What is that called when your on an open frequency and all of a sudden a station comes on for 3-5 seconds and it is gone. The other day on 96.1 a station comes on and says Todays best Mix and then it was gone. This was late at night as well. Anyone ever have this happen and identify the station. It isn't E skip or Tropo because E skip stations fade in and out and Tropo you can hear without any static usually.
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What is that called when
- Thread starter michigandxer
- Start date
I've heard it only a couple times. Probably meteor scatter if that's what I think you mean.
That's if you hear it for a few seconds and it's then suddenly gone.
But if you hear it and then it slowly fades out in pulses, that's only 'airplane scatter' from stations 50 to 100 miles away and that's very common.
That's if you hear it for a few seconds and it's then suddenly gone.
But if you hear it and then it slowly fades out in pulses, that's only 'airplane scatter' from stations 50 to 100 miles away and that's very common.
You in Florida? I hear DX almost every year from you guys.
Meteor Scatter. Something (like music) fades in for 1-4 seconds and it's GONE. Zip, zlich, white noise. The Perseids Meteor Shower is coming up very soon and NASA forecasters are saying it could appear as "rain in the sky" - meaning, a LOT of meteors. Keeping my radio on 102.1 waiting for some ID might work....
-crainbebo
-crainbebo
Good hunting on 102.1 to you, Crain !
Just last night I made to hustle down the hill for some snacks, but even before I got in the car there was this long, bright meteor. It wasn't near Perseus but fairly high up in the southern sky, through Capricorn.
Fairly long it was, too. Maybe 15-20 degrees.
Meteor-scatter DX must entail one heckuva lot of concentration, especially nowadays with all the commercial clutter and the official ID buried except once an hour. I'll stick with the binoculars and a lawn chair, thank you
Just last night I made to hustle down the hill for some snacks, but even before I got in the car there was this long, bright meteor. It wasn't near Perseus but fairly high up in the southern sky, through Capricorn.
Fairly long it was, too. Maybe 15-20 degrees.
Meteor-scatter DX must entail one heckuva lot of concentration, especially nowadays with all the commercial clutter and the official ID buried except once an hour. I'll stick with the binoculars and a lawn chair, thank you
I wonder if one would have a chance at ID'ing meteor scatter catches after the fact if you...
have a digital recording device (in my case, a Zoom H2n, although a camera or laptop can work too) already running (recording) through the listening session
if using a camera, have it trained on the radio's display. (in my case I'd record via patch cable from the radio to the H2n, while also recording with the camera. To sync the audio with the video, i'd either video the H2n's display for a few seconds, doing some math & single-frame video seeking to figure where it goes, or record on the Zoom in 4-channel mode and have another sound playing that I can line up. If your camera has a line-in audio port, that's awesome too. Mine doesn't.)
Make SURE the time on your recorder(s) is set correctly, preferably as accurate as WWV's reference clock if possible
Upon getting a catch, note the time, edit the recording to include just the catch (with maybe a little blank signal on both ends to avoid cutting off important details which may aid with ID).
post it online somewhere, then ask either on online forums or stations on that frequency for ID clues. maybe someone may recognize a song or commercial or something?
(It's entirely possible I could have left something out.)
Unfortunately, the next time I get meteor scatter will be the first. Here in southern California, every single FM channel has a station or IBOC sideband.
have a digital recording device (in my case, a Zoom H2n, although a camera or laptop can work too) already running (recording) through the listening session
if using a camera, have it trained on the radio's display. (in my case I'd record via patch cable from the radio to the H2n, while also recording with the camera. To sync the audio with the video, i'd either video the H2n's display for a few seconds, doing some math & single-frame video seeking to figure where it goes, or record on the Zoom in 4-channel mode and have another sound playing that I can line up. If your camera has a line-in audio port, that's awesome too. Mine doesn't.)
Make SURE the time on your recorder(s) is set correctly, preferably as accurate as WWV's reference clock if possible
Upon getting a catch, note the time, edit the recording to include just the catch (with maybe a little blank signal on both ends to avoid cutting off important details which may aid with ID).
post it online somewhere, then ask either on online forums or stations on that frequency for ID clues. maybe someone may recognize a song or commercial or something?
(It's entirely possible I could have left something out.)
Unfortunately, the next time I get meteor scatter will be the first. Here in southern California, every single FM channel has a station or IBOC sideband.
Some DXers use Audacity or Total Recorder to record unattended E-skip, tropo or meteor scatter on FM. An ID for e.g. "...Kiss FM..." on 96.1 (KSME, just an example) might be missed if it's not recorded. Most meteor scatter is buried in the overnight hrs.
Some DXers even used to use Yes.com for IDing songs - before it closed down.
-crainbebo
Some DXers even used to use Yes.com for IDing songs - before it closed down.
-crainbebo
And sometimes, just a few seconds is enough! I remember getting help from some members here, when such a blip occurred on my car radio, as I was returning home from Ottawa (ON). Given the frequency and the fragment of the advert which I caught, we determined it was a particular station in the Kansas City area. Blip, and it was gone!
I have a question. I live under a 'fly way', with numerous commercial aircraft flying over at varying altitudes, on domestic and trans-Atlantic flights. I haven't heard any for a while, but as a kid, I remember blips occurring on my parents FM receiver, which at times I could associate with the sound of aircraft flying thousands of feet over-head. Is this possible? My semi-educated guess would be 'yes', because of the metallic surfaces of the aircraft, but I'm purely guessing. I'm sure some folks here have a good solid answer, regarding the matter!
~BG
I have a question. I live under a 'fly way', with numerous commercial aircraft flying over at varying altitudes, on domestic and trans-Atlantic flights. I haven't heard any for a while, but as a kid, I remember blips occurring on my parents FM receiver, which at times I could associate with the sound of aircraft flying thousands of feet over-head. Is this possible? My semi-educated guess would be 'yes', because of the metallic surfaces of the aircraft, but I'm purely guessing. I'm sure some folks here have a good solid answer, regarding the matter!
~BG
There's another thing that ionizes the atmosphere.
Lightning!
Only problem is it doesn't last nearly as long as meteor (or airplane) scatter so you get very brief bursts of signal.
When we got big storms just 20 to 40 miles to the East I could hear these bursts from stations 100 to 300 miles away.
An observation about airplane scatter. You ever notice that when a large plane would fly overhead the analog TV signal would show a lot of multipath/shadowing? It would even affect channel 2. I have noticed drop-outs in some ATSC signals when a plane would fly between myself and the transmitter.
Lightning!
Only problem is it doesn't last nearly as long as meteor (or airplane) scatter so you get very brief bursts of signal.
When we got big storms just 20 to 40 miles to the East I could hear these bursts from stations 100 to 300 miles away.
An observation about airplane scatter. You ever notice that when a large plane would fly overhead the analog TV signal would show a lot of multipath/shadowing? It would even affect channel 2. I have noticed drop-outs in some ATSC signals when a plane would fly between myself and the transmitter.
I currently live in the worst location I have ever lived for DXing, be it AM/BC, Shortwave, FM or TV. No external antennas and nasty noise levels. Also, this area, Fresno, CA, isn't known for having much tropo or E skip activity Alas But, one day I tuned across the FM band and stopped for a few moments on a locally unused channel, 97.3 I think it was. Suddenly, a few seconds of clear audio 'surfaced' just long enough to mention "Medicine Hat" and then it was gone. A lookup on Radio-Locator varified a station, in fact, was on that freq. in Medicine Hat, Alberta, CN. I've been DXing for many years, from much better locations than this one, but that had to be one of the "luckiest" catches I've ever had. Maybe 5 seconds of audio, with "Medicine Hat" mentioned right in the middle of it. I was a bit disappointed to find that it is less than 1000 miles from here. But, still a good catch.
But, one day I tuned across the FM band and stopped for a few moments on a locally unused channel, 97.3 I think it was. Suddenly, a few seconds of clear audio 'surfaced' just long enough to mention "Medicine Hat" and then it was gone. A lookup on Radio-Locator varified a station, in fact, was on that freq. in Medicine Hat, Alberta, CN. I've been DXing for many years, from much better locations than this one, but that had to be one of the "luckiest" catches I've ever had. Maybe 5 seconds of audio, with "Medicine Hat" mentioned right in the middle of it. I was a bit disappointed to find that it is less than 1000 miles from here. But, still a good catch.mofocat, that reminds me ...
One spring night a couple years ago, I'd been listening to a station on my Sony SRF-59 pocket radio as I was lying in bed. I forget which one it was - possibly 640 KFI, 1070 KNX, 1090 XEPRS, 1110 KDIS, or 1580 KMIK. While listening, I drifted off to sleep.
At about 5am or 6am (still dark out, but within an hour or so of local sunrise) I woke up to find the 'phones, which I was no longer wearing, laying on the bed beside me. I put them on to hear a weak Spanish station...
and not maybe 5-10 seconds later hear Equis Eh Eh Equis poke through the hiss.
I searched for XEEX (probably via FCC) ... and it turned out to be a GY on 1230 from Culiacan, Mexico, about 795 miles SE of me! There was absolutely NO splash blitzes from my local 1240 KNSN (11.2mi WSW). I suspect it's cause the radio was off-tuned on the low side a little. (It had that crisper sound you get when you're a little off, but not yet the distortion/garble you get when the carrier is completely out of the passband.)
Hey someone should start a thread for posting blind-luck catches like these. Another time was when I heard the 1670 from Redding, CA's TOH ID during a quiet spot from KHPY Moreno Valley, or when I clearly heard "Newsradio 84 WHAS" under Dave Ramsey on KXNT when I wasn't even trying to DX.
One spring night a couple years ago, I'd been listening to a station on my Sony SRF-59 pocket radio as I was lying in bed. I forget which one it was - possibly 640 KFI, 1070 KNX, 1090 XEPRS, 1110 KDIS, or 1580 KMIK. While listening, I drifted off to sleep.
At about 5am or 6am (still dark out, but within an hour or so of local sunrise) I woke up to find the 'phones, which I was no longer wearing, laying on the bed beside me. I put them on to hear a weak Spanish station...
and not maybe 5-10 seconds later hear Equis Eh Eh Equis poke through the hiss.
I searched for XEEX (probably via FCC) ... and it turned out to be a GY on 1230 from Culiacan, Mexico, about 795 miles SE of me!
There was absolutely NO splash blitzes from my local 1240 KNSN (11.2mi WSW). I suspect it's cause the radio was off-tuned on the low side a little. (It had that crisper sound you get when you're a little off, but not yet the distortion/garble you get when the carrier is completely out of the passband.)Hey someone should start a thread for posting blind-luck catches like these. Another time was when I heard the 1670 from Redding, CA's TOH ID during a quiet spot from KHPY Moreno Valley, or when I clearly heard "Newsradio 84 WHAS" under Dave Ramsey on KXNT when I wasn't even trying to DX.
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