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Commercial and Amateur
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The R139 is a very sensitive wideband fm receiver optimized for reception of NOAA APT and similar weather facsimile images on the 137 MHz band. You can use it with any popular demodulator and software. The R139 has excellent sensitivity (0.2µV); so no preamp is needed for normal operation. Special wideband filters enable low distortion for high quality imaging, even with doppler shift on the satellite signal. Five precision crystal controlled channels cover all popular satellites. The R139 is designed from the ground up for optimum satellite reception; not just an off-the-shelf scanner with a shorted-out IF filter! Scan circuit and tape recorder control output allow you to automatically search for and record signals as satellites pass overhead, even while away from home. FEATURES:
SPECIFICATIONS:
See review in an August 1997 QST article. See links to related websites with information and programs you can download. * Note: DB-9 mating plug is supplied along with 115Vac power adapter. Customer needs to provide wiring to computer and solder desired cables to the plug. Demodulating Weather Fax Signals.The R139 Receiver demodulates the fm signal transmitted by the weather satellite. Its 2400 Hz audio tone output must be further demodulated and converted to digital pulses, which is normally done with the sound card in your computer and imaging software. You can download a freeware program discussed in an August 1997 QST article. See links to related websites with information and programs you can download. |
  PRICES:R139 Receiver wired/tested in cabinet R139 wired/tested with adapter but without cabinet .....$249 Set of two new crystals to modify older R139's for NOAA-N and NOAA-N' (137.100 and 137.9125) ........$50 A28 Coil Alignment Tool .........$6.00 A2 Capacitor Alignment Tool ...$6.00  Here is a sample image made as a composite from multiple images. Click to enlarge. (Thanks to Jerry, KD6JDJ)
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For installations where interference is caused by nearby transmitters, such as near an airport, this low-noise preamp with a 3-section high-Q filter may solve the problem. It is installed in line with the coax from the antenna. Maximum 40 dB rejection is obtained for signals more than 7 MHz above or below the 137 MHz band; however, some benefit is achieved even for signals closer in frequency. |
 LNP-137 Preselector ......$99 |
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I purchased your APT-2CP turnstile antenna and it works great with crystal clear reception. I am in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and we took the direct hit with Hurricane Katrina. The antenna made it through the storm without any damage. We had 12 hours of hurricane force winds and I recorded on my own gear 138mph sustained. The 10 foot pole which the antenna was on has a slight bend. That will give you an idea of the force of the winds. The house I was in barely survived but the neighborhood was demolished from wind and downed trees. I just thought you might like to know just how good that antenna is!...Bob Pullman; Petal, MS Thought you would like another testimonial about the R139. The R139 is the best WEFAX Receiver for the money on the market today! It' simple but robust design has given me years of pleasure. I run the APT-2CP mounted at 25ft with WXTOIMG software. The pictures are just amazing! Thanks for a GREAT product!...Tim, N8DUY II have installed your 137MHz preamp and preselector onto our NOAA APT receiver at http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~map/weather/ and I'm pleased to report that the picture quality has improved from generally reasonable... to generally excellent! Good gear mate. So good in fact, that my boss wants me to install another set permanently onto this receiver (I will be shipping the present preamp + preselector to Thailand shortly). In addition, a friend of mine would like an additional preselector, and I'll also grab one for myself. ...Andre, New South Wales I recently purchased the R139 Satellite receiver and ATP-2CP Turnstile Antenna. very impressive. I set up the system in my truck and went to a beach near my home on Cape Cod. the attached pic is the result. keep up the good work! ...Jim KC1KM Harwichport, MA
I recently purchased R139 from you through my cousin in the
US. I am extremely pleased with the receiver. When I tried
it the very first time on NOAA 18 today, not only did it
work flawlessly, it COMPLETELY OUTPERFORMED MY FT-817. Very
well designed indeed. ...Rajesh Kannan, Chennai (Madras),
India
I removed the 137.85MHz crystal and installed the 137.9125MHz crystal only five minutes before a NOAA-18 pass. I tuned the osc frequency on-the-fly and got an almost perfect picture. I'm really impressed with the R139 receiver! Thanks for the great project.
...John Engel, WA0LPV; East Grand Forks, MN
Just bought a R139 from you last week. I couldn't be more pleased with the quality and sensitivity of the radio. I ordered it Tuesday and received it Thursday. Horizon to horizon noise free pics with no preamp and my 2 meter cross yagi. ...Mike Penkas, WA8EBM Thanks very much for the speedy service. I tried out the receiver yesterday with a 2M Yagi. Wow! The improvement over my Radio Shack scanner was amazing. Great image of hurricane Alex out in the Atlantic. Thanks again for an excellent product at a fair price. ... Bob Sandness; King City, Ontario, Canada Just to let you know that my rcvr arrived Monday, and I have been having a blast with it ever since. It works fine and I am getting some pretty awesome images with it. Thanks! ...Les Vaughn; McLeansboro, IL I recently ordered one of your R139 receiver kits. It was very easy to assemble (a six year old boy did some of the soldering for me) and didn't take very long to complete. The satellite pictures I have been receiving are excellent even with an indoor antenna. The radio is every bit as good (if not better) than the QST reviews. Thanks for making such a fine kit available.... Jody Savell, WA5NAS I built the R-139 kit yesterday, and wow...it makes my Icom PCR-1000 look like a toy for this application. Great S/N ratio and almost noiseless faxes a few degrees above the horizon. Thanks for a well-engineered, nice performing sat receiver. Sure you can quote me. I'm enthusiastic about the R139. Have been trying to work up the courage to build one for a couple of years now, and glad I finally did. The tune-up instructions were great and everything just fell into place. ...Bill Reid, WA4KBD; Muscle Shoals, AL |
I received the unit the day before Halloween and its been in
daily use since then. I am very pleased with the
performance of the unit. Even with the poor light conditions
of this time of year, the results have far exceeded my
expectations. The night images really look great.
... John Manter
The R139 Weather Fax Receiver is the Number 1 Receiver that I would recommend to anyone who wants to work with weather satellite imaging. ..... M. Foster I was surprised that R139 has great performance. No Interference from orbcom and good bandwidth !! I'm satisfied with that performance. I hope that you keep making a good product.... Kazuhito Jonouchi / JS1BTL It has been over 10 years since I first set up a low orbit receiving set up. I purchased an LNY-137, LNK-137, and LNP-137 from you folks in the past two weeks. It removed much intermod from satellite receiver IF leakage. There are four such dishes within 30ft of (my antenna). Thought I would never get rid of the noise. The LNP-137 did away with all visible interference and there was a great deal of it to lose. The downloaded pics were trashed with vertical lines. They are no more with the simple addition of the LNP. I cannot recommend this unit too much. The gain of the unit just takes out the intermod and signal loss of the post processing. Very happy camper. Thanks much for everything including the fast order filling and delivery. ... Gerry Rolle I have your R139 APT receiver which I built from a kit about 2 years ago for my wife, who is a former Air Force meteorologist. It's worked flawlessly, running 24/7 with WxToImg software, registered version. Antenna is a Woodhouse turnstile 30 feet above a one story roof, fed with 75 feet of RG-8x. We upload captured images from your receiver here as part of a club effort. Images vary, of course, depending on the angle of the pass. Many are very impressive. Thanks for many years of support, and a super level of usefulness and enjoyment from many of your products. ... Steve WA3SWS Just a note of complete satisfaction on the R139 Weather Satellite Receiver. The combination of this receiver and the wxtoimg sound card software, I am getting near HRPT quality pictures. This receiver also outperforms some high ended commercial grade 137 MHz receivers as well.... Jeff, K7XQ; Atwater, CA. I bought your R139 Sat receiver kit a few weeks ago. Just wanted to let you know that I am very happy with it. I am getting beautiful pictures and having a lot of fun. It is a very educational hobby.... Jim Pesavento, KQ4RI |
