SDRplay ? ..in fer a penny etc

[Vipersan]

Here is the completed and processed image :-

 

[Vipersan]

Before this thread gets too top heavy ..
Perhaps Admin might consider creating an SDR sub forum in the Tech area ?
IF there is demand for it that is ..?
rgds
VS

 

[Analoguesat]

I'll pm Rolf & ask if it can be created.

 

[Vipersan]

And Finally noaa 18 ...which passed directly over Manchester about 17:15 PM
It would have been a perfect pass but for 6 high energy bursts from a ground station pager (presumably) which gave rise to 6 lines of interference as it overloaded the SDR.
cest la vie

I guess what IS nice is that you can actually see the transition from Day to Dusk on the image..

 

[Vipersan]

Closely followed by noaa 15 at 17:30PM ..
Currently grabbing the image ..so will attatch when complete..
Nice pass but still some interference...
Getting close to sunset in this image..
If I can get up early enough I might try for a sunrise image around 5:30AM..
rgds
VS

 

[Vipersan]

Just out of curiosity ..
if you see this Nelson ..
Did you ever build a QFH antenna from the bits I donated ?

 

[nelson_b]

Just out of curiosity ..
if you see this Nelson ..
Did you ever build a QFH antenna from the bits I donated ?

I,m afraid i,v not ... i know exactly where the parts you gave me are though ... i saw them only yesterday on a shelf in the garage ... just that other things keep taking priority

 

[Archive4]

View attachment 91515

Sorry, late on parade on this thread, but I do like cloud watching, so of interest to me.
Did see the timberwolf ( husky ) in the 1st pic, his girlfriend upset and leaving in the second, and the third pic saw an upset chimp from planet of the apes, top dead centre! Not sure if I will need to cut and paste the original image

Edit, as thought, original pic

 

[Analoguesat]

Any predictions for how a standard discone antenna would perform for this? My buld skills are not up tom constructing a QFH!

 

[Vipersan]

Any predictions for how a standard discone antenna would perform for this? My buld skills are not up tom constructing a QFH!

Certainly you would get _something_ AS ...but since the signals from noaas are RHCP ...really you need a circular tuned antenna for the best reception..
The QFH isn't that hard to build ..
Here is the link ..to the one I built ..
and it was under £20 all in ...and took about a day to build ...and about 3 to tweak ...
QFH Antenna Index Page

 

[battenfan]

I just started reading about building QFH antennas, followed links here:
RTL-SDR Tutorial: Receiving NOAA Weather Satellite Images - rtl-sdr.com
12 mm copper pipes, I might have that somewhere.

Sorry, late on parade on this thread, but I do like cloud watching, so of interest to me.
Did see the timberwolf ( husky ) in the 1st pic, his girlfriend upset and leaving in the second, and the third pic saw an upset chimp from planet of the apes, top dead centre! Not sure if I will need to cut and paste the original image

 

[Vipersan]

I just started reading about building QFH antennas, followed links here:
RTL-SDR Tutorial: Receiving NOAA Weather Satellite Images - rtl-sdr.com
12 mm copper pipes, I might have that somewhere.

Your choice of course ..but I would give some serious consideration to the design I built ..
for no other reason than 12mm copper pipe is hard to get hold of cheaply ..
15mm yeah but not 12...
..and then there is the bending of the curved elements ..
Much easier to do and can be done with hands only in 8mm ..
just my opinion of course..
each to their own.

that said ..good luck to anyone trying to build a QFH

 

[Analoguesat]

Rolf has kindly created the new SDR section so Ive moved this thread into it.

 

[Vipersan]

So ...getting out of bed in time to see the dawn ....and capture noaa 15 southbound pass is was not easy ...
Did you know there were 2 x 5:30s in a day ??
Scary stuff..
Anyway ..imo it was well worth the effort ..
As predicted clouds lit to the East ..and Darker to the West ..so caught the transition nicely ..
This doesn't happen every day ..so has to be planned for ..
right place ..right time etc..
Plus the other bonus ..
Pager activity is practically non existent at 5:30AM on a sunday..
anyway ..back to bed for me for a couple of hours..
later
VS

Half decent pass of noaa 18 soon ..so will leave wxtoimg on auto and hope for the best..

 

[TJExcalibur]

So ...getting out of bed in time to see the dawn ....and capture noaa 15 southbound pass is was not easy ...
Did you know there were 2 x 5:30s in a day ??
Scary stuff..
Anyway ..imo it was well worth the effort ..
As predicted clouds lit to the East ..and Darker to the West ..so caught the transition nicely ..
This doesn't happen every day ..so has to be planned for ..
right place ..right time etc..
Plus the other bonus ..
Pager activity is practically non existent at 5:30AM on a sunday..
anyway ..back to bed for me for a couple of hours..
later
VSView attachment 91563

Half decent pass of noaa 18 soon ..so will leave wxtoimg on auto and hope for the best..

Amazing image. I hope you are woken with a big mug of tea around mid day.

 

[spacedish]

Some great work here VS
How do you find SDRPlay compared with the ten quid dongle.
I am using the latest version of the RTL device and find it extremelt stable on the Inmarsat AERO stuff.

BTW one of the plug ins for SDR# allows multiple channel reception using additional virtual cables.

 

[Vipersan]

Spacedish ...
The SDRplay certainly appears higher gain and more sensitive than the cheapie dongles ...
..which can introduce problems of course ...as it more prone to interferance...
But on the whole is worth the money as I am no longer restricted to frequency wise ..and can go down as far as long wave and beyond..
100khz is very low indeed.
I shall be investigating the Aero stuff myself soon ....but really need a tutorial to follow ..
All new to me..

The dual audio plugin for sdr# sounds interesting..
Can you provide a link ?
...and how to install aditional virtual cables ?
rgds
VS

 

[battenfan]

Your choice of course ..but I would give some serious consideration to the design I built ..
for no other reason than 12mm copper pipe is hard to get hold of cheaply ..
15mm yeah but not 12...
..and then there is the bending of the curved elements ..
Much easier to do and can be done with hands only in 8mm ..
just my opinion of course..
each to their own.

that said ..good luck to anyone trying to build a QFH

Found some 12 mm but not enough, also some 10 mm (?).

I think 12 mm is fairly common among plumbers here so it shouldn't be too expensive. I also found some uninsulated 8 mm so I have choices. I've read that larger diameter yields wider bands. It would be nice to thread the cable inside the pipe but that seems hard with a 8 mm. Do you run your cable outside the plastic pole to the top?

 

[Vipersan]

The cable doesn't run inside the plastic pole much ...but enters and exits the pole to provide anchor points for the ballun ...or matching transformer ..which is formed by about 4 turns of the cable arounfd the pole diameter..
..another reason _not_ to use a metal pole..
With 8mm copper the cable doesn't run inside the copper elements ..but is actually atached to them at the feed point at the top of the pole ..and inside the plastic pole..
As said previously ...a very nice and relatively easy build ..but you need to read the project linked to previously in this thread..
Some pictures of my QFH
first post
rgds

 

[Archive4]

Judging by the repeated use of the word " pole " can we rename the thread to pole dancing?
( dependant on north or south weather tracking )