Earth-Moon-Earth

A heavy duty moonbouce station requires some heavy duty gear.

Earth-Moon-Earth operating, often called “moonbounce”, is where you bounce signals off the moon. This allows you to reach amateurs in other parts of the world using bands that most hams think are only good for reaching down the street!

As you might guess, moonbounce requires:

  • Lots of gain
  • High power
  • A tracking system

Moonbounce operating is not for the faint of heart, but these days it is more accessible than you might think.

It used to be that the only way to participate was using Morse code (CW) and with very large antennas and amplifiers. With the advent of modern digital modes, moonbounce has become feasible with much less gear than in the past. In particular, the WSJT-X suite has been a game changer.

Even with the WSJT modes you are still going to need some power and a good gain antenna. But these days even modest moonbounce stations using reclaimed satellite TV dishes or even long-boom yagis are able to get in the game.

The Alaska VHF-up Group has a few members who are active with earth-moon-earth operating. Send us a message and we will help you get started.