so ive been licensed for about 6 years now and mostly do HF but ive always been fascinated by EME ever since i watched a presentation at a hamfest maybe 3 years ago. finally decided i want to actually try it instead of just reading about it. problem is im not sure where the realistic entry point is for someone without a massive yagi array in their backyard.

right now i have a 100w radio and i was looking at 2m since thats where most of the activity seems to be? i know the path loss is something insane like 250dB which just seems impossible to overcome but people clearly do it so im missing something. ive been reading about JT65 and how the digital modes kind of changed everything for small stations but i still dont fully understand what the minimum viable setup looks like. like is a single 15 element yagi with 100w even worth pointing at the moon or am i just wasting my time until i can run a kilowatt and a 4 yagi array

also how do you even know when to call, is there a calling frequency on 2m EME or is it all coordinated through like a dx cluster or website ahead of time

the digital modes really did change the game for this, youre right about that. back when it was all CW EME you basically needed a serious array and high power just to hear anything back. JT65 and now Q65 have made single yagi operation actually viable, not just theoretically possible.

for a realistic starter setup on 2m, a single long yagi in the 20-23 element range plus 100w will get you contacts but youre going to be limited to working stations that have big arrays on the other end. if you can bump power to 400w or so it opens up considerably more. the preamp is honestly just as important as power though — a good low noise preamp right at the feedpoint makes a bigger difference than you'd think, youre looking for something under 0.5dB noise figure if you can manage it.

144.130 is the standard JT65 EME calling frequency, and most people coordinate through the ping jockey logger at dxc.beans.net or the wsjt-x built in logging. you can also just watch the logger and see whos calling. moon rise and moon set windows are when the moon is at a workable elevation for your location so you kind of plan around that. lunac3 or any moon tracking software will help you figure out when to be at the radio.

dont get discouraged if it takes a few sessions before you get that first contact, there's a real learning curve just figuring out the timing and pointing even before the rf stuff makes sense

yeah Q65 is worth looking at too if you havent already, its a bit newer than JT65 and works even better for EME in some conditions. i made my first EME contact last year with a single 17el yagi and about 200w and it took maybe 3 sessions before i got a confirmed qso. the station i worked had a 4x9el array so they were doing the heavy lifting honestly but it still counts lol

one thing nobody told me upfront — your coax run matters a lot on this. i had about 40ft of LMR400 and that was manageable but someone i know was running RG8 for like 60 feet and was basically throwing away a chunk of his signal before it even got to the antenna. preamp at the mast is not optional in my opinion, i use a down east microwave unit and it made an immediate difference when i switched from having it in the shack.