so ive been a ham for about 12 years mostly doing HF stuff, some 2m weak signal occasionally, and i keep reading about EME and it seems like the kind of thing i want to try before i get too old to climb towers lol. problem is every time i start researching the antenna requirements i kind of go cross-eyed. like i get that youre bouncing signal off the moon and the path loss is something like 250-260 dB depending on frequency which is just an insane number to even think about, but then i start reading about array sizes and preamp noise figures and it starts feeling like youre either all-in with a 4x4 yagi array and a kW or youre not doing it at all.

im working with a decent sized yard and i could realistically put up a 2-element or maybe 4-element yagi for 2m. got a pretty solid IC-9700 already and i know the IC-9700 has a sequencer built in which is nice. my main question i guess is — is single yagi EME actually doable these days or is that just a myth that gets passed around? i know JT65 and now Q65 have changed things quite a bit for weak signal work but im not sure if a single 9-element yagi or something like that is actually getting through or if people are just saying it to be encouraging. anyone actually done contacts with a modest setup on 144?

yeah single yagi EME is absolutely real now, i did my first moonbounce contact back in 2019 with a single M2 9-element and 500 watts and honestly it was easier than i expected once i got the elevation rotor sorted out. the key really is the preamp — you want your system noise figure to be as low as possible, like 0.3-0.5 dB is what you're shooting for, so whatever you do dont skip on that. i use a Kuhne preamp right at the feedpoint and that made a huge difference over having it at the shack end. Q65 has made things even more forgiving than JT65 was, the submodes let you dial in based on how much time you have for the exchange and honestly with Q65-60A i worked a station in Japan off the moon with my setup which still kind of blows my mind.

the IC-9700 is a solid choice, just make sure you have your sequencer timing right because you really dont want to key the amp before the preamp has switched out of the receive path, that'll kill your LNA real fast. also you need to figure out your EME window — the moon has to be above your horizon obviously, and you want a station on the other end where the moon is also up, which means a lot of the activity happens at specific times you have to plan around. the WSJT-X software handles the Doppler correction automatically so that parts not a problem. honestly just jump in, even if your first few sessions are just decoding other peoples signals without making contact thats still kind of amazing.

the preamp placement thing the other guy mentioned is the most important thing tbh, a lot of people underestimate how much coax loss kills you on receive when youre talking about signals this weak. even a few tenths of a dB of noise figure degradation from having the LNA at the wrong end of a run of LMR-400 matters more than it would on basically any other mode. also worth mentioning that elevation capability matters a lot more for EME than people think going in — a fixed horizontal yagi might work for some limited windows but youre really leaving contacts on the table if the moon isnt conveniently placed. even a cheap TV elevation rotor can work if you gerry-rig it carefully enough, ive seen people make it work with some creative solutions.