The Easiest Satellites

摘要

Reception of VHF weather satellite signals is the easiest, lowest-cost entry to satellite operation.The signals are strong and easy to receive with simple wire antennas and readily availablescanning receivers. They nevertheless illustrate many aspects of satellite operation, includingorbital prediction and the nature of the satellite ground track and coverage area. The downlinksignals may be processed on a modern personal computer to produce images that are interestingin their own right, and often beautiful too.