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Re: (meteorobs) Temiscaming Results
At 01:06 AM 1999-10-24 -0400, you wrote:
>When I turned on the FM radio and tuned to the unoccupied frequency I
>planned to use, there was a steady,
>high-amplitude buzz. I searched the alternate frequencies I had listed. The
>same thing. I decided that the
>problem was somehow related to my location near the motel with the neon
>signs, the sodium streetlights, the traffic lights at the nearby
>intersection (one of two intersections with traffic lights in Temiscaming),
>and the overhead hydro wires.
Actually, this sounds like noise radiated from the power lines. Often
happens when there is dirt on the insulators; a weak arc jumps across the
insulators to the wet wood or metal of the power line pole and generates
radio-frequency energy all the way up into the high UHF TV channels. You
should have been able to hear this interference on your car radio, and I
suggest that you use the car radio to pick your next listening spot :o)))
>The only way to tell at this point is to return to Temiscaming when
>it is dry and try again.
I don't recommend doing that without first reporting the noise to the hydro
company and giving them time to go out to clean/replace the insulators.
Sometimes they do not arc during dry weather, sometimes they do; you just
never know without being there to hear it. Best to pick another location
within the general vicinity with no power lines in sight.
>Unfortunately, I didn't hear enough to assess the possibility of hearing
>signals from southern stations when the antenna is pointed north.
You will be able to; but again, what you will be hearing will be stations
located such that the point of sky toward which you point your antenna
happens to be on their horizon.
Another consideration is that what you will be doing is called
"backscatter"; that is, you will be listening for reflections that
effectively bounce back toward your antenna. Radio reflections from meteors
at 100 MHz generally come from the head of the meteor rather than the
ionized train following behind. Thus, the strongest reflections will occur
from meteors that are heading in a direction exactly between you and the
station that is being reflected. Other meteors that "cross the path" in
front of your antenna may or may not yield sufficient reflection strength
that you will hear it. I expect that you will hear some extremely strong
reflections, but the number will be far fewer than your earlier
"experiment" with the antenna pointed straight up.
SteveH
Shrewsbury MA
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