, ham radio, NOAA, satellites, weather satellite