{"id":357,"date":"2010-09-01T16:41:17","date_gmt":"2010-09-01T16:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/2010\/09\/01\/radio-detection-basics\/"},"modified":"2010-09-01T16:41:17","modified_gmt":"2010-09-01T16:41:17","slug":"radio-detection-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/?p=357","title":{"rendered":"Radio Detection Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are two primary methods being used by amateurs to detect meteors via forward-scatter technique; the FM method and the AM\/CW method.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the 1960&#8217;s most of the radio meteor research was conducted at universities,\u00a0 government and military sites. As it is now,\u00a0 such institutions were limited by their current funding. This meant meteor observation were often spotty and they were not usually continuous over many days. They utilized radar and back-scatter techniques to detect meteors.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1960&#8217;s amateur radio observers listened to a vacant commercial  FM  radio stations which have their channels in the 88-108 MHz range. As FM  radio became more popular it  quickly became harder and harder to find a vacant  channel to listen for meteors. Even if a vacant was clear locally an observer might be plagued with the local  stations&#8217; &#8216;spilling over&#8217; which\u00a0 interferes  with hearing meteors echoes. Since FM, frequency  modulation, there is no easy way to see the  Doppler signature of  a meteor.<\/p>\n<p>To avoid these limitations, crowding being the biggest problem, observers started using the video   carriers of television stations. The video carriers are continuous wave  (CW) and narrow band in nature. In North America each of the lower TV   channels had one of three possible offsets; minus, zero, and a plus   offset. What this means in practice is if channel 3 is an &#8217;empty&#8217;  channel locally, then a listener could listen for the video carrier at  61.250 MHz (Zero offset), or on either side of it at 61.260 MHz (+ offset) or  at 61.240 MHZ (- offset).\u00a0 This provided an additional means of reducing  possible  interference. TV stations are also more spatially isolated  than FM stations are so there is again, less chance of interference.<\/p>\n<p>Compared to FM, using a CW signal also gives the observer a means of   observing the Doppler signature of each echo by means of FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) routines. This enables studies on Epsilon type echoes, head echoes and other echo phenomenon. Using the Doppler of head echoes the   height of a meteor can also be determined by amateurs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes are in the wind<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>North American radio observers as well as European observers are  facing a crisis. The video carrier method is on the verge of  disappearing as the two continents switch from analogue TV signals to  digital signals. The United States have already made the change and  Canada is due in 2011. Many European stations have switched already  while others linger on with analogue.<\/p>\n<p>We will discuss  alternatives signal sources to TV video carrier\u00a0 below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forward-Scatter<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most people wonder how it is possible to hear a meteor. The answer is when a meteor enters the upper atmosphere it begins pushing atoms aside as it penetrates the ionosphere. These high speed collisions leads to high temperature heating of the meteor. When the energy becomes sufficient the meteor begins to glow at visible light wavelengths. Not\u00a0 only does the leading front of the meteor glow it also creates a plasma trail behind it. We call this ablation. Mass is being converted into energy and light. The ionized plasma rapidly looses it&#8217;s energy and the electrons recombine so most meteors are a brief flash in the sky; the common shooting star we all knew as kids. Most of the visible phase of a meteor ablation occurs between 110 km and 60 km above earth&#8217;s surface.<\/p>\n<p>The reason amateurs listen to TV video carriers or FM stations is because the stations provide the source of the RF, radio frequency, power that illuminates (reflects off) the meteor&#8217;s plasma trail. Commercial TV stations run 100,000 Watts (100 kW). That is a lot of power! While the stations want their signal to reach their customers&#8217; TV sets in reality much of the signal is radiated out above the horizon and vertically into the sky itself. Usually these signals are lost to the sky as they penetrate the ionosphere without being reflected and continue out into space. If a meteor produces an ionized reflective trail then the VHF (TV and FM) signals can be reflected off the plasma and back down to earth. When the geometry is right radio observers receivers hear a brief &#8220;ping&#8221;; a musical sounding note of the signal reflecting off the meteor&#8217;s trail.<\/p>\n<p>For forward-scatter work the transmitter is located well below the receiving station&#8217;s horizon. Usually we strive to have a transmitter between 600 to 1200 km away from the receiving site. See below for the geometry of forward scatter signals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Diagram from Richardson and Knuteh (1998).<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned, back-scatter is used by the professionals. In this case the receiving station is not below the horizon from the transmitter, rather, it is co-located with the transmitter. The power is borrowed as in forward-scatter it is produced by the transmitter at the site.\u00a0 The signal is sent from the stations transmitter outwards and the signal is reflected back to the receiver at the same location. Radar is a prime example of back-scatter.<\/p>\n<p>More to follow on video carrier method&#8230; For now please see <a href=\"observers-section\/41-abm-observatory\/72-abmo-radio-page.html\">ABMO Radio page<\/a> to see examples of a working TV video carrier set-up.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, one of our members will discuss using the FM method and it will be placed here. If you are interested in the FM I highly recommend going to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kolumbus.fi\/oh5iy\/msobs\/msobs.html\">Ilkka Yrj\u00f6ll\u00e4&#8217;s web site<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you&#8217;re not interested in FM detection his discussion on forward scatter is the best I&#8217;ve seen as is his discussion on CCD, light intensifiers and other meteor subjects.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Software for automatic counting section follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Spectrum Lab<\/li>\n<li>mAnalyzer<\/li>\n<li>JAnalyzer<\/li>\n<li>HROftt<\/li>\n<li>Colorgramme Lab V 2.3<\/li>\n<li>Roll your own Colorgramme<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Spectrum Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spectrum Lab is probably the most popular meteor counting software in used by radio meteor observers that listen to CW signals. It is freeware. It is well supported by it&#8217;s author, Wolfgang &#8216;Wolf&#8217; B\u00fcscher.\u00a0 The program is very capable as well as flexible.<\/p>\n<p>Main Features of Spec Lab for meteor counters most features are enabled in a simple conditional actions script (see below):<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Compares a narrow listening &#8216;pass band&#8217; where it counts meteors and compares it to a nearby noise band prior to triggering. This reduces the chance of noise being counted as a meteor. <\/li>\n<li>Signal trigger level of the meteor can be easily set. Signal to noise ratio eliminates weaker noise pulses.<\/li>\n<li>Timestamps each echo and prints echo number for the hour<\/li>\n<li>Option to save each FFT spectrogram for future research at any time interval the user wants. Some of use a 5 minute cycle and ftp the most recent image to a web site for others to see. This is very handy during major showers. <\/li>\n<li>Text files can be sent to hard drive with echo counts\/hour, duration of echoes\/hour, and longest echo of the hour. The user can set the periods to any interval desired although 10 minute and 60 minute periods are the norm.<\/li>\n<li>Station and frequency information easily superimposed on the FFT spectrogram.<\/li>\n<li>Rate of sampling, amplitude graphs and bins all software adjustable<\/li>\n<li>Very stable for months of unattended operation. No obvious memory leaks or other trouble generator. The software is mature and well tested.<\/li>\n<li>Fully supported in RMOB&#8217;s Colorgramme program for automatic ftp and reporting<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The software\u00a0 can be downloaded at:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qsl.net\/dl4yhf\/spectra1.html\">http:\/\/www.qsl.net\/dl4yhf\/spectra1.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>An excellent how to set Spectrum Lab up to record meteors can be found on Andy Smith&#8217;s site. Be sure to try the other links at Andy&#8217;s when you visit it. Andy was a pioneer in scripting Spec Lab for meteor observers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvcomm.co.uk\/radio\/how-to.html\">http:\/\/www.tvcomm.co.uk\/radio\/how-to.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here is typical display of Spectrum Lab taken during the Quadrantid shower at West Kelowna:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-349\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/201001031400sm.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"SpecLabfft\" width=\"640\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/201001031400sm.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/201001031400sm-300x75.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As can be seen the FFT spectrogram list the date time and frequency, 87.240 MHz,\u00a0 in use as well as a dB scale. On the lower border of the image are the individual echo counts. At the end of the hour a total count for the hour is printed over the image.\u00a0 The right side of the image shows the station is listening between the audio pass band of 800 Hz and 1000 Hz.<\/p>\n<p>The output result file can be as simple as a date-time stamp, UT hour, and the echo count for the hour. Here is the hour for the image above:<\/p>\n<p>2010010313\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 13\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 243 &lt;&#8211;<br \/>2010010314\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 244<br \/>2010010315\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 195<br \/>2010010316\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 128<\/p>\n<p>The format above is supported by Colorgramme\/Color Lab a program that ftp the data to the RMOB Live site. It is very easy to print a second results file with more variables for your own research needs.<\/p>\n<p>The conditional action script makes the counting and file generation happen. For my station in West Kelowna I run a very simple code to do my counting. It produces two files, one for the RMOB and one for the NASA&#8217;s Global Meteor Scatter Network. For an example of a much more capable script look at Andy&#8217;s How To mentioned above. Here is my script ofr the West Kelowna station:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>; Exported &#8220;Conditional Actions&#8221; for Spectrum Lab<\/p>\n<p>if( initialising ) then F=1:G=1:A=0:B=0:C=0:D=0:E=0:L=0:K=0:t1=0:t2=0:Z=0<br \/>if( G=1 ) then A=noise(300,800):B=peak_a(850,950):q2=str(&#8220;YYYYMMDDhh&#8221;,now):L=str(&#8220;hh&#8221;,now):h1=str(&#8220;mmss&#8221;,now)<br \/>if( B&gt;(A+20) ) then C=C+1:D=D+1:timer0.restart(2)<br \/>if( C&gt;Z ) then Z=C<br \/>if( timer0.expired(1) ) then C=0:E=E+1:sp.print(E)<br \/>if( val(h1,&#8221;####&#8221;)=5955 ) then t2=t2+1<br \/>if( t2=1 ) then fopen3(&#8220;RMOB_Dur-&#8220;+str(&#8220;YYYYMM&#8221;,now)+&#8221;.dat&#8221;,a): fp3(q2,&#8221;,&#8221;,L,&#8221;,&#8221;,E,&#8221;,&#8221;,D,&#8221;,&#8221;,Z,&#8221;,&#8221;,A):fclose3:fopen4(&#8220;RMOB-&#8220;+str(&#8220;YYYYMM&#8221;,now)+&#8221;.dat&#8221;,a):fp4(q2,&#8221;,&#8221;,L,&#8221;,&#8221;,E):fclose4:sp.print(&#8220;Last hour=&#8221;,E):C=0:E=0:Z=0:D=0<br \/>if( val(h1,&#8221;####&#8221;)=0000 ) then t2=0<\/p>\n<p>At first glance it wont make much sense to most people. The important lines are described below<\/p>\n<p>The first line initialize the variables.<\/p>\n<p>The second line states if G =1 (is true) then set variable A\u00a0 to the value of the noise between\u00a0 300 Hz and 800 Hz.\u00a0\u00a0 A=noise(300,800)<\/p>\n<p>Semicolons\u00a0 separates one statement for the next in the same line. In this case of line 2 the second statement states\u00a0 we are going to listen for the meteor echo signals between 850 Hz and 950 Hz. B=peak_a(850,950) sets variable B, to record the peak signals in this narrow band of frequencies.<\/p>\n<p>The next two statements\u00a0 in line 2 set string variables to time stamps text.<\/p>\n<p>Line 3 is the beginning of the counting sequence. If B&gt;(A+20) then increase the Counter C by one echo and start timing D, the duration of the echo start as soon as B &gt; A +20.<\/p>\n<p>If B&gt;(A+20) states if B (the echo peak signal is 20 dB greater than the noise then we have an echo and we trigger the counter and the counter on how long the echo remains 20 dB above the noise floor. Once the signal drops below 20 dB the counter is reset and the duration recorded. The 20 dB mentioned above can be set to anything the user wants. In a very quiet location it could be set to measure any echo greater than say, 10 dB above the noise. B&gt;(A+10). Experiment and see what setting works best for you without creating false counts.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the code is housekeeping. At 59 minutes and 55 second of the hour then print the results to a text file(s). Print Lash hour total on the last echo on the spectrogram image and then reset all the variable so we can start the next hour totals.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>mAnalyzer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This software was written by Esko Lyytinen and his son \u00d6lle. It is freeware. It is not used by many observers any more as it is getting a bit dated. It does however,\u00a0 have several features going for it.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>It can be used on old, less capable computers running Windows95 and up. <\/li>\n<li>It has a very small foot print memory and hard drive wise<\/li>\n<li>It is not a cpu hog. <\/li>\n<li>It automatically records four amplitude ranges and records the duration of echoes for each amplitude category.<\/li>\n<li>It prints files every 10 minutes and hourly<\/li>\n<li>The file output format is supported by Colorgramme\/Color Lab so can be used for automatic ftp to the RMOB live site.<\/li>\n<li>A 24 hour spectrogram image is saved at the end of the day.<\/li>\n<li>It has the ability to notch out a carrier in the echo count pass band if needed.<\/li>\n<li>Compares a 100 Hz pass band for echo signals and compares it to a nearby noise band.<\/li>\n<li>No scripts or programming needed, it&#8217;s plug and play.<\/li>\n<li>Runs for months without attention.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For the reasons listed above I run mAnalyzer in parallel with Spectrum Lab as cheap insurance.\u00a0 It has saved critical data several times over the year when others have failed for various reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a sample of the 24 hour image produced by mAnalyzer (size has been reduced):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-350\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/1001030000-1001040000_sm.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"mANalyzer 24 hr\" width=\"640\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/1001030000-1001040000_sm.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/1001030000-1001040000_sm-300x232.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Blue hash marks are minute marks, light blue are ten minute markers, and red are the hourly markers. It takes two line per hour. This compressed time scale is an aide in seeing E<sub>s<\/sub>, sporadic E interference, aurora, and broadband noise that often affect the counts. This image was produced on 2010-01-03, the day of the Quadrantids peak. As can be seen there are two bands of clustered echo returns. Between the two is a few hours with less echoes than either side. This is a somewhat common occurrence caused by the radiant of the shower moving through the 45 degree elevations of the station&#8217;s site (maximum echoes at the two 45 degree points).<\/p>\n<p>The format of the hourly result file (mhdata.txt) looks like this:<\/p>\n<p>201001031000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.043271\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 206<br \/>201001031100\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.043342\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 221<br \/>201001031200\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.052527\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 274<br \/>201001031300\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 13\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.051171\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 272<br \/>201001031400\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.052452\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 288<\/p>\n<p>YYYYMMDDHHMM\u00a0 UT hour\u00a0 duration (percentage of period) and echo count for the hour.<\/p>\n<p>The 10 minute file (mdata.txt) has this format:<\/p>\n<p>201001031400,0.956661,0.015585,0.016652,0.010675,0.000427,0.000000,0.000000,27.817250,\u00a0\u00a0 11,\u00a0\u00a0 19,\u00a0\u00a0 15,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<br \/>201001031410,0.945536,0.018368,0.022426,0.013669,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,28.487399,\u00a0\u00a0 15,\u00a0\u00a0 17,\u00a0\u00a0 20,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<br \/>201001031420,0.950897,0.015585,0.024125,0.009394,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,27.483348,\u00a0\u00a0 12,\u00a0\u00a0 20,\u00a0\u00a0 14,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<br \/>201001031430,0.942357,0.022630,0.025833,0.008540,0.000213,0.000000,0.000427,27.523708,\u00a0\u00a0 17,\u00a0\u00a0 19,\u00a0\u00a0 12,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<br \/>201001031440,0.952818,0.020068,0.020709,0.005978,0.000000,0.000000,0.000427,27.587142,\u00a0\u00a0 19,\u00a0\u00a0 16,\u00a0\u00a0 12,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<br \/>201001031450,0.936166,0.021136,0.023271,0.019214,0.000213,0.000000,0.000000,28.522844,\u00a0\u00a0 12,\u00a0\u00a0 16,\u00a0\u00a0 19,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<br \/>201001031500,0.963691,0.016446,0.013242,0.006621,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,27.663178,\u00a0\u00a0 20,\u00a0\u00a0 19,\u00a0\u00a0 10,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0<\/p>\n<p>Left to right:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>YYYYMMDDHHMM<\/li>\n<li>Percentage of time with no signal<\/li>\n<li>Percentage of time with Level 1 echoes 1-10 dB<\/li>\n<li>Percentage of time with Level 2 echoes 11-20 dB<\/li>\n<li>Percentage of time with Level 3 echoes 21-30 dB<\/li>\n<li>Percentage of time with Level 4 echoes 31-40 dB <\/li>\n<li>Percentage of time with Level 5 echoes &gt; 40 dB Not used<\/li>\n<li> Percentage of time with with possible noise or interference<\/li>\n<li>Audio Index shows jumps if receiver volume control or sound card sound input changes.<\/li>\n<li>Level 1 echo counts 1-10 dB<\/li>\n<li>Level 2 echo counts 11-20 dB<\/li>\n<li>Level 3 echo counts\u00a0 21-30 dB<\/li>\n<li>Level 4 echo counts 31-40 dB <\/li>\n<li>Level 5 echo counts &gt; 40 dB Not used<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>  <!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>JAnalyzer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This software was also written by Esko Lyytinen and his son \u00d6llie. It too is freeware.This written in Java so it can be run on any system that has Java installed on it. I have run this on Windows XP, Linux, Unix, and on an Apple iMac (Pentium).<\/p>\n<p>Janalyzer is a lot more flexible than it&#8217;s ancestor, mAnalyzer. The user can control fft bin sizes, timing, rates of image scans, and data output.<\/p>\n<p>Like mAnlayzer, JAnalyzer has a small footprint, the executable .jar file is only 118 kb in size.<\/p>\n<p>I usually run JAnalyzer so it produces 3 FFT spectrograms. The first is a time compressed image that contains a full 24 hours in a single line. The image can store a week&#8217;s with of data in one image. I do this so I can see aurora, Es, lightening, and other sources of interference. Having a weekly time compressed image also aids in seeing weekly trends. The image below original size is 1043 x 680.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-351\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/24hr20100815200zend_sm.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"24 hours a line\" width=\"640\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/24hr20100815200zend_sm.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/24hr20100815200zend_sm-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>All echoes seen in the time compression are over dense echoes. Normal duration echos are not seen at this compression rate. A careful look shoes the long duration echoes in the first row which is August 9, 2010, start off rather spotty. As we approach the peak of the Perseids on the 13th we see more and more over dense echoes.\u00a0 The light gray blocks are created by man made noise, washer and dryers, microwave ovens, and arching AC lines during high winds.<\/p>\n<p>The second FFT image is an image of the past 24 hours as seen below. This helps me easily spot overdense echoes that I might be able to correlate with the all-sky video camera. Original image size is 964&#215;2750.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-352\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100813000002_20100814000000sm.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Daily August 13th Perseid peak\" width=\"640\" height=\"1826\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100813000002_20100814000000sm.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100813000002_20100814000000sm-105x300.jpg 105w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/20100813000002_20100814000000sm-359x1024.jpg 359w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0 image above shows many overdense, long duration echoes. It also shows the noisy periods as well. if you look carefully you&#8217;ll see an occasional carrier streaking across the pass band. Hint the last line of the image at 1200 UT. Hash marks are at 1 minute intervals. There are two lines per hour &#8211; the shorter line is the end of each hour.<\/p>\n<p>The third FFT image is a fast scan. It usually scans at a rate of an image every three minutes. It can run faster so head echoes can be seen.<\/p>\n<p>(Reminder add fast scan image here).<\/p>\n<p>A cursor over the start of an echo will show the frequency of the echo as well as it&#8217;s start time. Moving the cursor to the end of the echo shows the end time.<\/p>\n<p>I have JAnalyzer set to generate 3 text files. One is a 10 minute file which is similar but not the same as the mdata file mentioned in the mAnalyzer section. It records four sets of power bins and the counts and duration of each bin. It also produces an hourly report much like it&#8217;s mAnalyzer counter part, mhdata. If my research problem requires it, I have the program write a line for every echo heard.<\/p>\n<p>The individual raw echo file format is:<\/p>\n<p>2010-03-03 14:20:37.487, 00003, 02.29745, 03.03210<br \/>2010-03-03 14:21:13.626, 00013, 02.61173, 03.79104<br \/>2010-03-03 14:22:17.924, 00042, 03.09038, 04.30555<br \/>2010-03-03 14:22:42.468, 00002, 01.22930, 01.31838<\/p>\n<p>YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.sss Time stamp beginning of echo<\/p>\n<p>Duration of echo (timing depends on fft buffer size) To determine duration count you divide buffer size by sample rate. I run several buffer sizes at 8000 samples per second. Buffers can be 256, 512, 1024, and so on. For example a one unit of duration recorded with a 1024 at 8000 samples per second = 0.128 of a second or 128 ms. And unit for a bin of 256 at 8000 samples\/sec =\u00a0 0.032 sec or 32 ms<\/p>\n<p>Mean Audio power in log(2)\u00a0 (That is, the mean of the logarithmic values)<\/p>\n<p>Maximum power in log(2)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>HROfft<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HROfft is a freeware authored in Japan. It is the software of choice for the Japanese HRO group.<\/p>\n<p>The software records a FFT image at 10 minute intervals. The left and right edge of the image has the audio frequency axis running from 0 to 1200 Hz. The user can select a narrower range to meet his or her needs. If there is a carrier at 500 Hz then you can set the listen for echoes to say, 700-950 HZ and avoid the carrier in the counts. There is also a volume control built into the program.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-353\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/ylw09131550.png\" border=\"0\" alt=\"HRO 10 min Image\" width=\"629\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/ylw09131550.png 629w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/ylw09131550-300x191.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the image above I have the program set to only count signals between 870 Hz to 1200 Hz as indicated by the bar on the left vertical axis. At the bottom of the image is a small signal strength indicator with 10, 20, and 30 dB lines. Spikes with blue instead of yellow are not counted as their signal strengths were below the triggering level. The solid bluish line is a low power ( a few watts) TV translator station. At about 1556 UT and continuing until 1600 UT is a nearly parallel line which is caused by an aircraft (WestJet 736 in this case) flying nearly parallel to the low power TV station near Oliver\/Osoyoos, B.C. Jets flying directly to and from the carrier shows a S-curve Doppler. When worked out it shows a typical cruise speed for an airliner in level flight. The carriers producing the echoes are from Utah, Montana and Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>Not so long ago anyone using HROftt would have to hand record the echo counts per hour.\u00a0 The echo count for the ten minute period is summarized as can be seen in the upper left header information. It list the date 08-09-13, UT time, and meteor count of 26. There was no way to get an hourly count without looking at each image for the hour. This is no longer the case. Cologramme\/Color Lab has a selection that will scan the png image and summarize the duration of echoes and the echo count for each 10 minute period. It then produces six files for duration and counts for each of the three power levels.<\/p>\n<p>To down load HROfft go to:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/HROFFT100f.zip\" title=\"HROfft\">http:\/\/217.169.242.217\/rmob\/file\/HROFFT100f.zip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Colorgramme Lab V 2.3<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Colorgramme Lab V 2.3 is a versatile software written by Pierre Terrier. It is freeware.<\/p>\n<p>It is a Swiss army knife utility. It can read and parse data files produced by Spectrum Lab, mAnalyzer, and HROfft. After parsing the data it can make instant spreadsheets for the month, produce an image, a color graph that depicts hourly echo counts, along with ftping the data to the RMOB Live Observatories page.\u00a0 It can also read past years data for any contriibuting radio site and grpah their data so a yearly trend can be seen.<\/p>\n<p>The program can be picked up at:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/217.169.242.217\/rmob\/download.php?lng=en\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Color Lab v2.3\">http:\/\/217.169.242.217\/rmob\/download.php?lng=en<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Antennas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since the transmitting stations run high power, 10 to 100 kW, the echoes are quite strong so the antenna does not have to be too complex or expensive.<\/p>\n<p>For TV video carriers forward scatter an old log periodic TV antenna can be used with success. Now that most towns have gone to cable or satellite people often give away their old TV antennas to any one that is interested in hauling it off. Or you can buy one at Radio Shack or the Source.When using a &#8220;TV antenna&#8221; it&#8217;s good practice to use a 300 ohm to 50 ohm transformer at the antenna. This matches the antenna to the impedance of the coax cable that will carry the signals down to the receiver. Matching the impedance this was and insures the signal loss is kept at a minimum.<\/p>\n<p>Log periodic and yagi &#8220;TV or &#8220;FM antennas&#8221; have some directionality to them. This means they exhibit gain in signal strength when pointed at the transmitter while it hears much less well off the sides, or off the back of the antenna. In fact in some cases the front to back ratio can be more useful than the front gain is. Let&#8217;s say you have a frequency which would work well for echo counting but here is a weak, semi local station, that is causing interference . By turning a log periodic or yagi it is possible that the antenna&#8217;s front to back back or the side lobes will notch out the interference thus rendering an unusable frequency usable.<\/p>\n<p>I have also used a simple half wave dipole which is just two pieces of wire connected to the inner conductor of the coax and to the coax&#8217;s shielding. Each piece is a quarter wavelength at the frequency of interest. I often tack together a dipole to test a new frequency before deciding on a better antenna. At VHF frequencies it&#8217;s easy to tape the temporary dipole onto a meter stick or other scrap 1&#215;1 wood so you can rotate the antenna during the test. Dipoles exhibit notches off each end of the wire so it is possible to notch out a weak carrier that might prevent meteor counting.<\/p>\n<p>If I have three receivers recording I will user a discone antenna that is seated on my upper deck. The number of echoes are not as good as a normal resonate antenna (log periodic, dipole, yagi, or loop, but during a major shower the discone can preform well enough to capture research quality data. The discone antenna is a omni directional antenna so it theoretically hears in all directions. It has vertical polarization so there is usually some loss of signal from TV video carriers which are usually horizontally polarized.\u00a0 Discone have large bandwidth with surprising low SWR or mismatching. The one I use for example will work between 28 MHz to 1.3 GHz. I don&#8217;t recommend using one but if you have one from a police scanner hopbby give it a try before you try the larger antennas.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite antenna is a full wave length loop antenna operating in a horizontal polarization mode. It consists of a one full wave (at the listening frequency) piece of copper wire. It is formed into a square, with one quarter wave length per side. The bottom 1\/4 wave length of the square is cut in the middle and the centre of the coax cable is soldiered to one side and the other side to the copper shield braid.\u00a0 It is very cheap to make and it is a very quiet, resonate, antenna. It does have some directionality to it so it can be place to maximize the signal or to notch out a weak carrier that is interfering with your count. Four insulators at each corner of the square is all that is needed. I usually have several full wave loops cut for different frequencies in the attic. They have provided over a decade of good echo captures.<\/p>\n<p>In a pinch you can try anything. My HF vertical (3.8-28 MHz) works very well when it comes to hearing SNOTEL&#8217;s 40.5 MHz echoes.<\/p>\n<p>I prefer my inside the attic antennas over my out door meteor antennas. The indoor antennas do not shake in strong winds, the coax connections do not weather as badly as outdoor cables do, there is no impedance change when covered in deep snow or rain.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-355\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/antsnow.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Snowy ants\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/antsnow.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/antsnow-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Above: Snow covered antennas. The discone antenna can be seen just left of the BBQ grill on deck floor. Looking west down the lake.<\/p>\n<p>And most of all attic installed antennas don&#8217;t blow down.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-356\" src=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/antwind.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Wind damage\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/antwind.jpg 480w, https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/antwind-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 85vw, 480px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Photo of the 5 element log periodic antenna (top), a horizontal yagi (middle), and a vertical yagi (below the arm of the BBQ grill) dangles at an angle on the second story deck after winds with prolong gusts of 90+ km\/h. The winds were unobstructed blowing up the central portion of Okanagan Lake. The mast with the rotator and antennas tore loose from bolts on the side of the house. It was reinstalled a week later.<\/p>\n<p>Richardson, J., and Knueth, W. (1998) Revisiting the Radio Doppler  Effect from Forward-scattered Meteor Head Echoes. WGN 26:3. p 123.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are two primary methods being used by amateurs to detect meteors via forward-scatter technique; the FM method and the AM\/CW method. Prior to the 1960&#8217;s most of the radio meteor research was conducted at universities,\u00a0 government and military sites. As it is now,\u00a0 such institutions were limited by their current funding. This meant meteor &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/?p=357\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Radio Detection Basics&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-radio-methods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}