THE BASICS OF METEOR SCATTER DX'ing 

• Best months of the year for meteor scatter are August, October, November, December, and early January.  Actually, anytime of the year is good.  Sometimes certain dates are just better than others, due to the occurrence of meteor showers.
• Average peak daily time for nighttime showers:  0500 to 1200 local time (There are a handful of daytime showers that almost rival the big nighttime showers and the only way you can be aware of them is to do some research of when they occur.)
• Best frequencies for meteor scatter:  50MHz to 100 MHz  (The entire 88 to 108MHz band is usable for meteor scatter dxing.)
• General distance of reception:  600 - 1200 miles  (My average distance on fm runs 650 to 900 miles.)
• Antenna bearing:  If you're using a yagi antenna to receive meteor scatter, you have to coordinate your dx periods with the location of the meteor shower and adjust the yagi accordingly.   You don't have to be picky about where you point the antenna.  Remember the meteor-scattered signals are often coming from a very high angle, so if your yagi is horizontally mounted, it will not appear to be as directional as it is for signals received along the ground.  In fact, you will notice the orientation of the antenna has little to do with where the station is.  Use this to your advantage:  point the antenna to reduce the strength of "local" stations.
• Meteor scatter signal duration:  Meteor scatter signals typically last from a fraction of a second to two or three seconds. A really good scatter signal will last ten to twenty seconds. When you catch one of those rarer, thirty second and up to two or three minutes in duration signals, you've just experienced what is known as a 'train'. Many times a 'train' will have two or more stations mixed together and is somewhat difficult in getting an ID out of any of the stations heard.

Keep in mind that receiving satisfactory meteor skip signals depends on where you live, what type of equipment you are using, and availability to the peak times of the day.  Experience has shown that the BEST antenna designs are required, if you are to receive good usable signals.  Also, two other things necessary, if you want to make a success of meteor scatter dxing without it being a total frustration. First, record your DX listening session, whether you use a tape recorder or a computer-based program that digitally records the sound input. When you're uncertain of a reference to a location or that brief station identification (or other information that could be connected to a radio station assigned to your monitored frequency), you can listen to your recording to clarify what you have heard.  Second, if at all possible, the use of RDS/RDBS technology is great as a backup.  Even though not all FM radio stations in the US, Canada, and Mexico use it, it is a great tool to have when you catch a meteor scatter signal on FM and that particular station IS using RDS. 

Finally, here's a handy link to the International Meteor Organization (click here) in case you want to dig deeper.