Personal Blog

A couple of years ago I tried to receive the NOAA 18 using a small in-door antenna and an RTL DVB-T USB receiver. The results were disappointing. However, I always had in the back of my mind that I will try again in the future with an external antenna. The era of cheap RTL-SDR hardware has come, so many people have started looking for receiving images from the weather satellites. Easy targets are the NOAA satellites that transmit weather images using Automatic Picture Transmission method ( APT ). These satellites provide images in different wavelengths of light. So after following instructions from a site dedicated to the RTL-SDR receivers , I tried to receive some pictures using the simple TV antenna. However, this decision had many disadvantages, as the TV antennas are designed to receive signal on higher frequencies from NOAA satellites. Despite the poor reception and low cost (e.g.,. none, I had an old tv antenna installed, but not used) I was able to receive some pictures. I ...

Filerimos is a hill situated near the village of Ialyssos which stands on the same site as the Doric city of Ialysos, in ancient times. When the Dorians arrived around 1100 BC Ialysos became member of the alliance known as the Dorian Hextapolis.  Excavations discovered a Mycenaean pottery, a Doric foundation and a Hellenistic temple of Athena. In the middle age the Knights of St. John used the site.   Remnants of these periods and lot of the successive conquerors can still be seen. On the way up the ancient road to the Acropolis, you see the foundations of the temple of Zeus and Athena. On top you'll find the beautiful Monastery. This Monastery was destroyed under, the Turks and rebuilt by the Italians who installed Capuchin monks in it.  A short and quiet walk leads to an enormous cross, accessible by a stairway to the top. Also there are everywhere peacocks. Peacocks,  peacocks everywhere! The road to the big cross. The cros...