Receive Images Straight from Weather Satellites
Catch a polar-orbiting weather satellite as it passes overhead and decode a picture of your region with SatDump.
Some polar-orbiting weather satellites still transmit openly on 137 MHz (for example the Russian Meteor-M series using LRPT). With a simple V-dipole and an RTL-SDR you can receive real images from space.
Mission steps
Build a V-dipole
Set two arms of about 53 cm at 120° to each other, horizontal, pointing north–south. The kit's telescopic dipole works.
Install SatDump
Install SatDump on the Pi or your laptop following the project's documentation.
Predict passes
Use a pass predictor (SatDump includes one) to find the next high-elevation pass of an active satellite.
Record and decode
Record the pass and run the matching pipeline (for example Meteor-M LRPT) to produce images.
Automate
Let SatDump's automatic mode record every good pass and save images each day.
Questions
What about the old NOAA APT satellites?
The NOAA APT satellites that hobbyists used for years have been retired. Check current satellite status lists before planning a capture.