Meteor M2-4: Receiving Weather Satellite Images from My Garden in San Francisco
12 hours ago
- Meteor M2-4 is a Russian weather satellite launched in February 2024, orbiting at ~820 km in a sun-synchronous polar orbit with a 101-minute period.
- Its MSU-MR scanner captures visible and infrared channels; the satellite transmits LRPT signals at 137.9 MHz.
- A simple ground setup using a V-shaped dipole antenna, an SDR receiver (SDRplay RSPdx-R2), and a laptop with SatDump software can receive and decode these signals.
- The reception process involves predicting a pass, recording baseband I/Q data, and decoding with SatDump to produce grayscale and false-color images.
- Successful decoding yielded images of the western coast of North America from channels 1 (visible), 2 (near infrared), and 4 (mid infrared), though some rows were missing.
- Challenges include signal fading due to obstructions (e.g., buildings), and the need for proper antenna alignment, gain adjustment, and software settings.
- The article provides detailed instructions, settings, and technical notes for replicating the experiment.