Review on 🌍 Nooelec Weather Satellite RTL-SDR Bundle - NESDR SMArTee XTR Included for Receiving LRIT, HRIT & HRPT Satellite Weather Images from Space! by Kyle Rose

TL;DR: The equipment is good. Easy setup. If you're using an RPi3, don't expect it to run much more as it will throttle due to the power draw (I've tried different RPi3s, happens to all). Pi build time: about an hour. Basically download libraries/compilers/compile Gotools. Link to instructions below. Kit assembly time: 20 minutes. I am building a Raspberry Pi 3 the night before I received the kit. For the most part I followed this guide: https://gist.github.com/lxe/c1756ca659c3b78414149a3ea723eae2#file-goes16-rtlsdr-md The kit itself is quite simple. It consists of parts that overlap and fit together. I had to look at the pictures here to make sure I was doing it right as I didn't have any instructions. I thought it was only 8 bolts/nuts but I didn't want to mess it up. There is a coaxial cable. impressive. Incredibly thick, reminds me of fiber pulling. Holds its shape exactly as it was a challenge to get the curve out. This makes small SMA connectors look tiny. Be prepared to drill some big holes if you plan to bring it indoors. I trust it a lot more than the cheap flimsy Revain cables. I tried it and a cheap coax cable and didn't see much of a difference. but I think outside would be better. The GOES+ saw filter is not waterproof and I want it to be waterproof. I was able to seal it in a container and wrap the container in reflective tape to reduce the heat from the sun (Florida). This is my second filter from NooElec and I think it works well. I get 80-90 VIT on this setup. SDR works as described. Be careful when planning the installation site. Without a cold spot/active cooling, the SDR will likely overheat. I just played with it outside and used my shed to protect it from the sun. My VIT went from 90 to 400 in 10 minutes. Taking it back inside solved the problem. Ultimately, this is a step forward towards my goal of getting weather monitoring set up properly. I am currently monitoring weather balloon launches and am now downloading data from weather satellites without an internet connection. Aside from Starlink as a future internet service, I live in a place where weather and hurricanes are an issue. Losing your connection is totally possible, and being able to collect weather data offline is a pretty cool idea.