NX7U

Scott Townley
Bridgewater, NJ

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EME is a BIG thing to try and bite off.  Nibbles are definitely better.

The end-state Big Plan is illustrated at the bottom of this page.  But first it seemed prudent to go the baby step route:
1. Put up single yagi H-pol and evaluate local noise (because I've seen/heard from several hams that "they have too much noise for EME").  Bare bones:  Armstrong rotator, no elevation.  Give meteor scatter a go.
2. If successful, move to al/el rotation and continue to evaluate the noise situation.
3. If successful, go to a single H/V yagi.  Work out all the kinks that come with MAP65. 
4. If successful and there is apparent value, upgrade to 2 horizontally spaced H/V yagis.
5. If successful and there is apparent value, upgrade to 2x2 H/V yagis.  This would be the ideal end-state, matching the recommended configuration in the 2012 ARRL Handbook section on EME.

Step 1 is not a small step.  I need an antenna, support, transverter, LNA, relay, and amplifier.  The most efficient route is to aim all equipment at the ideal end-state.  I had the H-pol yagi on hand, which doesn't meet the 'most efficient route' criteria, so eventually it may become a spare or disposed of.

The Step 1 list of materials:
Antenna:  InnovAntennas 11 element H-pol.  I originally got this intending to use it for meteor scatter.
Support:  Temporary military aluminum mast.  Strong enough to go to 25' or so.
Transverter:  HA1YA's ME2-XP, which is split-RF/split-IF and has two coherent RX paths.  The coherent RX pats are required for MAP65.
LNA:  DEMI NBLNA
Amplifier:  Not really a lot of solid-state options in 2024.  A Beko amp is a house payment (at least it is here in NJ).  When I first contemplated 2m I targeted an OM-2002+ but when I was ready to pull the trigger they were discontinued (of course!).  The Gemini line seemed quite reasonable and popular (and half the price) so I went with the Gemini-2 1.2k version.  Life is too short for QRP...