"Jon O'Rourke" wrote in message ...
"Rob Bale" wrote in message
...
snip
Loads of info here Jon.
http://www.eumetsat.de/en/dps/news/p...ices_0_deg.pdf

Thanks.


With regards Meteosat 6 it is envisaged it will continue for some time
beyond 2005 transmitting from 10° East
Hope you're right about MSG 1(Meteosat 8)

Me too, but Meteosat 8 will be old hat by then ;-)

I was only thinking the other day about my old Timestep Meteosat receiver
and
the joyous moment in 1992 when I received my first 'live' image; although my
dad wasn't having much fun wandering round the front garden carrying a 1m
dish pointed in vain at where Meteosat 'should' be ! Then there was the
times I'd set my humble 386 (25mhz) PC up to receive a day's images only to
find the PC's clock had gone awry and I had s*d all ! The net takes all the
fun out of it :-)
Infact I first saw live images a few years before at college when I decided
to do my final A-level Physics project based around their Meteosat kit. I
spent many happy hours (normally well after closing time) with a dodgy dot
matrix printer, some tracing paper (for overlaying DIY Synoptic charts) and
an aging BBC-B computer.. the tutors weren't impressed though and
consquently marked me down because there wasn't enough physics involved,
probably. I digress, hohum.

Jon.

I too remember setting up my first Meteosat/NOAA system from Timestep in 1993. I agree with you, it was a fantastic feeling,
hurriedly setting it up and receiving the first images, although a couple of cables trailing across part of my lounge didn't go
down too well with my wife.

The only saving grace about possibly losing 30 min images and going back to 6 hourly is that the new MSG data is available, thanks
to a malfunction on MSG1, via Eumetcast via the Hotbird 6 satellite. This only reqires a small dish and the equipment costs
hundreds rather than the thousands that it was supposed to. Licences are free from Eumetsat for education and self education
users.
Not sure whether this method of dissemination will continue with future MSG satellites.

Regards,

Rob
Chester, UK
http://www.west-cheshire.ac.uk/weather/