Well I didn’t make any DX 2 meter contacts working the meteor scatter today but I did learn quite a bit researching information on the meteor scatter, comets, propagation, and even more about a Yaesu FT-221.
I was excited about the prospect of making a meteor scatter contact but didn’t really know much about it. I have posted what I would call my key points below in a top ten list of things learned about meteor scatter. I know several people did make contacts, so I will just keep trying.
First, one important item was that trying to make 2 meter DX contacts are not made on FM, or even AM, but almost always on Single Side Band (SSB), and using the national frequency 144.200 mhz is common, and the Upper Side Band (USB) is normally used in making these type of contacts. The The initial report from ARRL just said 2 meter contact can be made through the normal frequency of 144.200 mhz and I didn’t think anything else about it until an elmer said that was what DXers (or DXing) use for SSB 2 meter contacts.
Luckily, he also had an older Yaesu, the Yaesu FT-221 all mode 2 meter radio, that he graciously let me borrow. This is a classic 2 meter all band radio and it was a thrill to use it over the weekend. I tuned in a few local repeaters to test the receive ability since he said he hadn’t turned it on in 10 years, and with a few flips of the switches I was listening to the normal local traffic we have in this area.
Second, meteor scatter contacts are very very quick, short contacts, and a lot of the time there is enough propagation time for a CW contact but not enough for a phone contact. A technical NET is our area has some great CW hams and they pointed this out when looking at the time and locations for the meteor scatter.
Third, a dipole would be a good antenna of choice for a DX 2 meter contact. My system setup right now is optimized for a strong 2 meter local contact area, and as such, I use a Diamond, high gain, dual band, vertical antenna at about 50 feet (see gallery images in ham-radio). This is great for local traffic areas but a good vertical V dipole antenna would be great.
So, for my so called top ten list of important things to remember for meteor scatter:
- Generally, 2 meter contacts are made using SSB (normally USB) mode
- 6 meter and 10 meter might be better if you have the equipment
- 2 meter national contact frequency is 144.200
- Very quick contacts that last only a few seconds, good for CW, not as easy for phone
- If possible, use non-verticle antenna like a dipole or yagi
- Know the peak times and plan ahead
- Coordinate with a DX friend and plan for a time and frequency to contact ahead of time
- Have nice ham friends that let you borrow equipment right at the last second
- Don’t forget to ask lots of questions of fellow radio operators
- Have fun.
Didn’t make any contacts but had a good time trying. I am sure there are many hams that might read this and know far more than I do about meteor scatter so please feel free to update, correct, or otherwise point out some good information for next time.
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We went to see Bruce Willis’ new movie this weekend, Live Free or Die Hard and the amount of general radio coverage was very interesting in the movie, especially if you are a ham radio operator or SWL (short wave listener). Apparently there is a large amount of radio type coverage in all the movies, being a new ham I just hadn’t looked that closely before. I did make a few observations from the latest and greatest from Die Hard.
There were several “radio” shots throughout the movie, because of the nature of the movie I guess (end of the modern telecommunications world etc.), but most were factually incorrect and some were just facts. ICOM did have a presence in the movie, real or not, they were ICOM-ish looking radio’s and a huge number of HT’s were used by everyone, but they were often referred to as CB’s regardless of the radio used. Not to surprising as I guess everyone that isn’t familiar with ham radio thinks every radio is a CB radio.
At one point Bruce Willis’ character is talking to Warlock, a cyber hack, and he points to (what is called a CB radio) a radio with a taped sticker on it that says Frequency 66.6, and is later used when Willis is in a 18-wheeler type truck. The radio he used to make a call on 66.6 frequency was not a CB, and the radio station he was calling was not either. It did look much like a modern HF or all band ICOM. Of course the frequency 66.6000 is not a CB frequency. According to the FCC, it is a public TV broadcast frequency (54.000-72.000 – Broadcast TV (channels 2-4) (6 MHz steps – FMw), and the Citizens Band frequency range is 26.965-27.405 (the 11 meter band).
Another observation was the radio in the NYPD unmarked cruiser was set at 144.330 mhz. This frequency is obviously a 2 meter ham band frequency, which falls in the sub-plan of 144.300-144.500, assigned to new OSCAR subband (the satellite repeater links). Apparently there are many people out there that watch movies just to report on the errors made thorughout making the movies. I personally haven’t paid to much attention to that until now when I noticed such a glaring error in the frequency I had to post something about it. I might just have to go watch the others again now.
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This Saturday we installed what is to be the first of several radio antennas on the roof of our house. I climbed to the top of the roof and mounted the mast and antenna while Deb ran around on the ground fetching tools and lending moral support. After it was installed we went into attic to retrieve and feed the wiring from the antenna on the roof down the inside of the wall of his office and then out at the base of the wall by an electrical outlet. Hot doesn’t even begin to describe the temperature in the attic in the summer in Alabama. It had to be something in the order of 130*F or more.
The hole saw’s that we own have been used for years and are quite lousy so after fighting with the hole drilling for a while we decided to bring out the big guns. I retrieved the new sledge hammer and it did the trick. Now the scanner is working great with the new antenna installed. It does look a bit sci-fi though. This antenna is called a Ham Discone Radio antenna and I am going to be using it with his Radio Shack Pro-2052 (dual truncking) scanner until I get a 2-meter ham radio, probably an ICOM 2-meter radio.
Can’t wait to see what configuration the next one has. Hopefully it will be a little cooler the next time we try this. The heat was just incredible today and I probably lost 10 pounds just trying to feed the wires through the attic into my office. This antenna can now be seen quite a ways off, maybe we can use it some day to put Christmas lights up with a star on top, you will be able to see it from Birmingham.
