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** OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR METEOR SCATTER QSO'S (1993) **
Note. These procedures were adopted at the IARU Region 1 Conference in
Miskolc-Tapolca (1978), and later slightly amended at the IARU Region 1
Conferences in Noordwijkerhout (1987), Torremolinos (1990) and De Haan
(1993).
Introduction
The goal of the procedures described is to enable contacts to be made by
meteor scatter reflection (MS) as quickly and easily as possible. As the
reflections are of very short duration the normal QSO procedure is not
readily applicable, and special measures must be taken to ensure that a
maximum of correct and unmistakeable information is received. The best
meteor showers are mostly strong enough to make some of these measures
unnecessary, but to encourage use of all generally listed showers there is
no reason why the suggested procedures should not always be used.
Definitions
Two types of MS contacts, arranged in different ways, may be
distinguished:
A scheduled contact, where two interested stations agree in advance on
the mode (CW or SSB), frequency, timing and period of the contact. This
may be done by exchanging letters, or via the VHF net, which is active
from 1100 to 1400 UT on each Sunday around 14.345 MHz, 28.345 MHz or 3.624
MHz, depending on the propagation conditions on the HF bands.
A non-scheduled contact, where a station calls CQ or responds to a CQ
call. Such contacts are often called "random MS".
Timing
It is recommended that stations use 2.5 minute periods on CW and 1 minute
periods on SSB. This practice gives quite satisfactory results.
However, growing technical standards make it possible to use much shorter
periods and amateurs may wish to arrange 1 minute schedules for CW and
shorter periods for SSB, especially during major showers.
All MS operators living in the same area should, as far as possible,
agree to transmit simultaneously in order to avoid mutual interference.
If possible, northbound and westbound transmissions should be made in
periods 1, 3, 5 etc. counting from the full hour. Southbound and eastbound
transmissions should be made in periods 2, 4, 6 etc.
When arranging schedules, one or two hours duration for the schedule
may be used. Starting times should be on the hour (e.g.
0000, 0100, 0200 UT etc.)
Scheduled duration
Every uninterrupted scheduled period must be considered as a separate
trial. This means that it is not possible to break off and then continue
the contact at a later time. The duration of scheduled periods is usually
one hour or, in some cases, two hours.
Choice of frequency
Scheduled contacts
Scheduled contacts may be arranged on any frequency, taking into
consideration the mode/bandplan, but should avoid using known popular
frequencies and the random MS frquency segments 144.095 - 144.126 MHz and
144.395 - 144.426 MHz.
Non-scheduled contacts
The frequency used for CQ calls for non-scheduled contacts should be
144.100 MHz for CW and 144.400 MHz for SSB. QSO's resulting from the CQ
calls should take place in the 144.101 - 144.126 MHz frequency segment
(CW) or 144.401 - 144.426 MHz frequency segment (SSB), so as to avoid
interference on the calling frequencies.
The following procedure should be used by the caller to indicate during
the CQ on which exact frequency he will listen for a reply and carry out
any subsequent QSO:
Select the frequency to be used for a QSO by checking whether it is
clear of traffic and QRM.
In the call, immediately following the letters "CQ", a letter is
inserted to indicate the frequency that will be used for reception when
the CQ call finishes. This letter indicates the frequency offset from the
actual calling frequency used. For instance, CQE CQE CQE would indicate
that the operator would listen on the calling frequency + 5 kHz.
A 1 kHz Call would be CQA CQA CQA
E 5 kHz Call would be CQE CQE CQE
N 14 kHz Call would be CQN CQN CQN
Z 26 kHz Call would be CQZ CQZ CQZ
In all cases the letter used indicates a frequency higher than the CQ
frequency.
At the end of the transmitting period the receiver should be tuned to
the frequency indicated by the letter used in the CQ call.
If a signal is heard on this frequency it may well be a reply from a
station who has heard the CQ call and replies on the frequency calculated
from the letter used during this call.
When the caller receives a signal on the frequency indicated during the
call and identifies the reply as an answer on his CQ, the transmitter is
QSY'ed to the same frequency and the whole QSO procedure takes place
there.
Example: DF7VXS wishes to try a random MS experiment on CW, and wants to
start with calling CQ. He first checks his receiver in the range 144.101 -
144.126 MHz and finds a clear frequency on 144.107 MHz. He decides to call
CQ on 144.100 MHz, and he must now add a letter to his CQ call to indicate
on which frequency he intends to listen. In this example he has chosen a
frequency offset of 7 kHz, and therefore he will have to include the
seventh letter of the alphabet, the letter "G", in his CQ call. Note that
the station receiving the CQ call will reply on a frequency exactly 7 kHz
above the one on which the CQ call is heard.
If an operator instead of calling CQ wishes to listen for a CQ call the
following procedure should be used:
Listen on 144.100 MHz for CW or 144.400 MHz for SSB CQ's.
(Note that when there is considerable activity during major showers
stations calling CQ may QSY lower than 144.100 or 144.400 MHz in order to
be on a clearer frequency).
When a CQ call is received, note the letter which follows the letters
"CQ" in the call. From this letter calculate the frequency offset which
the calling station will use for receiving replies.
QSY the transmitter higher in frequency by the number of kHz's found,
and transmit a reply during the appropriate period. The format for the
reply can be found in section 7.
As the QSO will take place on this higher frequency, continue to
transmit and to listen (during the appropriate periods) on this frequency.
It may be that the station calling CQ will not hear your first reply, but
may do so during one or more subsequent periods. Hence there is no need to
return to the calling frequency.
Example: You receive SM3BIU who is calling CQH CQH CQH. This tells you
that, regardless of the exact frequency SM3BIU is using for his CQ, he
will be listening for a reply exactly 8 kHz higher, as H is the eighth
letter of the alphabet. Having established that the CQ was "CQH" you will
call him 8 kHz up.
N.B. The letter system should not be used for SSB contacts!
(De Haan, September 1993)
CW speeds
Speeds from 200 to 2000 letters/min. are now in use, but in nonscheduled MS
work speeds between 400 - 700 letters/minute are recommended.
In scheduled work the speed should always be agreed before the QSO,
especially if one station does not have a multi-speed taperecorder.
Some operators cannot reach the higher speeds now in use.
Note that in some countries, including the UK, the licensing authorities
require the callsigns to be sent at a lower speed at the start and finish
of each transmission.
QSO procedure for scheduled contacts and random operation
Calling
The contact starts with one station calling the other, e.g. "DL7QY SM3BIU
DL7QY ....". In CW the letters "de" are not used.
Reporting system
The report consists of two numbers:
First number (burst duration)
Second number
(signal strength)
2 up to 5 sec. 6 up to S3
3 5 - 20 sec. 7 S4, S5
4 20 - 120 sec. 8 S6, S7
5 longer than 120 sec. 9 S8 and stronger
Reporting procedure
A report is sent when the operator has positive evidence of having
received the correspondent's or his own callsign or parts of them.
The report is given as follows: "UA1WW I1BEP 26 26 UA1WW I1BEP 26 26
....". The report should be sent between each set of callsigns, three
times for CW, twice for SSB, and must not be changed during a contact even
though signal strength might well justify it.
Confirmation procedure
As soon as either operator copies both callsigns and a report he may
start sending a confirmation. This means that all letters and figures have
been correctly received.
Confirmation is given by inserting an R before the report: "SM7FJE G3SEK
R26 R26 SM7FJE ...". A station with an R at the end of the callsign could
send "GW3ZTH I4BER RR27 RR27 ...".
When either operator receives a confirmation message, such as "R27",
and all required information is complete he must confirm with a string of
R's, inserting his own callsign after each eighth R: "RRRRRRRR HG5AIR RRRR
....". When the other operator has received R's the contact is complete
and he may respond in the same manner, usually for three periods.
Requirements for a complete QSO
Both operators must have copied both callsigns, the report and a
confirmation that the other operator has done the same. This confirmation
can either be an "R" preceding the report or a string of "RRRR..."'s
Missing information (CW only)
If a confirmation report is received at an early stage in the contact, the
other operator has all the information he needs. The following strings may
then be used to ask for missing information:
BBB both callsigns missing
MMM my callsign missing
YYY your callsign missing
SSS duration and signal strength report missing
OOO all information incomplete
UUU faulty keying or unreadable
The other operator should respond by sending only the required
information. This approach must be used with great caution to prevent
confusion.
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