[K4RY] Fwd: Moonbounce for everyone

[WB4LNM at aol.com]

Sent: 4/9/2010 1:50:00 A.M. Mountain Standard Time
Subj:  Moonbounce for everyone




Moonbounce for Everyone -- Courtesy of the Arecibo Radio  Telescope!

If you've never thought about doing moonbounce (EME) before,  now's  
your chance! Join Joe Taylor, K1JT, and a team from KP4AO, the  Arecibo  
Observatory Radio Club, as they bounce massive signals off  the moon  
from Arecibo Observatory -- the world's largest radio  telescope --in  
Puerto Rico later this month. [Photo courtesy of the  NAIC-Arecibo  
Observatory, a facility of the National Science  Foundation]
Sending Amateur Radio signals to the Moon and back has never  been  
easy. After roundtrip journeys of nearly half a million miles,  even  
the most powerful signals generated by hams are exquisitely  weak on  
arrival. Because of the equipment and expertise necessary  for  
successful "moonbounce" operating, this facet of Amateur Radio  has  
been traditionally confined to a small audience.But for three  days in  
April even hams with very modest stations will have the  opportunity to  
experience the thrill of moonbounce, thanks to the  giant radio  
telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto  Rico.

Joe Taylor, K1JT -- along with the Arecibo Observatory Radio  Club,  
KP4AO -- will be on the air running 400 W to the telescope's  1000 foot  
antenna. Their scheduled times of operation are 1645-1930  on April 16,  
1740-2020 on April 17 and 1840-2125 on April 18 (all  times UTC). They  
will be using the call sign KP4AO and operating  SSB, CW and the JT65B  
digital mode developed by Taylor. They will be  transmitting at 432.045  
MHz and listening for stations between  432.050 and 432.060 MHz.

Taylor says that it should be possible to hear  the Arecibo moonbounce  
transmissions with little more than a  handheld 5-element Yagi antenna  
and a radio with 70 cm SSB receive  capability -- all the listener has  
to do is aim at the Moon! With a  longer 15 dBi antenna and 100 W  
output, Taylor said he believes it  will be possible for many hams to  
work KP4AO on CW.

Each  session will start with a brief announcement and a CQ in SSB. SSB   
QSOs may continue for 30 minutes to an hour if the QSO rate remains   
high; the operators will then shift to CW. JT65B operations will   
probably occur on April 18.

The KP4AO crew is anticipating  DXpedition-style pileups and will  
operate accordingly. To give all  amateurs a fair chance at this rare  
opportunity, they are asking  everyone to limit themselves to a single  
contact, regardless of  mode. In other words, don't attempt to work  
KP4AO on every mode.  Taylor also stated, "If we call "CQ QRP," we will  
listen for  stations running 100 W or less to a single Yagi antenna.  
Please  don't answer a QRP CQ if you are running more power or have a  
larger  antenna."

Calling it "extremely fortunate" to have access to Arecibo --  the  
world's largest radio telescope -- for this Amateur Radio  good-will  
event, Taylor said that they look forward to working as  many stations  
as possible in the allotted time.

If you make  contact, send your QSL -- along with a self-addressed,  
stamped  envelope -- to the KP4AO QSL manager: Joseph Arcure, W3HNK,  
115 Buck  Run Rd, Lincoln University, PA 19352.


 
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