HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Parties Target the Perseids

The HamSCI citizen-science community is continuing its 2026 series of Meteor Scatter QSO Parties (MSQP), the upcoming marquee Perseids event scheduled for 12-14 August 2026. A final 2026 event will coincide with the Geminids meteor shower on 13-15 December 2026.

Part special event and part contest, the MSQP aims to generate a large body of contact and reception data to better understand meteor scatter propagation. The effort, originally proposed by HamSCI member McKenzie Denton, KO4GLN, is particularly timely: recent FCC rule changes now permit U.S. amateurs to operate the MSK144 meteor scatter mode on 10 meters, allowing researchers to investigate a key question – which band is better for meteor scatter, 6 meters or 10 meters?

Participation is open to both two-way (transmit and receive) and monitor (receive-only) stations operating from fixed locations. MSK144 is the only mode used, with 50.260 MHz and 28.145 MHz being popular operating frequencies. Stations equipped for both bands are asked to alternate between 6 and 10 meters at 20-minute intervals (xx:00, xx:20, xx:40). Monitor stations should report their decodes via PSKReporter, and all participants are encouraged to submit ADIF logs and WAV recordings of decoded pings after each event to support the research effort. Electronic certificates are planned for participants, and first-time meteor scatter operators are encouraged to self-report their “rookie” status so they can be recognised in the results.

Complete rules and information are available at https://hamsci.org/msqp