Design and evaluation of a variable-rate meteor-burst communication system

Describes elements of a research programme aimed at obtaining greater reliability and throughput with meteor-burst communication (MBC) systems. Essentially, this is achieved by effectively adapting the instantaneous transmission rate in response to channel characteristics, rather than transmitting at a fixed rate, as with most previously deployed MBC systems. During several trials performed between Wick(Northern Scotland) and Farnborough (Hampshire), it was observed that backscatter was detected at the transmitting antenna. This backscatter appeared to have the characteristics of ionospheric scatter, but this is still being investigated to confirm the exact mechanism. This is detrimental within a simplex system, and the frequencies of the two directions of the link had to be separated. Both frequencies remained within the 36 MHz allocation