HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party

HamSCI MSQP Image.png

Work the rocks!  Decode the pings!

Aug 11-12 and Dec 12-13, 2025

  • Contribute to science as we strive to uncover the secrets of meteor scatter (MS) propagation

  • Join hundreds of operators on 6 and 10 meter MSK144 during the August Perseid and December Gemini meteor showers

  • Two-Way (transmit/receive) and Monitor (receive only) stations are needed

  • Sending reception reports to PSKReporter is critical to the success of these events.  See the Software Setup section for details

     

MSK144 Is Just as Easy as Operating FT8, PSK31 or JT65

A typical meteor scatter (MS) station consists of a modern HF transceiver (IC7300, FT991, K3, Omni VII, etc.), a computer running WSJT-X, and, in some cases, a sound card interface.  This is the exact same gear as is used by thousands of hams to runs FT8 and the other 'JT modes'.  Antennas can be as simple as an attic dipole. Or, use a yagi, Hexbeam, quad or Moxon if you have one.  (A gain antenna is always helpful - but beware of 'long boom' yagis, having very narrow beam widths, as they can be difficult to aim in a shower.)

MS activity is not limited to the major shower events - feel free to review the materials here, review the sites in the Additional Info section below, and get on the air (typically in the early morning hours, starting before sunrise though an hour or two after sunrise (when other propagation modes, such as E-skip or F2, may dominate the bands).

 

Software Setup:  WSJT-X (Windows, Linux and Mac OS)

If you've never run WSJT or the other 'JT' modes:  Download WSJT-X from the SourceForge website .  Install per the User Documentation

Once it is up and running, you should be able to modify the settings (configuration) according to your needs.  Simply 'accept' many of the checkboxes on the setup screens.  Particularly important settings are noted below.  Note that there is a groups.io forum dedicated to WSJT-X.  That's the best place to ask questions, get help, etc.  In fact, most questions may already have been answered and can be found by using the 'Search' function once you are on that groups.io page.  The WSJTGROUP is friendly and they are especially good at solving connection issues to various radios.

Of particular importance to the MSQP event (especially for Monitors, those entering the event as receive-only) is to enable PSKReporter Spotting.  Turning on this functionality sends all of your reception reports to the PSKReporter.info website.  That's critical because after the MS events, HamSCI researchers will be downloading those reports, looking for interesting patters in the reception data.  Their efforts will be most worthwhile if everyone who is on the air, whether transmitting or receiving, uploads their MS 'spots'.  Once this is enabled, no further effort is required - it happens in the background (assuming your computer is connected to the Internet) with no effort on your part.

WSJTX PSK Reporter Checkbox.png

Other setting unique to the MSK144 mode:

  1. Special operating activity (NA VHF) Yes/No? NO
  2. Mode: MSK144
  3. Decode (Fast, Normal, Deep) DEEP if your CPU can handle it
  4. Tx even/1st (marked or unmarked) CQing to the West unmarked, CQing to the East marked
  5. Tx F Tol (number) 200 if your CPU can handle it
  6. Rx Hz (number) Rx  1500  Hz
  7. Report (number) Will be filled in automatically when you call someone
  8. T/R seconds (number) 15 s
  9. Sh (marked or unmarked) Unmarked
  10. Auto Seq (marked or unmarked) User preference

 

Additional Resources

 

Sample Signals

Copied on 10 meters, 5 Apr 2025, at 10:37:15 and 10:43:15 UTC by an MSK144 / Meteor Scatter 'Rookie' (Omni VII, indoor attic dipole, WSJT-X).

Note that the WSJT-X User Documentation has information on how to download, and listen to, sample MSK144 signals.

MS Samples.001.jpeg

 

Opening Image credit:  Vikki Lawhon, MFA, University of Scranton.  Remainder, Gary Mikitin, AF8A