Dedicated software options for amateur ham radio meteor scatter
Here’s a breakdown of software options (and their pros/cons) for meteor-scatter / forward-scatter / meteor radio detection, along with which operating systems they support (or are known to run on). If you like, I can also suggest sample toolchains (SDR + software + hardware) tailored for your two-cable antenna setup.
Key types / use-cases of meteor radio software
Before listing software, it helps to split into a few broad categories / use cases:
- Automatic meteor echo detection / counting / logging — you point a receiver (or SDR) at a fixed frequency (or narrow band) and detect “pings” caused by meteor trails (via forward or back scatter).
- Digital communications via meteor scatter (amateur radio MS modes) — here you not only detect, but also decode or transmit digital signals (e.g. MSK144, FSK441) during the brief “windows” when the ionized trail exists.
- Antenna / path / propagation / radiant mapping / geometric / trajectory analysis — once you have detections, you may want software to place them in a sky map, determine direction-of-arrival, radiant mapping, etc.
- Simulation, prediction, planning — forecast meteor showers, plan “windows”, or simulate detection performance.
Some software cover more than one class.
Software tools and their OS support
Here are several known software packages, with notes on what they do and what platforms they run on (or known compatibility).
| Software / Tool | Purpose / Features | Operating Systems / Notes | Comments & caveats |
| Echoes | Spectral analysis / automatic detection of radio echoes from meteors (no demodulation) | Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi / headless operation possible (gabb.it) | Good for passive listening, especially with SDR front end (e.g. RTL-SDR). It can run “headless” to log only data. (rtl-sdr.com) |
| WSJT-X | Digital communications including meteor scatter modes (MSK144, etc.) | Windows, Linux, macOS (Wikipedia) | Very popular in the ham community for meteor scatter QSOs. (swling.com) |
| MSHV | Digital weak-signal software (supports meteor modes) | Typically Windows / Linux (common in ham radio use) | Often used as an alternative or complement to WSJT modes (supports FSK441, MSK144, etc.) (mentioned in ham-radio literature) (G7RDX) |
| ROBS (Radio Meteor Software / ROBs) | Real-time detection of forward scattered radio waves | Windows (and maybe cross-compiled) — see “Download Radio Meteor Software” page (ars-electromagnetica.de) | Aimed at radio meteor enthusiasts for automatic detection. |
| Meteor Prediction / Meteor v4.0 / Colorgramme | Prediction / visualization / analysis | Classic Windows / MS-DOS era (some may require emulation) (International Meteor Organization) | Useful for planning, but older and limited. |
| Yagimax | Antenna performance (Yagi modelling) | MS-DOS / Windows (older) (International Meteor Organization) | Useful for antenna design rather than meteor detection per se. |
| Virgo | Sky map / radiant visualization for meteors | Java applet / cross-platform (needs Java) (dl1dbc.net) | Helps in visualizing radiant geometry and meteor shower mapping. |
| MetShow | Meteor shower planning / observation / visualization | Windows OS (as per IMO site) (International Meteor Organization) | Good for planning observational windows. |
Strengths, weaknesses, and suitability
Here are some practical considerations when choosing among these in your setup (two cables joined in middle, dropping to computer):
- Real-time vs batch / logging: If you want continuous real-time detection, tools like Echoes (for detection) or ROBS are more appropriate. For communications (i.e. sending/receiving digital signals during meteor windows), you need a digital comms package like WSJT-X or MSHV.
- Hardware interface / SDR support: Many of these software assume or support use of SDR front-ends (e.g., RTL-SDR, or sound-card input from a receiver). Echoes explicitly supports RTL-SDR. (rtl-sdr.com)
- Computational load & latency: If you plan to run this on a low-power computer (e.g. Raspberry Pi or compact PC), you’ll want software that is light or can run headless (no GUI). Echoes supports headless logging. (rtl-sdr.com)
- Cross-platform flexibility: If you switch between Linux and Windows, WSJT-X is excellent because it supports all major desktop OSs. (Wikipedia)
- Integration with timing / synchronization: Meteor scatter communications or detection often benefits from accurate timestamps (e.g. GPS or NTP) in the software. The software choice should allow you to sync time or accept timestamped data.
- Extension / further analysis: If you want to go into radiant mapping or multi-station interferometry, you might need to export event data (CSV, timestamp + amplitude + frequency) from the detection software, then feed into further tools or custom scripts.
Recommended stacks / toolchains
Given your antenna setup (two cables meeting in the middle, dropping to computer), here are a few possible toolchains:
- Passive detection + logging (single station)
- Antenna → low-noise preamp → SDR front end (e.g. RTL-SDR, or a more sensitive SDR)
- Run Echoes to detect meteor echo “pings” and log timestamps / amplitude / spectra.
- Optionally use MetShow / Virgo for planning or post-analysis.
- Meteor scatter digital communication (for ham radio QSOs)
- Antenna + radio/receiver front-end → audio or IF output → computer
- Run WSJT-X (set to MSK144 mode) for transmitting / receiving via meteor-reflected paths. (swling.com)
- Optionally run in parallel a detection tool (like Echoes) to detect pings independently.
- Hybrid: detection + communications
- Combine detection software (Echoes or ROBS) feeding metadata to the communications software to help schedule transmissions (i.e. detect a “ping” then trigger WSJT-X). This may require scripting or glue logic you write yourself.
- Multi-station / trajectory / radiant mapping
- Use detection software at multiple stations (synchronized in time) to log event data.
- Use custom or published geometry / triangulation software (or your own code) to estimate radiant/orbit direction. Some of this is described in research literature (e.g. forward-scatter radiant mapping) (ntrs.nasa.gov)
- Use visualization (e.g. Virgo, or custom plotting) for the radiant skies.