Welcome to VE3GIB's DX Tools
Ham Radio DXing and Information Site
2006 METEOR SHOWER LIST


This is a list of moderate to major Meteor Shower activity which would be of interest to those who enjoy meteor scatter on VHF, such as myself.

How Does Meteor Scatter work ?
The Earth encounters thousands of tiny bits of meandering space debris (rock, sand) every day. The number, and perhaps the average size, of these particles increases sharply during meteor showers, but there is significant meteor activity almost every day. Upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, these particles burn up, leaving a heavily ionized trail. Although short lived, this ionized trail is capable of reflecting VHF signals momentarily. Meteor scatter if fairly reliable compared to many other VHF propatation modes. VHF operators know they can count on making meteor scatter contacts during several major meteor showers each year.


January 1st - January 7th - Quadrantids (Peak Jan. 3 @ 16:20)
April 16th - April 25th - Lyrids (Peak Apr. 22 @ 12:23)
April 21st - May 12th - Eta Aquarids (Peak May. 6 @ 04:44)
June 10th - June 21st - June Lyrids (Peak June 15-16)
July 14th - August 18th - Southern Delta Aquarids (Peak July 28-29)
July 23rd -August 22nd - Perseids (Peak Aug. 13 @ 00:12)
September 17th - November 27th - Southern Taurids (Peak Oct. 30 - Nov. 7)
October 15th - 29th - Orionids (Peak Oct. 21 @ 14:05)
October 12th - December 2nd - Northern Taurids (Peak Nov. 4-7)
November 13th - 20th - Leonids (Peak Nov. 17 @ 19:11)
December 6th - 19th - Gemenids (Peak Dec. 14 @ 08:19)
December 17th - 25th - Ursids (Peak Dec. 22 @ 16:45)
For a more complete list of meteor showers, click HERE.

A popular and fun program to work meteor scatter with is WSJT.
It can decode fraction-of-a-second signals reflected from ionized meteor trails, as well as steady signals more than 10 dB weaker than those required for conventional CW.

Check out my WSJT computer screenshot section of received signals by clicking HERE.

Ping Jockey Chat page dedicated to meteor scatter using WSJT, click HERE.