so ive been reading about EME operation for a while now and it seems like something i really want to try but every time i look into it more it feels like you need a massive yagi array and a kilowatt just to even hear anything. im running a 4 element yagi on 2m right now with about 150 watts out of a solid state amp and i know thats not exactly competitive but i figured id ask here before i spend money upgrading stuff thats not the bottleneck

what ive been reading suggests that with JT65 or Q65 the minimum station requirements have come down a lot compared to the old days of needing to copy CW off the moon. is that actually true in practice or is it one of those things where technically yes but in reality you still need a big array. also curious what kind of preamp people are running, ive heard the noise figure on receive is just as important as transmit power which makes sense given the path loss were talking about

any experience welcome, especially if youve worked EME with a relatively modest setup

yeah so the digital modes have genuinely changed things, im not gonna sugarcoat it and say your 4 element setup will be killing it but ive seen guys make EME contacts on 2m with a single long yagi and 400 watts. the key thing most people overlook is the preamp right at the feedpoint, like literally at the feedpoint not in the shack, every tenth of a dB of noise figure matters when youre talking about signals this weak. i run a 4x9el array with a DB6NT preamp and that thing is night and day compared to what i had before

Q65 is probably your best bet to start, bit more forgiving than JT65 for EME work. get yourself on 144.174 or wherever your regional EME calling frequency is and just listen during moon windows, youll start to hear whats possible. honestly just lurk on the moon for a few sessions before you try to work anyone, youll get a feel for whats realistic with your setup

path loss on EME at 144 mhz is something like 252 dB which sounds insane and it kind of is. the thing that gets people is they calculate link budgets on paper and then get frustrated when reality doesnt match, usually because they didnt account for antenna noise temp or their coax loss is eating them alive

i went through three different preamp setups before i got something i was happy with. ended up with a MGF1302 based unit mounted right at the boom and dropped my system noise temp considerably. your 150w and 4el is probably borderline for terrestrial meteor scatter contacts let alone EME but dont let that stop you from getting on and listening, thats how you learn what the signals actually sound like and youll know when its worth upgrading