This is my
Earth
Moon Earth
(EME)
array that I use for communicating with other Ham radio operators all
over
the world by means of bouncing radio waves off the moon. The path loss
to
the moon and back on 432MHz is very high, 261 to 263 dBs. Large antenna
arrays, high power levels and a very low noise preamp are required to
make
the trip to the lunar surface and back to our planet. The distance to
the
moon and back is close to a half a million miles taking about
2.5
seconds to hear the echo. All the antennas and low noise preamp in my
array
are homemade. I found the design for my antennas in the ARRL Handbook.
The design
I chose was the
FO-33,
a high performance yagi designed by K1FO
and K3IPW. The FO-33 antenna has
a gain of 20 dBi with a 3dB beam width of 18 degrees. I am using 8 of
these
super yagis in my array to give an antenna gain of 28 dbi or 631 X.
With
1500 Watts out of the Lunar
Link LA-70B Amplfier my EIRP is close to 1MW making my station
close
to the output of WVIR claiming to be the most power TV station in
Virginia.
I am using the M2 Orion
RC-2800 rotor to control the azimuth of the array. To lower the
antenna array for easy maintenance, I am using a Voyager VH8-30
Hazer Winch transit system. The VH8-30 allows the whole system to
be serviced from ground level with the aid of a 12 foot step ladder. With this setup and the help of
K2VJ, I was able to place 3rd in the 1998 ARRL INTERNATIONAL EME
CONTEST
in the Multioperator 432MHz division. I missed the 1999 contest due to
moving to a new location. In 2000 with
the help of KR4V, I placed fifth.
In 2001
with the help of KR4V, AD4TJ, and N4BCC, I placed third. In 2002
I placed fourth, and in 2003,
with
the highest score so far I placed third. In 2004
and 2005
with help from my friends, I placed fourth again. There
is a LOT OF EFFORT AND TIME required to get even to this level, and I
am very happy just getting this far. Just being able to hear the radio
signals that are over 2.5 seconds old bouncing off the lunar surface is
a thrill that most hams will never experence and is quite a thrill all
by itself.
This is my house
located on a high hill between Churchville
and Staunton,Virginia.
This is my current 125 foot HF tower. This
tower was completed on Setember 1, 2001. I want to thank all the people
who made this possible!
The tower is 13 sections of Rohn 55G. The HF Antenna is a Mosley TA-36
Tribander. Please check out MISC. PICTURES
for other pictures of this installation.
I am employed as a Senior Development
Engineer at
ComSonics Inc. located in Harrisonburg,Virginia
