The antenna is connected to the radio (scanner). The earphone output of the radio goes to the line or mic input of the sound card. The free software captures the signal and converts it to an image on the screen
My Weather Satellite Station
Many people have been asking me to describe how I get the
satellite images on my webcam page so here is my setup.
This system is inexpensive and receives images from low orbiting NOAA and
Russian weather sats.
There are lots of different systems and satellites but this is the easiest and
least expensive type system for the casual user.
Basically it is an antenna, a radio, a PC with any common
sound card, and software which is FREE
click here
to hear a recording from a weather satellite.
The system
The antenna is connected to the radio (scanner). The earphone output of the
radio goes to the line or mic input of the sound card. The free software
captures the signal and converts it to an image on the screen
The Antenna
My antenna is a QFH type designed for satellite reception. I put it on my deck
on the pole at left. It cost about $300 but I started out with a $20 RadioShack
all band antenna and got some pictures that looked good to me but were pretty
grainy when compared to this antenna. I bought my antenna from Satellite Data Systems
The Radio
The Satellites broadcast at 137-138Mhz, 45Khz bandwidth FM.
I started out using a cheap Bearcat Police scanner and got "OK"
pictures but police scanners have a narrow bandwidth of 16khz so the images are
not great. Now I have two radios, and either one works great for satellites. The
top radio is a Hamtronics R-139 $239. A dedicated satellite receiver that scans
the 5 APT satellite channels. The bottom radio is an ICOM PCR1000, $500, an
incredible radio that is a scanner, AM/FM, and shortwave radio all in one with
all controls on your PC screen. It has many functions of high-end receivers such
as variable bandwidths that allow perfect satellite reception.
The PCR1000 is widely available and you can read about it HERE
The Hamtronics is available factory direct HERE and I recommend strongly getting
it assembled, not the kit.
The PC and Sound Card
Any common sound card with a line or mic input works. I like SoundBlaster.
I also have PhotoShop to enhance my images and add text but less expensive
software and even the free wxsat software does well.
The Software WXSAT2.59
Christian Bock's amazing freeware program WXSAT really has opened up this hobby.
His program will let you schedule and automatically record the satellite signal,
convert it to an image, and adjust the image. You can download it here for free,
WXSAT2.59e
This is the latest English version, other versions maybe downloaded HERE
WXSAT records the beep beep from the satellite and saves it as a wav file which
contains the information for a visible image as shown above or an Infra Red
image or both combined, there are many possibilities. WXSAT has a set of
parameters for converting signals from each satellite into images. These
parameters are stored in its wxsat.ini file. I have tweeked these parameters to
get what I think are even better images and you can download my wxsat.ini file
here and use it to replace the one that comes with WXSAT2.59. Everyone's PC,
monitor, etc, are different so you have to tweek the settings for your own
system.
David Taylor has recently developed a similar set of programs with even more
features and more complexity, which are available for a small registration fee
at David Taylor's Home Page
Tracking Software
There are 4 or 5 satellites that transmit APT images. Each one makes 2 to 4 good
passes over a given location each day so you have plenty of opportunities to get
images each day. Each pass lasts about 15 minutes. You need to know when they
are coming over so you need a tracking software. I use Nova For Windows $60 from
Northern Lights Software. In the example above you can see that NOAA14 is just
17 minutes from coming above my horizon in Seattle and it will take 16 minutes
to pass over me, reaching a maximum 83 degrees above the horizon (passes almost
right over me)
This is just a brief description of my personal system. There are many many fine web sites with the details on how to do this, info about the satellites, radios, software, etc. Please explore some of these links.
MultiFAX Weather Satellite Systems
Con Kirksey Satellite Tracking Houston
Milan Konecny Weather Satellite Images