"Doug Smith W9WI" <w9wi@invalid.invalid> wrote in message 
news:434A7C8C.2010702@invalid.invalid...

Dave wrote:

 From what I know about EME, amateurs use reasonably high powers, of the 
order of 100's of Watts, with many using several thousand (not officially 
so, but in practice they do).

While I won't say amateur EME operators never exceed FCC limits, I don't 
see it being a common practice.

You may see *effective radiated powers* quoted which well exceed the 1500 
watt amateur power limit.  These figures take the directional 
characteristics of the antenna into account - its action in concentrating 
the available power along the horizon and in the direction of the 
receiving station.  (or reflector -- moon -- in the case of EME work) 
Unlike the broadcast services, in the amateur service only the transmitter 
output power is regulated.  As long as you limit your transmitter output 
to 1500 watts, you can use as much effective radiated power as your 
antenna can develop.  (consistent with safety)

Which is probably more than you wanted to know<grin>.

This implies a power 6-7 orders of magnitude higher than what

amateurs > use, which puts it into the GW power levels. It is not obvious 
how

those sorts of powers will be readily achieved.

VERY big antennas<grin>
-- 
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN  EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

It would be 'easier' (relative term!) if you went up higher in frequency so 
that (relatively) small dishes could be used.

Cheers.

Ken