Meteor scatter recordings


Two and four channel meteor scatter recordings:

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Some very interesting effects can be observed by makind two or even four channel meteor scatter recordings of 144 MHz beacons. Here is a very compressed, but still quite audible example ( put your headphones on to sense the spatial effect ! ) of GB3LER and SK4MPI during the Perseids on the 12.08.1992 ( 790 kb ) at around 0335 UTC. GB3LER was on 144.965 MHz and is on the left channel and SK4MPI on 144.960 MHz is on the right channel. These frequencies have changed since due to reallocation of the beacon band.

The antenna was a four element Yagi at 30 degree elevation, azimuth 330 degrees. This antenna fed a homemade VHF power splitter ( could be a divider into four output ports too ) via a low noise homemade GaAs-FET preamplifier ( NF=0.4 dB ). The two ( four ) outputs are then fed to separate VHF receiver each individually set to your popular beacon frequencies and the respective audios were recorded with a digital video recorder ( had a camera too, but too overcast to see a THING ! ).

I have done some four channel experiments too, but lack the recording equipment. The sound effects are quite spectactular because if you close your eyes and consentrate on the different carriers appearing and disappearing, you can actually place yourself in space and almost see and feel the meteorites whizzing by overhead from east to west for example, diagonally or straight down as a vertical plop !

Kimmo Lehtinen, OH2GUC, has put up an MS receiving system at Artjärvi and the audio is being streamed by OH2MOK. You can hear the TV carrier very weakly via Tropospheric Scatter and usually several times per minute via Meteor Scatter. Also Sporadic E-layer propagation and aeroplane scatter may be observed from time to time.


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Updated 17.07.2008