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(meteorobs) Omicron Cetids



Hi. All
I posted a request for information on May 21 about
heightened activity from the Omicron Cetids radio
meteor shower.Did any of the radio meteor observers on
the list record this outburst on this day.I observed
this activity from about 14 hours UT until about 22:45
hours UT. I know since the start of May radio meteors
have been in a same what active mode.  What I observed
was not normal levels. I noticed some increased
activity on the afternoon of May 20th  but not at this
level and on May 22nd activty had fallen back to about
observed levels before the outburst. For the record I
have been observing radio meteor showers for about 5
yearin the FM band before that in the HFband so Iknow
what radio meteors sound like.Also have a good handle
on other radio phenomena(terrestrial and Man made)and
this radio outburst was not these.I tried to isolate
where the activity was coming from. I check my list to
see what daylight showers would be at or would reach
maximum around or on this date. The only radio meteor
shower I could find at maximum was the Omicron
Cetids.The duration for this shower is from around May
6th or 7th and ends in early  June. Ther is same
difference of opinion from source to source as to the
date of maximum and maximum duration. All sources a
broad maximum for this shower, starting samewhere
around May 13th-15th and ending around May 24th-26th.
This shower as I understand it has radio meteor rate
at 18 to 28 an hour with some outbursts recorded in
the past. I rotated my directional Fm yagi antenna
around to see where the activity was recieving the
strongest. This matched well with the part of the sky
where the Omicron Cetids Radiant would be found, the
antenna being perpendicular to the radiant.In this
antenna postion I was able to hear numerous beeps and
pings of 1 second or less,also many events of 2
seconds or less being blurbs of music and voice. I
then turned the antenna on the azimuth with the
showers radiant. I heard fewer events mostly 1 second
or less with weak pings and beeps and an occasional
moderate ping or beep. Once I turned the antenna back
perpendicular to the stream, event became
stronger,event duration became longer and once again I
could hear short blurbs of voice and music. I then
turned the antenna 180 degrees away from the radiant.
I noted almost no activity and what events I heard
were very weak and one second or less duration.I did
this orientation process 4 times with the same
results.The activity level started falling off around
22 hours UT and became quiet around 22:45 Hours UT
with only an occasional beep or ping until later in
the evening when the showers that are active down in
the southeasten sky came up over my horizon.Radio
meteor rates observed ran from 60 to 90 an hour. Thes
are rough manual counts. Unfortunately when I unpacked
my two channel recorder last week I found that it had
crashed and burned, so I was unable to record this
outburst. Can anyone verify this observation or tell
me where I can find up to date information on this
shower? Thanks you.
Stars in your eyes
Thomas Dorman
Far West Texas Sky Watcher 

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