Meteors

Using Echoes software, RF signatures of meteors entering the atmosphere may be recorded. Echoes was developed by Giuseppe M. Bertani. The story begins with Canadian television station CHBX in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada. This analog TV station transmits a video carrier with 100kW ERP on 55.240 MHz. Because of the physics involved, this frequency is a good candidate for observing RF echoes of meteors. When a meteor hits the atmosphere, some of the energy involved ionizes the atmoshere for a brief time. This ionization trail may be spotted visually. On the RF side, the carrier from CHBX reflects off this trail and reaches my meteor observing station where it is recorded by Echoes. My station consists of a 6m Ringo Ranger (AR-6) antenna, Winegard 82 channel TV preamp, RTL-SDR dongle, and a Raspberry Pi micro computer. The following image is a screenshot from one of the most recent captures with the timestamp in the lower left corner:


NOTE: If you see a continuous vertical line at 55.240 MHz in the above image, it is a good indication that six meters is having a tropospheric ducting opening. It may also mean other bands, such as 2m and 70cm, are open.