137MHz QFH Antenna for NOAA/Meteor Satellites

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This page last updated 20 September 2025.

 

(Price: £90 + shipping.  Price correct October, 2025)

    • Click any of the gallery images above for larger view.

    **UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2025**

    Since the demise of the last NOAA satellites during August of this year (see below), I have received data from the Meteor M2-3 and M2-4 satellites with great success. My equipment setup was a QFH-137 antenna on a ground-mounted 10ft pole in my garden, 10 metres of standard coax cable, and a Nooelec RTL-SDR receiver.

    You can see from the images in the slideshow above just how successful this was; the result is I now have some of the best images I’ve ever received! Signals from these satellites are strong, and LNA (preamps) are not required unless you have a very long coax run. I am finding that the signal is visible on the waterfall spectrum as soon as the satellite footprint reaches my location, and manages to sync very soon afterwards, remaining without interruption for the whole pass.

    Below is a screenshot of my SatDump software during reception.

    NOAA Satellites Update

    Unfortunately, during August 2025, the last two NOAA Weather Satellites transmitting APT Images were decommissioned. This came as a blow to hobbyists, especially after the loss of NOAA 18 in June. The reason for all three of the NOAA sats reaching the end of their operational life so close together is due to a number of factors.

    • NOAA 18 was decommissioned on 6th June 2025 after the failure of the S-band transmitter, affecting its ability to control itself, and respond to commands from ground control. It was launched on 20 May 2005 with a planned life span of 2 years!
    • NOAA 19 was decommissioned on 13th August 2025 due to battery failure. This satellite was of 2009 vintage.
    • NOAA 15 was decommissioned on 19th August 2025 after continued degradation of instruments and subsystems. This satellite was launched in 1998, meaning its operational lifespan exceeded its design life by over 25 years.

    While this loss spells the end of reception of analogue weather satellite images as we knew it, it certainly doesn’t mean the end of our hobby; far from it in fact! It simply means we have to move to new and exciting things: Meteor M-series sats.  

    Luckily for the hobbyist, Russia launched a new weather satellite, Meteor M2-3 in 2023 which transmits LRPT pictures on 137 MHz. Then, in February 2024, Meteor M2-4 was launched. This gives us a much brighter future, and indeed much brighter images, being transmitted digitally, resulting in more reliable image quality without fading or brightness issues.  See the September Update at the top of this page, and the scrolling gallery images.

    Unfortunately, due to the antenna not deploying fully on Meteor M2-3 after launch, signals are fairly weak, but using the QFH-137 antenna, reception is reported as straightforward. You will need an SDR receiver to handle the 150 KHz bandwidth of the transmission, and a program such as SATdump to process the data. You may need a Low-Noise-Amplifier (LNA) positioned near to the antenna, and possibly a SAW filter to isolate local signals from broadcast radio etc. Luckily these are available in a single unit for under £20.

    Thanks to Jacopo who has produced an excellent guide to receiving the Meteor sats, which  can be found here.

     

    This page describes how this antenna can be used for receiving images on the weather satellite band.  Please expand each item below for a comprehensive explanation.  If you are interested in buying one of these antennas, you will  find an order form in the “How to Buy” section.

    Receiving Weather satellite pictures is one of the easiest and most rewarding areas of radio to explore. No licence or special permission is needed, and the equipment required is extremely cheap and easy to obtain.

    The satellites which are easiest to receive pictures from are called Low-Earth-Orbit, or LEO sats. Some of these satellites send a type of transmission called Automatic Picture Transmission, or APT. The LEO Satellites are continuously orbiting the earth at an altitude of around 800-850km and each one will pass over any given location approximately three times a day. These satellites send a continuous picture stream as they travel, rather like a continuous fax transmission. When you receive and decode this transmission, you will receive the portion of the picture which the satellite sees as it passes over your location.

    The only thing which limits how much of the picture you can receive, is how long the satellite is ‘visible’ above the horizon from your location. Being visible refers to the satellite being within ‘line of sight’ from a radio signal point of view. An antenna mounted at a good height in a location clear of obstacles will help greatly. Having said that, where I live in the centre of the UK, I can receive a portion of picture stretching from North Africa up to Greenland , so the whole of the UK can easily be identified, all using a loft-mounted QFH antenna.  

    In the early days, it would have been fairly difficult to decode a transmission from these satellites. VHF reception equipment was expensive, a computer was an expensive device, and you would need a demodulator of some description. Thankfully, nowadays you can buy a VHF receiver for £20, everyone has a personal computer, and you can decode the pictures using the computer’s soundcard.

    BUT (see next item):

     

    The most important part of any radio station is the antenna. An incorrectly selected antenna can mark the difference between success and failure. While you can receive signals from satellites using a fairly simple dipole or monopole antenna, you will find that the signal fades in and out as the satellite’s antenna changes polarisation, and you may get loss of signal when the satellite is directly overhead or near the horizon.

    The answer: Use a Quadrifilar Helix Antenna! This strange-looking antenna, often named the egg-beater antenna (for obvious reasons), was invented in the 1940s and has become something of a stablemate for modern satellite communications, and also other uses such as wifi. These antennas have a fundamental ability to demonstrate high gain with regard to signals presented from the side, and less gain to signals presented from above (when the satellite is overhead the signal is strong and unobstructed). The QFH antenna also has a unique capability of receiving wanted signals for which it was designed, and rejecting unwanted signals.

    The signals sent from satellites are of circular polarisation. This polarisation is used because satellites are constantly moving and changing orientation. Therefore relative orientation between linear polarized transmitting and receiving antennas is not guaranteed, i.e both transmitting and receiving antennas vertical, or both horizontal. The polarisation of linear signals is also changed as it travels through space, while circular polarisation is not affected.

    The QFH antennas I build and sell are carefully designed to be effective both in operation and in cost. They are built from copper tubing which is formed into the required helix shape using a 3D tube bender, and is soldered at the joints for reliability. The antenna structure is supported using solvent-welded tubing and associated fittings for mechanical strength and weatherproofing. There is a screw-cap fitted at the top for easy access to the coax feed point. I also polish the copper tubing and lacquer it to prevent corrosion and weathering. This antenna could surely be excused as a garden ornament, Christmas decoration, or similar! Whatever happens, your better half won’t mind too much.

    Antennas are built to order, priced at £90 each plus shipping in a huge box!  (Antenna is approximately 95cm high with a diameter of 40cm.  Price correct October, 2025.)

    If you need a coax feeder for your antenna, I can offer various options from stock.  Full details are provided on this page.

    Feedback from customers is always good, with reception results always reported as being nothing short of excellent. These antennas will always beat crossed-dipole antennas, and turnstile antennas by some margin, simply by their design.

    My aim is to produce these antennas at cost in the spirit of the hobby. A few people have suggested that the antenna is overpriced, and the materials cost around £30 at their local DIY store. Of course these people omitted to realise that when you buy the components, they don’t just magic themselves into a complex antenna of exact dimensions and set up to perform as required! This takes a few hours of work, and requires the following materials and equipment:

    • Pipe straightener
    • Pipe cutter
    • 3D pipe bender
    • Tube drilling jig
    • Copper tubing
    • Steel wool
    • Solder
    • Soldering flux
    • Soldering torch
    • Gas for soldering torch
    • Flux remover
    • Degreaser
    • Lacquer
    • Sealant
    • PVC solvent cement
    • Wet & dry paper
    • Heatshrink tubing
    • Antenna Analyser

    If you are interested in having a go at receiving weather satellite pictures using one of these antennas, please contact me by emailing  joe@ft8.co.uk.

    I haven’t gone into too much detail regarding actually receiving and decoding pictures here as this is already well documented on the internet. I recommend downloading a program called WXtoIMG, the full version of which is now free. This can automatically track and receive the weather satellites, and can also add colour to what would normally be a monochrome picture. You can also add country boundary lines to really identify the area which you have received.

    The price of an antenna is currently £90 (price correct October, 2025) excluding shipping.  Please use the contact webform below to place a provisional order.  Once I have all your details I will send you a firm quotation for the full price, including shipping costs to your address.  If you prefer, you can just send an email to joe@ft8.co.uk. Please remember to include your full postal address so we can work out the shipping cost.

    Because of occasional difficulties when attempting to reply to a Gmail address, please also include a telephone or mobile contact number in case I can’t reach you by email.