When [Tom Nardi] reported on NOAA’s statement that many of its polar birds were no longer recommended for use, he mentioned that when the satellites do give up, there are other options if you want to pull up your own satellite weather imagery. [Jacopo] explains those other options in great detail.

For example, the Russian Meteor-M satellites are available with almost the same hardware and software stack, although [Jacopo] mentions you might need an extra filter since it is a little less tolerant of interference than the NOAA bird. On the plus side, Meteor-M is stronger than the NOAA satellite on 1.7 GHz, and you can even use a handheld antenna to pick it up. There are new, improved satellites of this series on their way, too.

Another possibility is Metop-B and -C. These do require a wide bandwidth but that’s not hard to do with a modern SDR. Apparently, these satellites will operate until 2027 and beyond.

Even the US GOES satellites are still operational and should continue working for the foreseeable future. There are plenty more choices. Weather not your thing? Jason-3 sends data on radiation and humidity. There are even solar images you can pluck out of the airwaves.

If you’re interested, read on to the bottom, where you’ll find coverage of what you need and how to get started. Of course, you can still get the last gasp of some of the classic satellites, at least for now. You can even print your own antennas.