FM DETECTION OF ORIONIDS METEOR SHOWER

RADIO METEOR DETECTION FUNDAMENTALS:  
 the term meteor does not only mean a streak of light but also the ionization of atmospheric air that accompanies the entry of a meteorite at high velocity. These ionization trails can last upto seconds and are capable of scattering radio signals from terrestrial radio stations.
FM radio stations which are 100 to 300 km away are ideal for detecting meteors. All you need is a good quality FM radio preferably with a digital frequency display. Set the receiver on the frequency of the distant radio station, for residents of Rajkot, Radio City, Ahmedabad on 91.1 MHz is an ideal choice and I have been using that station since last two years. For charting the results you need a simple software named radioskypipe which is a free download from radiosky.com .

Plug in the audio output of the FM receiver into the mic in of your pc or laptop and run the software. Make sure that the mic volume of your computer is full so that max sensitivity is available. You can facilitate your receiving by employing a simple antenna in the form of a simple long wire about 5 to 6 m long suspended horizontally in your room about 3 to 4 m high from the ground. Clip one end of the wire to the whip antenna of  the receiver and you are ready to go.(image courtesy of users.ugent.be)
The very simple theory about this type of detection setup is the fact that commercial FM signals are in VHF band. This band of radio spectrum is characterized by its line of sight propagation as the ionization level of earth's ionosphere is not sufficient to refract the signals back to earth. The ionized trail produced by a meteor has a very high level of ionization which, for a moment will scatter such signals. These scattered signal is what will be detected by our set up thus indirectly revealing a meteor.
Please let me know the results of your observation