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Re: (meteorobs) Possible radio outburst July 23 1400-1500UT
Hi Tom,
Thank you for the warm greeting. I did some single Yagi, 75 MHz radio
astronomy work a few years ago. I didn't get far beyond detecting the
standard strong radio sources, however.
On the burst you monitored:
I did not read your report until the afternoon, and at that time, my system
showed only light Sporadic E with a normal meteor background. The day's
data is also not immediately available for review. The disk to which data
is being stored cannot be removed without a system interuption until the
disk becomes full, which takes a couple of weeks this time of year.
Not to put a damper on your wonderful enthusiasm, but there are a couple of
other possibilities for your activity which you might want to keep in mind:
1. Sporadic E (Es)
July-August-September is the peak for Es as well as meteor activity, and
this can sometimes reach the mid-VHF and even the UHF frequency ranges. If
the Es activity is within the sensitivity range of your receiver, but not
strong enough to completely saturate it, the Es will look like wave after
wave of Oscillating Overdense events. This can look a lot like high meteor
activity, especially if your system detects primarily Overdense events to
begin with, typical of commercial FM band detection. If the Es is strong
enough, it will simply saturate the receiver for long periods of time, and
is easy to recognize.
2. Delta Aquarid complex activity.
Because of their medium to lower velocities, the delta Aquarid complex of
showers is well situated toward radio detection. This is especially true
for east-west signal paths, as well as NE-SW or NW-SE signal paths. I get a
very nice peak in activity from these showers each year in the July 28-30
time frame, and these showers should be detectable right about now. The
daily peak for your system will be dependent upon the two factors of radiant
culmination time and your signal path orientation. I'm not sure when that
radiant complex culminates, but the times for the burst you reported sound a
little late for this possibility.
Just a couple of thoughts. Keep a close eye on what happens over the next
few days.
Take care,
Jim Richardson
Graceville, FL
Richardson@DigitalExpdot com