(meteorobs) Radio accompaniment

[Lew Gramer]

On Tuesday 10 January 2006 17:50, Bruce McCurdy wrote:
>Lew wrote:
> > Bruce, ... is this "car radio accompaniment"
> > using ... just the car's normal antenna?
>
>     Just the car's normal antenna...

I was surprised at how frequently you hear car radio bursts while observing, 
Bruce! This is so simple that I'm going to have to give it a try now. :)


>     However, the point was made here and is well taken,
>     that one must be careful straining a car battery at
>     a remote location, especially if alone. 

One easy fix for that would be to use a portable radio with extendible 
antenna, instead of the car's radio. But for such a simple setup, are your 
numbers similar? That is, can someone with a simple portable expect to hear a 
radio burst for roughly one in every three visual meteors as well?

After all, maybe car radios are likely to have a longer antenna and maybe also 
a more powerful receiver than the usual portable radio?

Also, how dependent are your visual-to-radio burst ratios on a particular 
shower or time of the night? That is, a radio neophyte like myself might 
assume that FASTER showers (and faster Sporadics in the pre-dawn hours) are 
more likely to produce radio echos... Do you find that to be true in your 
simple experiments of visually observing while listening to the radio?

Clear skies, and thanks for sharing your expertise, Bruce!

Lew Gramer