Meteor Scatter Propagation
Meteor shower dust the size of grains of sand cause ionisation of the upper atmosphere when they fall to earth and ignite as shooting stars enabling brief TX/RX.
Meteor Scatter Propagation is a highly specialised means of two way communication requiring high gain antennas, unique procedures and high power RF. But SWLs using simple equipment may still enjoy the fun at commonplace distances of 2,000km.
At a most basic level tune your domestic FM radio on or about e.g. dawn, 12th August (maximum Perseid shower) ± 6 days to a quiet section of the lower broadcast band so when the conditions are favourable you will detect remote stations.
If you have it tune to 50·230MHz USB Europe 50·260MHz North America. RSGB Yearbook 2017 suggests: 50·320-50·380MHz and 144·100MHz up to +26kHz. It may sound as high speed Morse, voice or machine code.
On a clear night in an area without light pollution you may see the meteor shower from North East to immediately above you. They generally only last from a few seconds to minutes.
WSJT (Weak Signal Joe Taylor) software suite enables efficient use of meteor scatter propagation but do ensure to calibrate your PC clock. Source: Internet, RSGB & 6+4 book by Don Field G3XTT.
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