Updated 02/06/24 by KD2ZWN

Communicating over great distances via VHF continues to fascinate many amateurs. EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communication, also known as "moonbounce" and meteor scatter are two well known propagation techniques. The concept is simple: use the moon or the ionized trail of a meteor as a passive reflector to go way beyond line of sight. A simple but effective station is within the reach of most amateur experimenters. With the advent of effective digital modes, low noise preamplifiers, and high-gain Yagi antennas, many VHF operators are enjoying successful weak signal contacts. With a total path length of about 500,000 miles, EME is the ultimate DX!

While hams still use SSB/CW to make long distance contacts using troposcatter, many hams now use the digital mode FT8 and the software program WSJT. Palle OZ1RH has papers on how to make 700km troposcatter contacts at any time.

• The Journey to EME on 24 GHz, Part 1
  QST October 2002, pp. 28-32
  Exploring the microwave region for moonbounce
• The Journey to EME on 24 GHz, Part 2
  QST November 2002, pp. 43-47
• A Beginner's Guide to Small Station EME by Paul K4MSG

• WSJT Home Page by Joe Taylor K1JT
  The program to run MSK144
• The MSK144 Protocol for Meteor Scatter Communication July/August 2017 QEX
  What the program does
• A simple guide to 6M meteor scatter using MSK144 by Brad AB4BA