Meteor scatter is a form of propagation mode that is used for medium distance ham radio communications, especially on bands like 144 MHz. It enables contacts to be made over distances of 1500 to 2000km on these frequencies allowing contacts to be made over much longer distances than might otherwise be possible. As the name implies, meteor scatter uses the fact that meteors enter the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. When they do so they burn up leaving intense trails of ionisation - typically around the same altitude as the E region in the Ionosphere. Although the meteors are very small, and the trails not that large, it is still possible to use them to "reflect" radio signals and thereby extend the range over which a signal can travel. Amateur radio activity tends to focus on times when there are meteor showers, but meteors are always entering the atmosphere. The meteor showers give much greater numbers of meteors and also the meteors tend to be larger, which leads to larger ionisation trails. Find out more about meteor scatter and how it can be used by commercial operations as well as radio amateurs in our article on Electronics Notes. https://www.electronics-notes.com/a...tter-burst-communications/basics-tutorial.php
Most early mornings around dawn is a good time to work random meteors on 6 and sometimes 2M. Ive made 6M SSB contacts with as little as 10W in the 60's when mountain topping to give out the "rare" states of NH and VT. Carl
