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<H1>First meteor scatter on 4 metres</H1>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>On 31 August 2008, <STRONG>Andre Botes ZS2ACP</STRONG>, in
Port Elizabeth and <STRONG>Paul Smit ZS6NK</STRONG>, in Polokwane made what was
probably the first meteor scatter QSO on 4 metres in Africa.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The two stations started at 03:00 UTC and completed at
04:18 UTC on 70,200 MHz USB using FSK441. Andre, ZS2ACP, used a modified TenTec
6m transverter running 23 Watt into a 3-element Yagi and Paul, ZS6NK, used a
homebrewed transverter running 24 Watt into a 7-element Yagi.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>They made another meteor scatter contact during the VHF
contest on 21 September. During this contact, Andre used a 5-element
Yagi.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>FSK441 software is designed for high speed meteor scatter
communication using the brief "pings" of signals reflected from the ionized
trails of meteors about 100 km above the earth's surface. Such pings are
typically a few dB above the receiver noise and may last from ten to a few
hundred milliseconds. By using these brief pings, FSK441 facilitates QSOs in the
range 800 to 2 200 km in the amateur 2-metre and other VHF and UHF
bands.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The WSJT FSK441 meteor communication software was
developed by Jo Taylor K1JT, a 1993 Nobel Laureate in Physics for the discovery
of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for
the study of gravitation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Jo's interest in amateur radio goes back to his teenage
years. In an autobiography published at the time of receiving the Nobel prize,
he wrote "Among my fondest boyhood memories are collecting stone arrowheads left
on that land by its much-earlier inhabitants, and erecting, together with my
brother Hal, numerous large, rotating, ham-radio antennas, high above the roof
of the three-story Victorian farmhouse. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"With one such project, we managed to shear off the brick
chimney, flush with the roof, much to the consternation of our parents. That
incident was one of many practical lessons of my youth, not all absorbed in the
timeliest fashion, involving ill-advised shortcuts toward some
goal."<BR></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Congratulations to Andre, ZS2ACP, and Paul,
ZS6NK.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Fonte:</FONT><A href="http://www.sarl.org.za/Default.asp"
target=_blank><FONT face=Verdana> The South African Radio
League</FONT></A></P></BODY></HTML>