EME - bouncing radio signals off the Moon
My first QSO was Gary, KB8RQ from Ohio, USA:
KB8RQ's QSL card for my very first EME contact :
KB8RQ certainly is a "big gun" station. Following picture (published here with Gary's permission) shows his antenna system :
One week later, another EME contact took its place in my log ! It was Sam, RN6BN from Russia :
RN6BN certainly is "big gun" station ... note that this QSO was finished with the Moon @ 18.86 degrees with NO ELEVATION control of my antenna (see pictures below).
I used Motorola MICOR amplifier with 2x8560AS tuned down to 144 MHz for both QSOs. Output power 400W. My antenna was Cushcraft Yagi intended for FM (!) with gain just little bit over 10 dBd (!!!) as shown on following pictures. My transceiver is FT847.
Well, I promise to clean that table up before shooting next picture ...
My temporary antenna-rotor-stand for first EME tests
This is the antenna I used for first decoding of moon-bounced signals - IT WORKED !!!
The Antenna isn't really high and is only azimutally-controlled
New antenna - M*square 12 el (2M12) - 13 dBd, even with elevation control
