The phase stability of VHF signals refected from meteor trails

An experimental meteor-burst link between Seattle, Washington, and Bozeman, Montana, is described and results of various propagation tests are presented. During the early tests, it was noted that the signals reflected from individual meteor trails exhibited extremely stable phase characteristics. This result led to a series of experiments devoted primarily to determining the degree of phase stability reflected VHF signals possess. It was found that the propagation medium was capable of timing accuracies on the order of several hundred nanoseconds. A demonstration time synchronization system using meteor-burst propagation was designed and has been operating for the better part of a year. This system, which provides timing accuracies of about 15 microseconds, is described.