[HCRA] CQ WEAK SIGNAL METEOR SCATTER

[Daniel Sullivan]

Yup folks its that time again, time for the Perseids this weekend. Get on 
weak signal V/UHF modes and give it a shot. Never know what might pop in for 
a second.

For those who are new to the hobby the basic idea is to bounce radio waves 
off the ionized trails left when meteors enter earth's atmosphere. This ion 
trail acts like a reflector or refractor depending on how you hit the trail 
and can help give some phenomenal contacts. Generally CW or high speed data 
modes such as WSJT, MFSK(?) and super high speed CW (greater than 100wpm) 
are used to do this. I think, if the trails are strong enough you can use 
SSB. You generally need a beam, a lot of patience and some free time. It may 
take 1/2 hr to an hour to make one contact depending on how intense the ion 
trail is and how good the path between stations is.

For information on merely viewing the Perseids (generally one of the 
stronger storms each year):http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20187093?GT1=10252

For information on meteor scatter modes and operation: 
http://www.ac6v.com/opmodes.htm#MS

Hope some of our more industrious members have some luck!

Dan S
KO1D

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