Regarding Observation 13220769 …
Got one of my first NOAA data files, looks like a picture wantabe but ……. is this a Satellite issue or an issue with my ground station? DATA TAB……
Is this satellite still active? I thought all the noaa vhf 137mhz band satellites were decommissioned now.
According to various sites noaa-2 was launched in 1972 so would be over 50 years old. I doubt it would still be functioning.
In fact, your station did not receive any signal from that satellite, which as far as I know does not transmit on VHF (None NOAA satellite currently transmits on VHF)
That was a good observation. Notice that the signal coming from the satellite always remains in a straight line because the SatNOGS station performs automatic Doppler correction. Also note that a small PPM correction is necessary in your RTL-SDR (See “adjustment using observations” mentioned HERE to make the correction).
@2e0gkw Incredibly, some older satellites still transmit something. NOAA-2 was observed some time ago transmitting signals in the L-band with a transmission pattern of about a few seconds on and a few minutes off (I don’t remember exactly).
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very very good tutorial
Broken, but still transmitting signals when in sunlight. No imgages, no APT, but still signs of life !
Thanks @PU4ELT and @PE2BZ for updates.
A little more googling found NOAA-2 was officially decomissioned in 1975. It was noted ‘magically’ returning to life, at least partially while in sunlight, in 2021 but only with a signal on L-band (1.7Ghz). I found no mention of APT transmissions / images on 137Mhz being received in ‘zombie’ state - so seems unlikely the OPs observation is from NOAA-2.
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It is still alive but only in L Band and when in sunlight. It transmit a partial telemtry bar only
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