How To Receive And Decode L-Band Weather Satellites

People often ask me to do step-by-step how-to videos on some of the satellite projects I show. While I'm still not a real expert on this, I've done my best to show the basics of L-band signals. These can be received with a simple small dish, a Software-Defined Radio and LNA/filter, and some free software. The process is a little more complicated than VHF satellite reception (which I showed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icADyjm3PBE). However, it's not terribly complex, and the images are a little better than what's available on VHF. Here are some other great guides that can help with this: https://usradioguy.com/hrpt-satellite-tracking-and-capture/ https://gist.github.com/JVital2013/ed848cdd92900777eee849dc74186b2c https://sgcderek.github.io/blog/beginner-hrpt-guide.html @dereksgc also has some great videos about this on his channel. Nooelec sells an all-in-one hardware bundle, including antenna, SDR, and LNA. This is everything you need (other than a computer and software) to get started! https://amzn.to/4ah2WQt You can also buy parts individually, and make your own antenna. I personally like the RTL-SDR Blog series of Software Defined Radios: https://amzn.to/4a4AjWI If you buy an SDR separately or already have one, you will also need a SAWbird GOES LNA: https://amzn.to/49TtI1k If you already have a Wifi grid dish, you can modify it like this: https://usradioguy.com/optimizing-wifi-grid/ If you're building your own dish, the sgcderek link above has some good info. Or you can go REALLY cheap the way I did with some of these projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM84sSXFL0Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW6ogJS768Y You can find the right position for your antenna feed on the dish here: https://www.analyzemath.com/parabola/focus-of-parabola-calculator.html And you can find 3D printable helical antenna parts here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4980180 Free software that I use includes: Gpredict: https://oz9aec.dk/gpredict/ SDR++: https://www.sdrpp.org/ SatDump: https://www.satdump.org/ I also use Stellarium, which isn't free and is somewhat flaky, but was the only thing I could find for Android that gives an AR tracking view: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.noctuasoftware.stellarium_free&hl=en_US&gl=US Websites I use for satellite finding and tracking include: https://www.n2yo.com/ https://www.satdump.org/Satellite-List/ If you'd like to support videos like this, buying from the Amazon links above will give me a small commission (at no extra cost to you!). Or check out the links below! Saveitforparts t-shirts and other merch at https://saveitforparts.myspreadshop.com/ Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNLRcEn78Vc62C3GkMvBgtA/join Or support me via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/saveitforparts Check out gadgets and devices I like at https://www.amazon.com/shop/saveitforparts