r/amateursatellites • u/taquitoburrito1 • 21h ago

Help New to this and METEOR M2 passes are inconveniently timed. What are some easy satellites I can get imagery from? Is there an import list of satellites on satdump for imagery?

Every tutorial I've seen wants you to use METEOR M2-x satellites as an entryway into pulling images. Where I live I'd either have to wake up super early/late or skip work. I'm using an RTL-SDR v3 and just want to hit the ground running.

I'd really like a list so when I do have unexpectant free time I can check the tracking, get to the nearest field and start recording.

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5

u/AtmosphereLow9678 21h ago

Sadly the noaa sattelites have been killed last year so, and other satellite that do imagery are either on the L-band or X-band. Maybe if you live in Europe and you are interested in sun images there is PROBA-2 on the S-band but it isn't really worth it

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u/taquitoburrito1 21h ago

Yeah initially I tried those but found out the hard way. I live in Chicago if that helps

4

u/tj21222 20h ago

Look into GOES19 a setup will cost you about 150 usd with the Nooelec grid antenna and a tripod mount. You have the receiver you will need GOES LNA. Way better than messing with the fly over birds. Set it up and let it run

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u/taquitoburrito1 20h ago

This all needs to fit in a backpack because I live in an apartment I looked at the dish you need for GOES and that is hella big

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u/Ok_Personality9910 18h ago

if you happen to have a south facing balcony with a clear view of the sky there's a chance you can just do it from your balcony (Check with a phone satellite pointer app first ofc; you need clear line of sight to the satellite with no obstructions) , though yeah def not backpackable easily (though the grid antennas can fit in about half the size if you undo all the bolts down the center)

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u/taquitoburrito1 8h ago

I usually go out to the end of one of the piers north of North Ave beach. Should be good enough, I'll check out grid antennas after work

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u/Aurorer 8h ago edited 7h ago

There are a few parabolic antennas that can be disassembled into individual “petals” that will fit into a backpack when stacked on top of each other.

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u/Unlikely_Actuary3513 14h ago

There are three north - south and three south north passes from each Meteor satellite every day. That’s potentially a total of twelve passes that will be at least above the horizon. At least four of those should have enough elevation to be receivable with simple portable equipment. As a beginner, you are extremely unlikely to be able to receive the transmissions at 1700 MHz but it should not be a problem to receive the LRPT transmissions at 137.9Mz. Timings of the passes move throughout the year, and you need to be able to get a day-side pass at the moment because of the instrument data that’s being broadcast on the LRPT data stream. Correctly set up for your location and with up to date TLEs, Satdump can list all the predicted passes for you, and auto record as long as you have signal available at the time

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u/Noderyos 1h ago

Just wait a couple of days, the schedule will slowly shift and you'll be able to receive it