Radio Meteor Observation Bulletin No. 19 March 1995 1. FORWARD SCATTER METEOR OBSERVATIONS Observer: Maurice De Meyere Location: Deurle, Belgium (3 37' E, 51 00' N) Frequency: 66.18 MHz Transmitter locations: Katowice, PR3, Poland, 65.99 MHz, 52 kW, distance 1100 km P. Neant, PR3, Romania, 66.17 MHz, 40 kW, distance 1400 km Czestochowa, PR3, Poland, 66.23 MHz, 34 kW, distance 1080 km Gdansk, PR3, Poland, 66.29 MHz, 89 kW, distance 1100 km Antenna: crossed Yagi, 4 elements, astronomical azimuth 270 o (= East), elevation 30 o Antenna amplifier: 25 dB max level 90 dBmuV Receiver: commercial, Progresson 447A, TESLA, Bratislava Sensitivity: 8 muV for S/N = 26 dB (300 Ohm) Observing method: automated setup, 150 samples/second, 8 bit resolution. [Time and details of all individual meteor reflections are stored on file in the University of Ghent format (Prometeos), and are available for further analysis. Reduction software for DOS and Windows available]. Raw counts of reflections with a duration of at least 0.027 s during one hour interval starting at UT: February 1995 Feb | 1995 | 20h 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 2 | 33 27 30 10 19 11 13 26 21 12 15 31 2- 3 | 45 44 37 32 30 26 27 33 19 24 14 17 3- 4 | 44 38 33 18 21 20 18 37 31 26 26 28 4- 5 | 29 44 25 27 24 20 28 17 11 20 30 23 5- 6 | 31 36 34 27 21 28 18 25 41 30 26 37 6- 7 | - - - - - - - - - - - - 7- 8 | 43 40 34 27 30 34 25 37 37 33 26 26 8- 9 | 50 63 44 28 32 39 26 43 37 38 27 23 9-10 | 46 45 45 23 41 32 21 58 37 38 49 51 10-11 | 59 60 39 54 26 37 17 26 29 26 29 29 11-12 | 52 54 53 34 24 28 23 22 32 31 28 28 12-13 | 37 29 37 28 29 17 19 30 22 21 31 16 13-14 | 54 44 48 31 34 27 19 25 33 30 31 25 14-15 | 36 33 27 36 28 24 21 22 17 24 25 17 15-16 | 54 51 28 19 18 18 6 25 29 26 22 23 16-17 | 41 63 35 35 18 15 22 11 19 16 27 22 17-18 | 38 47 22 23 18 12 12 25 20 27 20 30 18-19 | 36 40 23 26 13 17 8 16 19 22 22 21 19-20 | 52 38 29 20 9 20 9 19 19 23 23 19 20-21 | 29 25 34 17 14 7 9 18 26 17 25 28 21-22 | 56 36 51 28 30 15 13 29 33 40 18 34 22-23 | 47 60 51 38 30 31 26 33 28 34 20 31 23-24 | 47 51 38 34 22 18 24 35 25 38 39 52 24-25 | 47 50 32 27 22 16 22 41 12 28 25 30 25-26 | 58 59 66 24 26 30 16 45 28 46 61 50 26-27 | 53 71 32 31 26 14 17 35 36 30 32 31 27-28 | 35 24 18 19 19 11 10 17 15 8 13 19 28- 1 | 30 34 16 21 31 13 13 9 12 25 23 23 ------|------------------------------------------------------------- 1995 | 20h 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 Feb | Notes: . The Polish transmitters are not broadcasting between 2h-5h local time (Sat-Sun 3h-6h local time) or sometimes longer. (When winter hour is in use: local time = UT + 1h). Maurice De Meyere / Chris Steyaert ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observer: Ingo Reimann Location: Luebeck, Germany (10 51'01" E, 53 57'21" N, 13 m above sea level) Antenna: 6 element Yagi Frequency: 88.40 MHz (three or more stations) Antennae: 6 element Yagi, geographical azimuth 340 o, elevation 53 o Receiver: Technics ST-Z55 with SU-V505 Observing method: listening (tape-recordings) Raw counts of reflections during one hour interval starting at UT: Dec | Day 1994 | 08h 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 21 22 23 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 04h | - - - - - 28 58 11 7 3 2 05 | 13 20 11 20 5 15 58 - - - - 06 | 11 38 20 29 22 55 63 33 - - - 07 | - - 14 17 21 36 57 31 6 20 4 08 | - - - - 23 40 50 - - - - 09 | - - - - 20 22 30 - - - - 10 | - - - 2 10 34 21 - 6 11 6 11 | - - - 12 14 15 12 - - - - 12 | - - - - - - - - - - - 13 | - - - - - - - - 1 7 3 14 | - - - - - - - - - - - 15 | - - - - - - - - - - - 16 | - - - - - - - - 9 3 - 17 | - - - - - - - - 7 5 - 18 | - - - - - 20 18 - 7 9 - 19 | - - - - 14 24 33 4 1 9 5 20 | 14 - - - 16 44 26 5 6 1 0 21 | 13 11 10 23 30 45 31 9 0 6 - 22 | 14 8 14 14 17 22 29 - 1 7 - 23 | - - - - - 49 20 - - - - 00 | - - - - 20 52 15 - - - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1994 | 08h 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 21h 22 23 Dec | Jan | 1995 | 21h 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 ----------------------------------------------------- 02-03| 11 11 17 19 32 40 32 34 25 ----------------------------------------------------- 1995 | 21h 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 Jan | Ingo Reimann / Jeroen Van Wassenhove ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observer: George J. Zay Location: Descanso, California, USA (116 38' W, 32 50' N, 1003 m above sea level) Frequency: 92.90 MHz Transmitter location: Flagstaff, Arizona, distance: 538 km Transmitter power: 100 kW ; 24h/day and 7 days a week Antenna: 6 element Yagi, geographical azimuth 60 o, elevation 45 o Receiver: JVC RX-302BK Digital Receiver Observing method: listening Raw counts of reflections during one hour interval starting at UT: 1995 | 06h 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 ------------------------------------------------- 28 Jan| 07* 20 32 43 43 31 30 31 ------------------------------------------------- 1995 | 06h 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 1995 | 02h 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Feb| 04* 03 00 07 06 04 09 11 15 24 - - 4 Feb| - - - 05* 13 24 36 40 29 40 41 16& 5 Feb| - - - - - 09 25 50 32 29 - 16& -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995 | 02h 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 & : first 30 minutes of the interval * : last 30 minutes of the interval George J. Zay / Jeroen Van Wassenhove 2. PUBLICATION (For our Dutch capable readers). Graduate thesis of Christophe Van Bavinchove at the University of Ghent, Belgium: "De automatische waarneming van meteoren door middel van radioreflecties op 66 MHz." (The automatic observation of meteors by means of radio reflections on 66 MHz). pp. 115 + appendix 21 p. Presented by Prof. Dr. H. Dejonghe and Prof. Dr. R. Bouciqu‚. Chapter 1 treats the physical model of reflections of radio waves by meteors, and can be called classical. Chapter 2 describes the technical aspects of the equipment, consisting of a 4 element Yagi antenna, receiver, A/D converter and computer for storing and visualisation. This setup has been expanded over the last four years to the current high quality configuration. The author gives full specifications and drawings of all major components of the system. Chapter 3, the development of an automatic interference detection system and discussion of the results, brings some striking new results, and gives hints for making the detection of meteors more reliable. Very good results were obtained with a dual setup: two receivers at the same location are tuned to different frequencies, and their signals are fed into different channels of the same A/D converter in the computer. This so called anti-coincidence setup allows to eliminate local electromagnetic interference (which is always broadbanded) completely! Also experiments with the two receivers at a distance of a few kilometers were performed. The appendix describes the new file format which had to be developed for the multi-channel setup. This tagged file format is much more flexible than the previously used one. Hopefully it becomes the standard that will allow the exchange of data between various teams. The source code of the measurement program in Pascal is included. This work is the ideal guide for building low budget - but highly reliable - automated forward scatter installations! Chris Steyaert 3. ABOUT THE RMOB The RMOB is an independent initiative of some workers in the field of radio meteor scatter observations and data reduction. It started in August 1993 in order to spread rapidly the Perseid results via E-mail. Since then, it has appeared monthly, and has gradually been expanded. Typically it contains: summaries of recent observations, first results of stream activity by radio methods, relations between radio and optical meteors, references to other publications in the field of meteor astronomy and radio scatter techniques, announcements of meetings, short questions and answers, non-commercial (second hand) sale of radio equipment, available software. Contributors are mentioned, and interested persons are asked to contact them directly. RMOB can be copied freely in unabridged and unmodified form. Extracts should indicate the source (Radio Meteor Obs Bulletin, month and year). If you want to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to the E-mail distribution list, please send a message to C. Steyaert. Those not having access to E-mail can obtain a printed copy free of charge from J. Van Wassenhove (current or back-issues). 3. CONTRIBUTORS / USEFUL ADDRESSES Maurice De Meyere Hullekensstraat 24, B 9831 Deurle, Belgium tel: +32 (9) 282 35 26 Call: ON4NU, packet: ON4NU@ON4AWP E-mail: via Chris Steyaert Ingo Reimann Roennauer Ring 38, D 23570 Luebeck, Germany Chris Steyaert, VVS Kruisven 66, B 2400 Mol, Belgium tel: +32 (14) 31 51 04 fax: +32 (14) 22 13 73 E-mail: steyaert@vvs.innet.be Jeroen Van Wassenhove, VVS 's Gravenstraat 66, B 9810 Nazareth, Belgium tel: +32 (9) 385 61 09 E-mail: 100101.734@compuserve.com Paul Vauterin, University of Ghent, Astronomical Observatory E-mail: paul@izar.rug.ac.be George J. Zay 3946 Paula Street La Mesa, CA 91941, USA -- Christian Steyaert (RMOB9502) 8 March 1995 --