NOAA-18: Thank You.
As today is the 21st anniversary launch of NOAA 18, I thought why not make a blog post for this now sadly deactivated weather satellite. "Image Credit: NOAA/NASA" Back in February 2020 I decided to try out my then new Yaesu FT818 with a bit of weather satellite imaging . I constructed the antenna, soldered the connectors, tuned the radio, connected my laptop, plotted the path and adjusted my compass. The NOAA 18 Weather Sat was my goal. The pass times were displayed on my WXtoIMG program. Now, all I had to do was listen to the static until that familiar "tick tock tick tock" sound tentatively pushed its way through the static of that far away horizon. Then for the next five/ten minutes or so the "tick tock" filled my radio speaker and slowly but surely an image appeared on my screen, the NOAA-18 was passing overhead now and the signal noticeable stronger. As NOAA 18 raced away from me the "tick tock" lessened in intensity until finally it d...
