RTL-SDR for Satellite Weather-Meteor M2-3/4 – Telecommunications, Navigation & Electronics

Introduction

Recently I received a notice that NOAA15/18/19 transmissions were coming to an end (Ref.1). Over the past several years I have enjoyed monitoring these transmissions (Ref.2). However from reading various Newsgroups, it appeared that satellite weather was still available on the Meteor satellite family M2-3 & M2-4 (Ref.3). So I set about trying to receive these transmission. I discovered several things right away that had changed since my reception of the NOAA signals. First of all in the last few years condo towers have sprouted up all around my home location blocking access to the open sky. Previously I had more or less complete visibility of the eastern horizon with the exception of several buildings. Now it is mostly blocked. Also the background RF noise level has increased a lot.

Equipment Setup

Figure 1 shows the equipment setup. For simplicity I am using a Vee dipole the same as I used to receive NOAA15/18/19. The antenna has the advantage that it can be hand held and aimed directly at the satellite for maximum gain. I am also using the same BPF/LNA, as I tested it for operation at 137MHz (Ref.4). I am using the RTL-SDR V3 because I can power the LNA/BPF from the BiasTee. I discovered that the USB cable to Lithium battery which I used previously for CubeSat recepton was picking up intermod noise.

Satellite Tracking

Figure 2 shows a good pass of Meteor M2-3 close to Toronto on Oct10th_2025. Since my home location is now blocked by many high condo buildings, I went to Toronto harbourfront to receive the signal.

Signal Decoding

Fig.3 Rx Spectrum Oct8th_2025 Home Location SNR <=5dB

Fig.4 Rx Spectrum Oct10th_2025 TorHF Location SNR >= 10dB

Fig.6 SatDump Decoded Weather Picture with Overlay

Figure 3 shows the signal received from my home location for M2-4 on Oct 8th. Signal strength was low because my eastern horizon is now mostly blocked. Figure 4 shows a much stronger signal received at Toronto Harbourfront on Oct 10th. Figure 5/6 show the decoded signal using SatDump from IU1QPT. Figure 7 shows the reception and decoding process.