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(meteorobs) Meteor Detection on FM--a new experience.
Hi everyone,
I recently missed out on the
Orionids due to overcast skies here in Central Iowa.
Have been experimenting/tinkering
around to try to detect meteors with my Fisher brand FM
receiver.
I live in the country smack in the
middle of Iowa. Most of the FM frequencies seem to be used. The most promising
frequency I've found so far is a Chicago frequency 89.7 MHz FM which just barely
comes in (low signal strength LED indicator on my receiver) it usually comes in
for short periods at a time on my receiver. Otherwise I get 2-3 other stations
which drift in and out but do not register on either the signal strength
indicator LED or the Tuned LED indicator of my receiver. I am using a cheap
Radio Shack 6 element FM antenna which I presume is a Yaggi style directional
antenna? I have it oriented roughly 70-80 degrees at approx. 15-20 degrees
elevation.
So far, I have received some short
"bursts" of music lasting 1-2 secs which are fairly loud and which I
can positively identify as music from the Chicago Christian music station or
atleast I think so.
During such short "bursts" I have
noticed that both the Tuned LED indicator and the signal strength LED indicator
have also lit up on my receiver. Tonight (11/13/01) from 12:00-01:00
AM I detected roughly 4 of these outbursts.
My questions are:
Am I doing this right?
Am I actually detecting
meteors?
I have ordered a better
receiver Icom-R10 which should be coming soon. I hope to use it to monitor
TV video carrier frequencies for what will hopefully be a better setup for
meteor detection.
Any advice or assistance from
meteorobs members would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mark Mikutis
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