(meteorobs) FM observing question - east or west transmitter?

GeoZay at aol.com GeoZay at aol.com
Mon Jun 6 19:01:58 EDT 2005


 


>>  I have had much less success with  daytime showers ... there is lots more 
radio noise in the daytime, and I  find I get a much higher percentage of 
overdense spikes which I suspect are  reflections from aircraft rather than 
meteors.<<
 
When I did simultaneous visual and radio work, aircraft that produced  
reflections (and it seemed like every plane I seen, produced a reflection),  were 
easily recognized. I found aircraft reflections sounded very loud  and scratchy 
and often I can distinguish 2 or more radio stations at the same  time. Radio 
meteor reflections usually sound abruptly clean and clear,  whether it was 
loud or quiet. When the signal ends, it often was a clean  and sudden cut off. 
Whereas, aircraft goes on forever scratchy, until it  gradually fades out. If I 
can hear an audible difference, then perhaps this  would mean the signals can 
be discriminated somehow within a computer? Where I  lived near San Diego, I 
wasn't able to find any frequencies that wasn't being  transmitted over. But 
when I got into the mountains where I did my observing  from, I found several 
frequencies that were shielded from local radio stations.  I think I used the FM 
freq of 97.3...or it could have been 93.7? I can't  remember now. :O) I'd 
point my Yagi antenna at a 45 deg angle towards Phoenix,  Arizona. When I get an 
overdense signal, I'd often recognize it to be from an  "Oldies but Goodies" 
station...which was pleasant. I once did an experiment  where I pointed the 
antenna straight up. I did get some meteor reflections, but  not as many as I 
would have pointing towards the transmitter. To be sure, I only  took note of the 
meteors I seen visually as to whether or not they produced a  simultaneous 
radio signal. When the antenna was pointing in the "proper"  direction and 
angle, I routinely would hear a signal for about 1/5 of those  that I had seen. The 
rest of the signals heard were either from meteors too dim  to be seen, too 
far away, or not in my field of view. 
GeoZay






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