A minimum system that will achieve EME communication on 144 MHz is composed of a transmitter having
500 watts average power output into the antenna (neglecting transmission line loss), an antenna having a 
power gain of 20 decibels over a dipole, a receiver with a bandwidth of 500 hertz, and a noise figure
of 2.0 decibels, or better. These requirements are within the limits of the state of the art, and two
stations having these attributes could theoretically have marginal communication over an EME circuit if
everything is working properly.

The difficult and expensie portion of this installation is the antenna. Such an array cannot be purchased, 
it must be built. An estimated cost for such an antenna is about $1000. A collinear array having a 20 dB gain 
figure is approximately 16 feet wide, 25 feet high, and 4 feet deep and contains 80 elements. The phasing
harness is very critical if maximum gain is expected. Transmission line loss, which can be quite high at
144 MHz, must be subtracted from the antenna gain figure, thus providing additional circuit loss. The
transmission line loss adds directly to the receiver noise figure.

The EME array, in addition to expense and difficulty of alignment, moreover, has a very shart pattern and
must be aimed carefully, both in azimuth and elevation. This requires a complicated drive mechanism. The
wind loading on the array requires careful mechanical design so that the antenna can withstand winter storms.

An experienced VHF amateur can build a complex 40 element antenna array that will provide up to 17 dB power
gain on almost any city lot, but increase the antenna gain by 3 dB to 20 dB requires that the array size
be more than doubled. To provide an EME signal that is reliable demands an antenna gain figure closer to 23 dB than
to 20 dB, so the antenna size should be doubled again. An antenna of this size, cost and complexity is
outside the realm of reality for the great majority of radio amateurs: 32 feet wide, 25 feet high, and 4 
feet deep!

A partial solution to the problem, until other techniques are developed, is to raise transmitter power
by 3 dB or 6 dB to upgrade the EME signal. Many amateurs are attempting moonbounce work and many more are
interested in it. All of them are antenna-limited. A large number of them became discouraged when they 
have no results after hours of work and expenditures of large sums of money.

From time to time, radio amateurs have put the large 150 foot dish antenna at Stanford Research Institute on 
144 MHz moonbounce circuit. On the rare occasions that this happens, the large gain figure of the big
dish permits many amateurs having marginal equipment to hear a moonbounce signal. This brings about a new
burst of enthusiasm.

I believe that an amateur signal on the EME circuit over a period of time having a consistent signal will
cause additional interest and enthusiasm, especially among those amateurs who are just getting their
equipment working. Achieving marginal results with marginal equipment is discouraging at best, and with
consistent signal, there should be more motivation for experimenters to upgrade their equipment. The
new EME enthusiasts will develop skills in weak signal work and learn something about the habits of the
moon and the complexities of the EME circuit.

A station having a 23 dB antenna with a peak power output of up to 2500 watts can serve as a beacon, or
lighthouse, for the difficult EME circuit and permit those amateurs having marginal antenna systems to 
join in the experiments. It is far easier to achieve a 3dB circuit improvement by increasing transmitter
power than by doubling antenna size.

The more participants using the EME mode, the greater chance there will be to study and learn things
not now known, or understood about this complex communication circuit. The VHF moonbounce experimenter 
is probably not going to discover a new world-shattering principle, but he may learn how to schedule
contacts to take advantage of Faraday rotation.

Correlation of EME results with latitude, magnetic field alignment, solar disturbances, weather
disturbances, and very local temperature inversions could be valuable. Some opinions have already been
formulated on some of these effects. The type of experiments the amateur radio operator will come up with
is probably typified by the results the 160 meter enthusiasts have had. The perfect path for long 160
meter work has been determined by amateurs to be sunset at one end and sunrise at the other end. How
to take advantage of the characteristics of the "sunrise-sunset" propagation mode is the challenge.

I have specifically requested the permission to run up to 2500 watts output on 144 MHz so EME tests can be 
run at the 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 watt level. I have access to a Bird "Thruline" watt-meter which
is capable of measuring power up to 2500 watts +-5% of full scale. I intend to refurbish the antenna for 
this power level and use half-inch aluminum rigid coaxial cable.

The equations tell how many decibels difference there should be for various power levels. However, when 
copying signals in real time using the human ear, the results are surprising and not according to 
accepted data. I intend to run tests with certain well-equiped amateur stations throughout the world. I
intend to send cassette tape to the participants and have them record my signals. I will change power level
in 500 watt steps to determine the significance of the increments. By listening to the tapes that have been
sent back to me and by comparing the signals to my records to determine the power being used at the time,
I should get a feel for the significance of power. The typical EME path does not lend itself to easy
evaluation due to Faraday rotation, scintillation and libration. However, over a period of time and many
tests, a trend should show up. A recommendation for or against higher power for EME work will result.

The 2500 watt output power should not cause TV overload in the neighborhood since the transmitting antenna will 
not go below 20 degrees above the horizon.

Plans for the future include building a smaller (lower gain) antenna array using a means to change
polarity to correct for Faraday rotation. With such an array, the received signal may not be as strong as
the present 23-24 dB gain array, but may in the long run account for more successful results due to the
ability to correct for polarity.

I propose to use frequencies from 144.000 to 145.000 MHz with most of the work being done from 144.000 to
144.025 MHz.