The Meteor Scatter QSO Party (MSQP) Guidelines are currently under development and subject to change.

HamSCI is interested in receiving feedback regarding these guidelines. Please contact us via the HamSCI mailbox and we will reply to your questions and suggestions.

The following is Version 0.3 of the MSQP Operating Guidelines, dated 31 March, 2025.

I) Objectives

Generate research-worthy data resulting from 10 meter meteor scatter operation, with 6m data generated for comparison purposes. The data will likely be used by the research community to answer science questions such as:

What is the geographical extent of propagation enhancements due to meteor scatter at HF frequencies?
What is the typical duration of useful HF meteor scatter reflections?
Is there a correlation between propagation enhancement and meteoroid size or meteoroid velocity?
What other factors might influence the strength of HF meteor scatter reflections?
Compare astronomical observations with amateur radio observations

The target communities include: Seasoned meteor scatter operators, meteor scatter 'rookies' (those who are new to the mode), researchers with an interest in radio wave propagation.

See KO4GLN's MSQP Poster for a general overview of the event.

II) Dates and Times

0000 UTC August 11 to 2400 UTC August 12, 2025 (Perseids)

0000 UTC December 12 to 2400 UTC December 13, 2025 (Geminids)

Each will be a 48 hour event because most meteor scatter (MS) activity will be very early in your local morning, so we set a wide operating period to catch ‘early morning’ across many time zones.

III) Operating Bands and Mode

HamSCI’s interest is primarily in 10 meter MS propagation. While 6 meters is the most popular MS band, 10 meters, a band having both HF and VHF characteristics, lends itself to novel research opportunities.

10 meter operation is highly encouraged. 28.145 MHz is a popular MS operating frequency.
6 meter operation (50.260 - normal MS) or 50.265 - (preferred for the MSQP) is also welcome, as data from that band could provide useful comparisons to what we hope will be a large number of 10 meter MS QSOs and reception reports.
If your station can operate both 6 and 10 meters - please operate on both, alternating bands at 20 minute intervals.
MSK144 is the only mode for this event.
Be sure the receive node software (most likely, the WSJT-X suite) is properly configured, especially your 6-character Maidenhead Grid Square, for sending reports to the PSKReporter.

Note: PSKReporter data collected during the event will be critical to the success of the MSQP Please be sure you are uploading received data to PSKReporter.info

There are no provisions for mobile or rover operations. Receivers and transmitters should remain fixed in one location for the duration of the MSQP.

IV) Contest Exchange

A valid 2-way MS QSO is defined as follows:

Each station transmits callsign and grid square
Each station receives a callsign and grid square
Each station acknowledges the other station’s information (typically by sending ‘R’ or ‘RR’ or ‘RR 73’)
There is no time limit when making a QSO. Whether 15 seconds, 5 minutes or 15 minutes - as long as it takes to exchange 1, 2 and 3 above.
Items 1, 2 must appear in the log, along with date, time, band (or frequency) and mode for each QSO (all are typically found in ADIF log files).

V) In-Contest Operating Aids

HamSCI encourages the use of any and all available computer-based tools to aid in making valid 2-way MS QSOs.

pingjockey.net is a popular website for arranging MS QSOs.
The Virgo application (https://dl1dbc.net/Meteorscatter/) is popular projection of the sky, tailored to your QTH. It is available for Windows, Linux and there is a Java applet
Stellarium-web (MS Windows) - Geometric visualization of past, current and future showers

VI) Post-Event Entry Process

The current plan is to collect ADIF logs from all stations who make one or more 2-way QSOs during the MSQP. Details on the collection method will be announced in the future.

At the conclusion of the MSQP event, please use the Google form (which will appear in August and December) to enter callsign/identifier, contact information, bonus point requests and comments.

The HamSCI Research Team greatly appreciates all who contribute to the Meteor Scatter QSO Party. The Team would like to recognize all participants via postings on the HamSCI website and in other media. Further, we may have questions for the participants as we work through the data analysis process. Note: We will not share contact information with anyone outside the HamSCI Data Processing and Research teams. We highly encourage all MSQP participants to complete the post-event entry process and receive a score and ranking once the results are tabulated.

VII) Scoring and Recognition

Scoring each participant's contribution will be a challenge for the party organizers, but we are up to the task! The HamSCI team hopes to recognize all those who contribute to the MSQP, either as transmitting or receiving stations.

MSQP entries for transmit sites will be reported by three attributes: Callsign, Grid, Band, Number of 2-Way QSOs
Receive-only receive-only sites will be reported by these attributes: Reporter (callsign or identifier), Reporter Grid, Band, Number of reception reports
MSQP Rookies: First time meteor scatter operators are encouraged to self-report their 'rookie' status so they can be recognized in the results tabulation
Certificates? HamSCI would like to provide electronic certificates for all participants, noting the top scorers among the transmitting and receiving stations.
Bonus points (proposals only, plans under development):
- Collaboration with local astronomy clubs
- Submission of photos (PDF or JPG format) of the operator, station equipment, antennas, etc.
- Submit bonus point docs via e-mail to hamsci.seqp@gmail.com after each event (August and December)

Some months after each event, after the HamSCI Data Processing Team has concluded their work, charts tallying the above will be published to the HamSCI website.

Meteor Scatter QSO Party Guidelines