Talk on Aircraft Scatter by Steve G0EAK

Aircraft Scatter.

Last week we had a talk on Aircraft Scatter by Steve (G0EAK), Steve has been using this mode of propagation since learning about it in 2013 at the Radio Society of GB (RSGB) Convention.

The mode involves Radio signals that will reflect off many objects including aircraft. It may not be obvious to everyone but the larger the aircraft the more likelihood of the signals being reflected from it. Often we are experiencing aircraft scatter without realising it.

Steve has used Aircraft Scatter for the last few years it is now used from 6m upwards and with SSB as well as CW and I only run with 10 watts.

The main software for predicting when an aircraft will be in the right place is called Airscout and can be downloaded from http://airscout.eu/index.php/download

Until last year the main plane feeds were available from sources such as Flightradar24 but last autumn they restricted use. To access the plane feeds now you will need to set up an account with Thomas, OV3T – http://airscatter.dk/

Whilst it is free to register, a donation towards the cost of running the server would be appreciated by Thomas if you decide to continue using the feed for Airscout. Alternatively, you could set up your own ADSB feed which I think Paul, M0PJA, may be able to advise on.

To use aircraft scatter intentionally is normally done by arranging a contact using KSTchat, other chat facilities are available such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger etc.

KST is a chat room specifically for amateur radio and can be found at http://www.on4kst.info/chat/login.php?band=2

You might also want to look at a telnet-based client such as WKST. WKST also links in with Airscout, WKST can be downloaded from http://dl0gth.dl2alf.de/index.php/soft

I think it is fair to say that everyone enjoyed the talk and learnt some things, which is what the hobby of Amateur Radio is all about. The Subject of Aircraft Scatter came up on our Facebook page and Sunday Net