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Re: (meteorobs) Now I'm hearing meteors!
At 09:10 AM 10/10/98 -0300, you wrote:
>Hello fellow Observers:
>
> This morning Oct.10, from 1100 UT onwards as I type this I am detecting
>the tonal pings - 2 days AFTER the Draconid peak, I heard meteors 2 days
>BEFORE the Draconid peak, but NONE from the 7-9th!
>
> Is it possible I'm hearing some other part of the meteor shower 2 days
>before and after it occurs but somehow hit a "black hole" area on
>the peak and not detect anything at 83.25 MHz?
Mike, where was the radiant at the time you were listening? If it was much
higher than 45 degrees and your antenna was not elevated, you would not
have heard very many reflections. This happens all the time to the radio
amateurs; schedules set while the radiant is lower than 45 degrees usually
produce at least some pings while activity appears to drop off as the
radiant climbs above 45 degrees unless the two stations have elevation
rotators on their antenna arrays. By the time the radiant is above 60
degrees or so, we might as well not waste our time!
If the radiant was 45 degs or lower, I don't have an explanation, either! I
do know that early Thursday morning, both on the East Coast and the West
Coast, several groups of hams noted an apparent increase in the number of
reflections compared to the several days or week before then. On Friday
morning, I did not hear anywhere near as many reflections; but those I did
hear were strong to very strong and there were also several long bursts
(all of this was on 144 MHz, where one hears many fewer meteor reflections
compared to the lower frequencies such as your 83.25 MHz).
Clear skies,
SteveH
Shrewsbury MA
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