EME

As pointed out in his earlier comment, John Regnualt, G4SWX, who is the RSGB's VHF manager, has directed us to a truly excellent website all about EME (earth-moon-earth) communication. 

John is an expert on EME communication and got his 2m DXCC some years ago. As far as I am concerned this is really good experimental work, no doubt having spent some time optimising his EME station.

To have success in EME requires hard work and dedication.  By comparison, I am a "fireside fusilier" in that I am gunner do this and gunner do that. It looks like John is not!!

See https://www.ok2kkw.com/eme1960/eme1960eng.htm .

Arecibo dish

Back in 1964 (corrected - thanks John!), the amateur community benefited from 2m and 70cm EME QSOs using the huge dish in Puerto Rico usually used for astronomy research. At the time it was the biggest radio telescope in the world. Many people managed EME QSOs that would have been impossible with smaller antennas.

Sadly the antenna collapsed and will not be rebuilt.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory.

Arecibo Observatory and EME

Sadly this giant radio telescope in Puerto Rico was damaged beyond repair. 

In the mid 1960s it was used for some amateur moonbounce tests. Many amateurs made their first EME QSOs this way. The dish gain was very high with a 1000 foot dish! I have no idea what the ERP was.

This was 1964 (?), way before we had any weak signal modes that makes EME a little easier. EME still needs optimum equipment and is not for those not prepared to work hard.

I am not sure what is needed these days to work the better stations via EME, but I would guess at least 100W, mast head preamps and as big a yagi array as you can manage. This also requires accurate moon tracking, low cable losses and weak signal modes optimised for EME.

77.5 GHz EME

This video was made in May 2013, but I have only just seen it. This is definitely pushing the boundaries. Makes my efforts seem distinctly average, HI.

Huge EME dish going

Back in the mid 1960s, the huge dish at Arecibo, Puerto Rico was used for amateur EME experiments. As the gain was so large, this gave more modest stations a chance "via the moon". Sadly the dish was badly damaged in a storm and it is to be decommissioned according to a piece in Southgate News. FT8 and other digital modes have opened up EME to others now, but this is sad news.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/november/arecibo-dish-to-be-decommissioned.htm#.X7fYl2iTLrc

6m EME

One of the great things about our hobby is the huge diversity. Some just enjoy chatting, whereas some choose to chase DX, often by the most difficult methods. In the latter category is 6m EME (moonbounce).

On Facebook today, I spotted this photo of a 6m EME antenna. Now, the antennas alone must be £1k plus (I'd guess) and the tower similar. The low-loss coax won't come cheap and neither will the amplifier and rig.  You also need a fair bit of space.

Now, how people choose to spend their disposable income is their affair, but there is no way you'll catch me spending thousands on the hobby. This is an impressive antenna.

See www.innovantennas.com .

EME on TV?

According to Southgate News the next Michael Portillo "Great British Rail Journeys" may include a piece recorded at Goonhilly Downs showing him operating 5.6GHz EME under supervision.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/january/bbc-tv-to-show-michael-portillo-moonbounce.htm#.WlIA00x2vIU .

10W moonbounce

Amateur Radio Weekly relays that a UK Foundation Licence holder using 10W has had a successful QSO "off the moon".

See https://www.essexham.co.uk/news/essex-eme-success.html?utm_source=amateur-radio-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

EME - moonbounce

VE7SL has been busy again with moonbounce using 140W on 2m with JT65. Steve has a modest station and yet again shows that moonbounce, which used to be for a very few, is now possible for more stations.

It still needs careful optimisation and is never easy. Certainly it still remains beyond me. All credit to Steve.

EME

Moonbounce (EME) impresses me as I know some work really hard to optimise their stations to achieve this most difficult aspect of our hobby. In recent years it has become a little easier (although still hard) with the advent of digital modes optimised for EME paths.

Jan, LA3EQ posted a video on YouTube showing his SSB reception of HB9Q via the moon. Amazing!

EME or Moonbounce

See http://www.amateurradio.com/ for details of VE7SL's EME activity. He runs (relatively) low power for moonbounce, but still seems to get lots of contacts via the moon. Inspiring stuff.

Arecibo EME in 1964?

Way back in my youth, I recall that USA amateurs got access to the huge 1000 foot dish at Arecibo in Puerto Rico for early EME (moonbounce) tests. This was extensively reported in QST and the RSGB Bulletin at the time. I think this was 1964 or 1965.  As the dish was huge, it gave smaller stations a chance with EME. EME started soon after WW2 I believe but for many this was their first chance.

In more recent times there have been other activations. EME takes real dedication but recent advances in digital techniques have made EME more accessible to smaller stations. It still needs a lot more power and antenna gain than I have!  Some of these activations are on YouTube.  See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1agnioRKJw .

Web SDR locations

There are now a number of places on the internet where one can find and operate on-line software defined radios (SDRs). For a list of these go to http://www.websdr.org/. One of the best, now streaming 7 different bands, is http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ which is located at Twente in The Netherlands. I have used this one to hear my QRP signals on 40m from the UK. There is a very slight delay but I was able to hear my 400mW signal very well. Another has a recording of the 23cms band during an ARRL EME (moonbounce) contest using a 25m dish: you can tune the band and hear some amazingly strong CW QSOs via the moon.