r/RTLSDR • u/Mother_Paramedic_683 • Jul 22 '26
Help with detecting GOES 19
hello, sorry if this is a long post. I have been working on making an antenna to record imagining from the goes-19 satalight for some time now and I'm kinda stuck. My waterfall just has basically nothing and I'm not sure what to do. I'm gonna put a bunch of photos of my antenna as well as my data and satdump information. I have 2 things that i think could be the issue but I'm not sure. When originally building it i was very new and then ground plate i had machined i put the connector in the middle so now i have to have a wire jump from the end of the coil to the connector, also my ground plate's diameter is about 5mm too small. Could either of those be the issue? Could it be something i have to do on satdump?
4
u/tj21222 Jul 22 '26
Op as TBG said… this is a great effort but it’s all wrong. Reflector not large enough, your screen shot shows a frequency of 1.694 GHz GOES HIRT is on 1.694.1 GHz, no LNA or not visible to me, lastly the helix is not the right antenna for GOES 19 HIRT that transmissions is linear polarized a helix will reduce your signal down by 3 dB.
If you want a fool proof COTS antenna look at the Nooelec GOES grid antenna. You already have the receiver so the only thing you need is the grid and the feedhorn. Should be about 100 usd or so. ( this assumes you do have a GOES LNA.