NooElecGOES Weather Satellite RTL-SDR Bundle - Includes NESDR SMArTee XTR Software Defined Radio, & Everything Else Needed to Receive LRIT, HRIT & HRPT Satellite Weather Images Directly from Space!

This is not a quickie project, be prepared to tinker. It is pretty cool though.1. For a permanent install, you will NEED an SMA lightning arrestor, ground wire, and ground rod - unless you like the idea of bringing Thor into your house... I used this one from Amazon (CAREFUL, SMA is fragile to too much abuse!): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K25Y1JW2. For the Sawbird LNA, you will need a waterproof housing. I purchased this one off Amazon, and some 1-3/8 conduit straps which screwed directly to the back with the included screws (My antenna mast is chain link top-rail, 1-3/8" galvanized steel): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RPNWD47. The Sawbird and the Lightning arrestor BARELY fit inside - had to finagle the cable glands to get it to work.3. For the cable glands on that box, it was necessary to bore out the glands to 9/16" to fit the substantial cable ends that come on the LM400 cable included. Once that was done, they fit perfectly. That cable is robust, but the connectors are fragile. USE CABLE TIES! Torquing the cable will break SMA connectors. Just the weight of that cable might...4. DO NOT USE A PHONE to locate the satellite, use a real high quality lensatic compass and the info from Dishpointer. With my phone, and Satellite Director 2.6.4, I was about 5 degrees off on the azimuth, so much so that it gave me bad signal-to-noise. Once I re-set the azimuth with my lensensatic compass, I got real images and data-dumps. About doubled my SNR (signat-to-noise).5. I used a plumb-bob on a protractor to set the elevation, but "Clinometer" app on my Android phone was easier and gave decimal degrees. Held the phone against the LNB boom.6. Skew sucks. My location called for 30.1 degrees - all you get is horizontal, 45, and 90. I picked 45 because it is closest, but the mount REALLY should be redesigned!!!I have it installed on my PC running ZorinOS 17.2 (Ubuntu fork) - Satdump was ok to install - nothing too crazy but Linux dependencies are always an issue. I used "DeepAI" to tell me what the error messages meant, and how to resolve them.Take it slow, Google is your friend. Tinker.I am happy!

The media could not be loaded. TL;DR: Equipment is good. Simple to setup. If you use a RPi3 don't expect to run much else as it'll throttle (I've tried different RPi3's, occurs on all) due to power draw.Pi build time: About an hour. Mainly downloading libaries/compiler/compiling goestools. Guide link below.Kit build time: 20 minutes.I build the Raspberry Pi 3 the night before I received the kit. I followed this guide for the most part: https://gist.github.com/lxe/c1756ca659c3b78414149a3ea723eae2#file-goes16-rtlsdr-mdThe kit itself is pretty simple. It comes in pieces which overlap and bolt together. I had to look at pictures here to make sure I was doing it right as I didn't have any directions. I get it, only 8 bolt/nuts, but I didn't want to mess it up.The coax cable is.. impressive. Incredibly thick, reminds me of pulling fiber. Holds it's shape for sure as getting the bend out of it was a task. It makes the little SMA connectors look tiny. Be prepared to have to drill some large holes if you plan to route it into a house. I trust it much more than cheap, thin cables found on Amazon. I tried it and some cheap coax and didn't see really any difference.. but I feel like it'll weather better outside.The GOES+ saw filter is not waterproof and I wish it was. I've managed seal it inside a container and wrapped that container with reflective tape in an attempt to reduce solar heat (Florida.) This is my second filter from NooElec and I believe it's working fine. I'm getting 80-90 VIT on this setup.The SDR works as described. Be cautious when planning where you will install it. Without a cool location/active cooling the SDR will likely overheat. Just playing with it outside, using my shed to shelter it from the sun, my VIT went from 90 to 400 over 10 minutes. Moving it back indoors resolved this issue.Ultimately this is a step forward on my goal to build a proper weather monitoring setup. I'm currently monitoring weather balloon launches and now downloading weather satellite data without an Internet connection. Starlink aside as a future Internet service, I live in a location where weather and hurricanes are a concern. Loss of connectivity is an absolute possibility and having the ability to gather weather data offline is a pretty cool idea.