A group of radio amateurs recently travelled to Lesotho with the objective of heating up the moon \u2013 well, figuratively speaking. It was all about providing an opportunity for “moon bouncer” radio amateurs around the world to make contact with a new country.<\/p>\n
Moon-bounce or earth-moon-earth communication (EME) is about beaming VHF, UHF and microwave signals to the moon and using the surface of the moon to reflect the radio signals back to Earth.<\/p>\n
In this process large distances can be covered on frequencies that are generally used for point to point line of sight communication \u2013 the maximum distance exceeds 800 000 km to the moon and back.<\/p>\n
The use of the moon as a passive communications satellite was proposed by W.J. Bray of the British General Post Office in 1940.<\/p>\n
He calculated that with the microwave transmission powers and low noise receivers available at that time, it would be possible to beam microwave signals up from Earth and reflect off the moon. It was thought that at least one voice channel would be possible.<\/p>\n
The moon bounce communication concept was further developed by the United States military in the years after World War II, with the first successful reception of echoes off the moon being carried out at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey on 10 January 1946 by John H. DeWitt.<\/p>\n
Projects that followed led to more practical uses, including a teletype link between the naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii and United States navy headquarters in Washington, DC. In the days before communications satellites, a link, free of the vagaries of ionospheric propagation, was revolutionary.<\/p>\n
It was inevitable that radio amateurs would take up the challenge and many started experimenting with the idea. It was in 1953 when the first amateur radio EME communication was established in the US using a frequency of 144 MHz.<\/p>\n
The first Africa EME two way contact was made on 28 April 1974 between Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at the time) and the USA.<\/p>\n
The late Peter Carey known as ZE5JJ, an electrical engineer by profession, was fascinated by the prospect of bouncing signals off the moon and in 1966 he set out to build his own equipment, a road he later said no one should ever take.<\/p>\n
It took him eight years of frustration to hear his own echoes. In January 1984 he moved to Centurion, Gauteng and obtained the callsign ZS6JT where he carried on with his EME experimentation.<\/p>\n
The EME world had great expectations of the South African expedition to Lesotho, and the team under the leadership of Jan Pienaar ZS6OB did not disappoint. During the two weeks in Lesotho they made 320 different contacts using the 50, 144, 432 and 1296 MHz bands. The majority of the contacts were on 144 MHz. Some meteor and Tropo scatter contacts were also made with South African radio amateurs.<\/p>\n
Sponsored by Multisource, the new ICOM IC-9100 with its great frequency stability and excellent sensitivity added to the success of the record number of contacts made on 144 MHz.<\/p>\n
“I have decoded signals off the moon that were not even visible on the PC screen using the WSJT program for very weak signal communication,” Pienaar said “A large amount of planning, accumulation of equipment and antenna development and cost went into the project. We set up at the Ramabanta Trading Post and lodge situated 60 km south of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. As no AC power was available, we used a 10 kVA Honda generator,” said Pienaar.<\/p>\n
“It turned out that to supply fuel for the generator was another logistical nightmare, not knowing at that time that the generator would be consuming 500 litres of fuel during the 14 days of our operation. Luckily the friendly people of Ramabanta Lodge agreed to provide fuel, transporting it in 20 litre containers in a 4 x 4 vehicle from Roma, the closest little town, a trip that took \u00b1 3 hours because of the mountain pass and dirt road.”<\/p>\n
The team consisted of Pienaar as organiser and team leader, supported by Dick Coats ZS6BUN, Wynand van Wyk ZS6ARF, Pieter Human ZS6PA, Lynette Human ZR6LHT, and Hermann DL2NUD.<\/p>\n
They were assisted by Erika Pienaar and Lana Coats who took care of the catering arrangements. Lynette was also the first young female radio amateur to take part in an EME expedition and is the first female operator to establish EME radio contacts on three different amateur bands from Africa and possibly also the first in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n