First 4-metre analogue meteor scatter record in RSA

Congratulations to Andre, ZS2ACP, of Port Elizabeth and Paul, ZS6NK, in Polokwane on establishing the first-ever analogue meteor scatter record on 70,200 MHz SSB in South Africa.

Paul says, "After many months trying, Andre and I eventually made it on 4m MS on phone on 6 May 2009 around 06:00 CAT. It took about 25 minutes to complete with 5/5 both ways. There were some massive bursts on FSK441 (up to 8 seconds) and this prompted us to go phone".

The radio peak of the Eta-Aquarids meteor shower occurred in the daylight that morning between 08:00 and 11:00 CAT. There were many long and strong bursts recorded on 50 MHz and 70 MHz; a few lasted up to a minute or longer and QSO's on FM would have been a cinch.

The next few days could still provide some interesting contacts on MS.

The South African Radio League