[meteorite-list] Meteor Scatter

From: pshugar at messengersfromthecosmos.com <pshugar_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 14:37:16 -0700
Message-ID: <20110517143716.979558876a36f2d1b40acd6b9bcaf01e.7a44707d3f.wbe_at_email09.secureserver.net>

Greetings List
Short answer is Yes, it can be done.
Radar tracking is just another method of bouncing a
signal off the meteor.
There is a difference in that the radar will show a spike
with just a single meteor and meteor bounce via ham radio
doesn't work very well with just a single meteor.
Passing Intel takes some finite time.
As an amateur radio operator for the past 42 years,
let me try in a short email to summarize a very complicated
and interesting subject. When Sputnik was launched. the news
told the time and where to look, so I went outside and saw it
as it passed from left to right in the night sky like a blinking star.
That kindled a deep longing to be involved in the dawn of the space age.
First, a little background.
I started studying electronics and radio when I was 6 years
old in 1949. I got my amateur ticket in 1969.
I've worked for Motorola, GE, and RCA.
I've built my radio station from scratch. I used this station
to get on Oscar 6 and 7 (Orbital Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio).
I tried to do Moon-bounce, but my 15 foot dish was not big enough.
My friend across town used a 28 foot dish that he employed very
successfully on 70 cm's.
My first encounter with Meteor scatter was on 6 meters, but instead
of meteors, it was an airplane. The signal bounced off the plane with a
substantial peak. From this I began to wonder about other exotic
modes of communications. Soon I found out about meteor scatter.
It took many tries before success was mine.
A number of the best attempts were during the annual
meteor showers.
Arrangements were usually made over the phone (we didn't have the
Internet
back then). A short version of our call-signs were agreed upon.
Alternating
time for sending and receiving were setup. Start and finishing times for

the session were set. Back scatter or forward scatter or both with the
times
for each were set. CW (Morse code) or SSB (voice) or both were agreed
upon.
When the session was over, it was back to the phone for a recap.
Those were the good ol' days.
Pete IMCA 1733
Received on Tue 17 May 2011 05:37:16 PM PDT