EME Progress - First Six Months

Here's a quick report as to how my small EME station is doing so far.  I started in October of 2012, and over the first six months of EME attempts I've been able to make 76 two-way contacts so far.  The contacts have included 58 "initials" (stations I haven't worked before), representing 19 countries, 13 US states, and 55 unique grid squares.

All contacts have been on 2 meters (144.110 to 144.160 is the EME sub-band), and using the JT65B digital protocol.  Software and hardware details are in the postings below, but mostly I use MAP65 for the contacts now.

With the small 2 x 2M7 antennas, I seem to be able to work stations as small as 4-yagi stations, although I've made contacts with two 2-yagi stations and one 1-yagi station.  Signal reports received at my end range from -16dB for the huge stations to -28dB for the smaller ones, but typically contacts are made at around the -22 to -25dB range.  Signal reports for my station coming back from the DX station's side ranged from -19 to -27dB, typically in the -23 to -25 dB range.

Most contacts have been made during the two weeks of the month when the moon is at elevations.  This seems to be primarily for two reasons:  1) there are more stations on when the moon is at higher elevations, and 2) my station sensitivity is much improved when the moon is above 40 degrees in elevation (due to local noise at the horizon).  QSO rate has ranged from zero over two weeks to several per hour during optimal conditions.

Here's the list of stations worked so far:

10/11/2012 HB9Q JN47 -19dB DX 120az/42el Switzerland
11/8/2012 DG9YIH JO32 -22dB DX 112az/32el Germany
11/8/2012 EA2AGZ IN91 -20dB DX 115az/35el Spain
11/10/2012 KB8RQ EM79 -16dB DX 119az/24el USA - Ohio
11/11/2012 WA3QPX FM29 -22dB DX 123az/21el USA - Maryland
11/11/2012 K1OR FN42 -24dB DX 135az/28el USA - Massachusetts
11/12/2012 W7GJ DN27 -21dB DX 127az/17el USA - Montana
11/26/2012 RK3FG KO86 -21dB DX 89az/23el Russia - Moscow
11/27/2012 UA3PTW KO93 -22dB DX 89az/28el Russia - Moscow
11/27/2012 I3MEK JN55 -22dB DX 104az/45el Italy
11/28/2012 K6MYC DM07 -26dB DX 92az/35el USA - California
12/1/2012 K9MRI EN70 -21dB DX 86az/28el USA - Indiana
12/1/2012 K1JT FN20 -25dB DX 109az/52el USA - New Jersey
12/2/2012 RX1AS KO48 -25dB DX 90az/30el Russia  
12/2/2012 DK3EE JO41 -18dB DX 104az/44el Germany
12/2/2012 DK3BU JO33 -21dB DX 107az/47el Germany
12/2/2012 W6BBS DM06 -23dB DX 268az/28el USA - California
12/16/2012 W7IUV DN07 -21dB DX 186az/39el USA - Washington
12/22/2012 OK1UGA JO80 -26dB DX 97az/31el Czech Republic
12/23/2012 KG7HF FN70 -29dB DX 210az/64el USA - New Hampshire
12/24/2012 S52LM JN65 -27dB DX 91az/29el Slovenia
12/25/2012 NC2V EL98 -25dB DX 88az/29el USA - Florida
12/25/2012 SM5CUI JO89 -25dB DX 91az/33el Sweden
12/31/2012 DK3WG JO72 -22dB DX 104az/36el Germany
12/31/2012 OK1RD JN79 -19dB DX 120az/49el Czech Republic
1/2/2013 PA0JMV JO21 -22dB DX 110az/29el Netherlands
1/2/2013 DK5SO JN58 -24dB DX 113az/31el Germany
1/13/2013 I2FAK JN45 -22dB DX 116az/14el Italy
1/13/2013 K5GW EM13 -20dB DX 173az/41el USA - Texas
1/17/2013 JE1TNL PM95 -25dB DX 241az/38el Japan
1/19/2013 SP4K KO03 -25dB DX 91az/27el Poland
1/19/2013 RU1AA KP40 -24dB DX 96az/33el Russia
1/20/2013 VK2KU QF55 -24dB DX 249az/49el Australia
1/21/2013 N9XG EN60 -22dB DX 161az/69el USA - Indiana
1/28/2013 DH3YAK JO31 -26dB DX 99az/25el Germany
1/28/2013 ES6RQ KO28 -20dB DX 102az/29el Estonia
1/28/2013 SP4MPB KO03 -27dB DX 104az/31el Spain
1/28/2013 SM7GVF JO77 -24dB DX 112az/39el Sweden
2/16/2013 G4SWX JO02 -23dB DX 93az/32el United Kingdom
2/16/2013 SM5DIC JO89 -24dB DX 98az/38el Sweden
2/17/2013 UR3EE KN88 -23dB DX 92az/34el Ukraine
2/18/2013 SM5CFS JO99 -23dB DX 77az/16el Sweden
2/20/2013 K5QE EM31 -23dB DX 124az/63el USA - Texas
3/3/2013 NZ5N EL96 -26dB DX 175az/32el USA - Florida
3/3/2013 NR5M EM10 -23dB DX 130az/33el USA - Texas
3/16/2013 AA7A DM43 -22dB DX 91az/31el USA - Arizona
3/16/2013 PA1GYS JO22 -24dB DX 93az/33el Netherlands
3/16/2013 PA2CHR JO32 -20dB DX 94az/34el Netherlands
3/16/2013 F1DUZ IN97 -25dB DX 95az/36el France
3/16/2013 OH7PI KP32 -23dB DX 99az/41el Finland
3/16/2013 R3BM KO85 -23dB DX 101az/43el Russia
3/16/2013 OH4LA KP20 -25dB DX 103az/45el Finland
3/16/2013 EA1YV IN52 -24dB DX 104az/46el Spain
3/16/2013 DD0VF JO61 -26dB DX 117az/56el Germany
3/16/2013 S51ZO JN86 -23dB DX 119az/57el Slovenia
3/16/2013 ON4KHG JO10 -25dB DX 122az/59el Belgium
3/17/2013 K9CT EN50 -26dB DX 88az/29el USA - Illinois
3/19/2013 JH8CMZ QN12 -23dB DX 198az/71el Japan

So far, I'm pretty happy with the performance of the system!  Thanks much to the W6YX team for all the tips in getting me started.