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Re: (meteorobs) antennae
Lew wrote: >>> ... I asked what the specifics were on this cheap
radio-meteors antenna? As a complete radioneophyte (never even seen a Ham
setup!), I understand the type of antenna required is a "semi-directional"
- I guess basically not circular and not a whip.... I briefly spoke to a
few radio equipment vendors around here, and heard that most antennae of
this type were only appropriate for a very narrow band of FM spectrum: so
before you bought one, you had to already know what frequency would have
the least amount of local noise, but still have an appropriate transmitting
station somewhere within the 200-500 km range...
In other words, you already had to have local radiometeor experience before
buying an antenna, unless you wanted to waste a lot of money!<<<
Hi Lew,
There is a whole other community of radio operators, mostly HAMs, that
engage in "meteor scatter communications" or "meteor skip." I have found
that they generally tend *not* to be astronomicaly oriented and their
intent is to signal each other off meteor reflections for the fun and hobby
of it. HAM radio can get very expensive quickly and it seems that part of
the interest in this sort of radio activity is the technology and equipment
itself.
Luckily, radio meteor observing can be done with a mere good quality FM
radio which has a commercial FM bandwidth of 88 to 108 MHz and a matching
directional FM yagi antenna will recieve this full band of 88 to 108 MHz
transmissions. A HAM operator may desire to exactly match his/her
observing frequency with an antenna that is cut for that certain frequency
but for radio meteor observing--in the initial phases at least--an antenna
that is made for the general FM radio spectrum is sufficient.
Of course, radio meteor observing equipment goes from the very basic to the
extrememly complex but it is not complex to successfully record meteors.
With a simple FM radio/antenna/headphones you can literally listen to
meteor showers in real time and make an actual meteor count on a tally
sheet.
I think it may be difficult to comprehend that a very refined astronomical
telescope can be manifested for less than $100.
But again, I caution everyone, it is difficult to do radio meteor work in
the midst of a megalopolis. You will have to leave the city center to get
to more open radio space. Also, you need to work in the direction towards
very far-off transmitters.
Clear skies,
Thomas A