Meteor burst communication, often referred to as meteor scatter, is a communication mode that exploits the ionised trails of meteors during atmospheric entry, to establish brief VHF communication paths between radio stations up to 2250kilometres apart. As the earth moves along its orbital path, millions of particles known as meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere every day, but only a small number have properties useful for point-to–point communication. When these meteoroids begin to burn up, they create a glowing trail of ionised particles, called a meteor, that can last several seconds in the E-layer of the ionosphere. The ionised trails can be very dense and can be used to reflect radio waves. The frequencies that can be reflected by a particular ion trail are determined by the intensity of the ionisation, often a function of the initial size of the particle, and are generally between 30 and 430 MHz.
Counting meteors
For some astronomy enthusiasts, counting the number of meteors during a major meteor shower is an intense hobby, sitting in a comfortable deck chair and making a mark in a notebook every time a meteor shoots across the sky. But this is not what this article is about. The article is about a citizen science project to determine if the number of meteors have over the years increased, decreased or remained the same during a particular meteor shower. This project is the brainchild of two Gauteng radio amateurs and amateur astronomers, Tony Voorveld ZS6CCD and Dominique Toldo ZS6ITI.
