I'm planning my first EME station and trying to understand the absolute minimum requirements to make contacts. I have a good VHF location with clear moon windows from 5° to 45° elevation.

Equipment I'm considering:

• Single yagi with at least 12 dBd gain
• At least 150 watts output
• Good low noise preamplifier
• Low loss coax like LMR400

Planning to start with 50W SSB transceiver and directional antenna for JT65B. For small stations, should I focus on prearranged schedules rather than random operation?

W2RS worked 37 stations with a single 3.2λ yagi and under 200W - your planned setup is definitely workable! Focus on moonrise/moonset windows and schedule with the big gun stations first. They'll help compensate for your smaller antenna gain.

Don't forget about Doppler shift - on 2m it's around 440Hz which WSJT handles automatically. Start with skeds with 8-yagi+ stations - they're very patient with newcomers and will work you even at -28dB. I'd strongly recommend getting that preamp at the antenna though.

Keep losses BEFORE the preamp at absolute minimum - every tenth of a dB counts! Your 150W will work fine, but get the best preamp you can afford and mount it right at the antenna. Consider even a 9-element yagi around 11dBd gain can work EME if everything else is optimized.