been thinking about moonbounce for years but keep getting sticker shock when i look at what it takes. my current station is just a 100w rig with a 9el yagi up about 40ft and im pretty sure thats not gonna cut it. been reading about needing like 4 big yagis and a kw amp minimum just to work the big guns

those of you doing eme regularly, what did you spend to get on and was it worth it? also wondering if there's any entry level approach or if you really do need the full monty right away. heard some folks saying you can work the really big stations with less but not sure if thats realistic

I started eme about 5 years ago and yeah the initial investment is pretty steep. went with 4x17el yagis and a 1kw sspa which ran me about 15k all in including the az/el rotators. but honestly once you hear your own signal coming back from the moon for the first time its all worth it

you might be able to work some of the really big stations with less but dont expect much. maybe try finding someone local who's already on eme and see if you can operate from their station first to get a feel for it

depends what band your thinking about too. 144 is probably the most active but needs the biggest antennas. 432 might be easier to get started on since the antennas are smaller but you need more power. i know a few guys doing 1296 eme with just one big dish and having decent luck

honestly though if your budget is tight maybe consider starting with aircraft scatter or meteor scatter first. similar propagation concepts but way less demanding on the wallet