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A simple explanation of meteor scatter.
When a meteor enters the atmosphere it leaves an ionised trail which can reflect VHF radio signals. these reflections can be very short (a ping) or a burst lasting over a minute. By using a special procedure it is possible to make contacts using these reflections. Very high speed CW is the most effective way to make contact but SSB is also possible. Most QSO's are made via pre-aranged skeds but during the major meteor showers many random contacts are made.Meteor scatter offers the VHF operator a way of making long distance (up to 2200Km) contacts.
A sked is arranged usually on the 20M VHF net or packet cluster. The first station transmits for a pre set period (often 2.5 min for CW or 1 min SSB )on an agreed frequency. When a signal containing both callsigns is heard, a report is sent during that stations transmit period. The first station to hear the report then adds R to the exchange. The contact is complete when both stations have received both callsigns and reports with the R preffix ie. R36 R36.
Signal reports are different to a normal QSO. The first number gives the length of the burst - from 2 for a burst up to 5 sec to 5 for bursts over 2 minutes. The second number is signal strength, ranging from 6 ( S3 or below ) up to 9 ( S8 and stronger).
Here are a few samples of two meter meteor scatter:-
MS1.wav This is a 6 second clip, starting with a short ping followed by a good burst with both callsigns and report.
MS2.wav Another 6 second clip With report and callsigns taken from a LA to G contact.
MS3.wav A 3 second clip of a random CQ call.
MS4.wav A 9 second clip taken from a very long burst during a random session on 144.2 Mhz.
More information on Meteor scatter can be found:-
THE VHF/UHF DX BOOK (available from RSGB)
Dubus Magazine
Some samples of aurora and E.M.E. to be added soon.
Skeds via GB7YDX or Email
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