Max Power wrote:

Has anyone attempted to 'moonbounce' or EME ATSC UHF band TV signals, in the
UHF band allocation?
It might make a nice publicity stunt for the TV station involved.

What such a test could accomplish:
1. Find out if ASTC error correction can survive EME, enough that is to get
a station ID.
2. Find out what 'emergency utility' such a communication system might
possess.
3. As a propagation experiment.
4. As a test of a radio astronomy network.

A similar test of DVB-T would also be welcome.

 
   You might be able to do this, but first you'd have to get some time
on the biggest dishes you could, then be mindful of the fact that VHF
and UHF broadcast stations phase their antenne elements in such a way as
to put as much energy in he horizontal plane as possible (that's where
the *intended* audience is, after all). So at any given moment, most RF
energy from those stations is coming from those where the Moon happens
to be near their horizon. (or, as viewed from the Moon, those stations
on Earth's limb at the moment.

   So, while the Moon is high in the reciever's sky, you'd have to
determine where in the world the Moon happens to be rising or setting at
the moment. If you're in North America, the best signals are likely to
be from countries not using NTSC, so be ready to process PAL and SECAM
signals. And the stations in the best position would be constantly
changing.

   Then, there's the chance that some of those stations will be on the
same channel allocation. Much too far apart to interfere with each
other, but you, in principle, would get all of them.

   You might want to check a story on DXing Earth communications from
the Moon, in the April 1977 Popular Electronics. If you're recieving
*on* the Moon, you have these same problems, but the signal levels could
be quite good...

   I also remember reading somewhere that the US army had done some work
with relaying teletype signals using the Moon as a passive reflector.
And Amateur Radio operators do EME all the time (usually in Morse code,
but sometimes conditions are good enough for single sideband voice).

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