DAMSON-a system to measure multipath dispersion, Doppler spread and Doppler shift on HF communications channels

A need has arisen for a system capable of measuring time dispersion and frequency dispersion in the 2-30 MHz HF band over a variety of paths in order to increase the available data on the occurrence and magnitudes of these phenomena. Whilst the paths concerned are dispersed over many areas of the World, there is a particular interest in the high latitudes, where severe Doppler spreads and multipath dispersion occur. Very little high latitude experimental data is available, either to determine the extent of the problem, or to assess the occurrence statistics. The present paper briefly describes the operation and performance of the DAMSON (Doppler And Multipath SOunding Network) system currently being developed. The transmitting and receiving stations´ equipment are described