WSJT decodes very brief bursts of signals sent from a distant location that bounce off meteor trails, and back to your antenna. The program has several modes for operating on several high frequency bands, as well as bouncing signals off the moon, if you feel really ambitious! My operating is limited to 6 meters, which it turns out is the band that has the most opportunities for making a contact on HSMS. My antenna on 6 meters is a SteppIR 4 element antenna with two additional passive elements - the equivalent of a 6 element yagi. I use my Icom 756 Pro, running at about 100 watts of power, to do the rest of the work.

Speaking of work, how does this thing work? The short answer is "very well", but that's not what you want to know. Transmissions are sent by tones, rather than actually speaking to someone. The tones are generated by the WSJT program, processed using the sound card in your computer, and sent through your transmitter. The reverse process decodes the received signal using the computer sound card and the WSJT program. The picture below shows what happens when a signal from a distant station bounces off a meteor, and is decoded by the WSJT program, using a mode of transmission called FSK441a.

The green line shows the received signal strength over a 30 second period. You can see several "pings" (the yellow dots) where information has been received and decoded. The decoding takes place at the bottom of the picture. It shows that AJ6T (Walt, in Saratoga, CA) is calling me. There are several standard messages that are transmitted between the two stations, which indicate that both calls have been copied, a signal report has been exchanged, the signal report has been received, a confirmation is sent indicating that the QSO is complete, and an optional "73" (best wishes) sent to indicate that all has been copied.

You will notice that on the left side of the image, the "pings" appear very intense, compared to the "pings" on the right side. Nonetheless, the very light pings also carry information and WSJT is able to decode it very well. When listening to your radio, you will occasionally hear a burst of data through your speaker or headphones and after awhile, you will be able to detect the different tones of the different modes used. FSK441a, which is the primary mode used on 6 meters, sounds like a buzzsaw. A different mode, used occasionally on 6 meters, called JT6M, sounds very melodious, somewhat like a piccolo. It becomes very easy to detect which mode is being used after a short time of listening. Here is a sample of what FSK441a sounds like:

At this point, if you're interested in trying WSJT, all you need is your standard radio setup that uses other digital modes like RTTY, PSK31, or any other sound card mode. If you already have the sound card interface for your radio (like the Rig Blaster), you're ready to go on WSJT!

You will also need to ensure that your computer clock is accurately set. I use a free program that sets the computer clock each day (search Google to find a program you like, or download Dimension 4). The practice for communicating using WSJT is that the station further to the west transmits on the first 30 seconds of the minute, and the other station transmits on the second 30 seconds of the minute. That requires that your computer clock be accurate to the second.

OK - now how do you make a contact? The easiest way to talk to someone is to use a web "chat" page called Ping Jockey. This is where the meteor guys and gals hang out. Using Ping Jockey, you can chat with other folks, set up contacts, arrange schedules, and learn from them. They are a very helpful group.

I recommend that you use the WSJT "monitor" mode first, just to get familiar with copying "pings" and seeing the information decoded. The primary calling frequency is 50.260 MHz. Once you see how that works, then jump in and have fun! Ask anyone on Ping Jockey if they would like to try a QSO (contact). They may ask you to move up or down a few KHz to leave the calling frequency clear for others. Follow their lead, and you're sure to enjoy this new mode!

My first misconception was that you had to aim your antenna toward a particular "meteor shower", as described from an astronomy perspective. That is, when there is a projected meteor shower from the Perseids, I thought you had to find out where that was in the sky and aim your antenna that direction. Ain't necessary. Just aim your antenna in the general direction of the station you would like to talk to, just as you would do on HF operations. That's close enough.

How far away can you expect to talk to someone on WSJT? Typically, you can expect to talk to people within about a 1200 - 1400 mile radius. Stations closer in to you can be more difficult. If they are within about 500 miles, then you may have difficulties hearing them, due to basic physics. The sharper the angle ("the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection"), the more you would have to elevate your antenna so the signal would bounce down closer to you. That would increase your chances.

The map above indicates my location in southwest Colorado with a blue dot. The stations I've talked to thus far are indicated by a red dot.

I hope this explanation of high speed meteor scatter operation tempts you to try it. It's always great to learn something new!

73,

Joe, WDØM