Almost nobody does SSB moonbounce. It's possible but takes a B-I-G station, or possibly a normal station with an enormous station at the other end of the contact.
It's almost all JT65B (and other WSJT digital modes) and CW.
I used CW exclusively for e.m.e. from the 70s through the early 90s, as that's what everyone used. Now with WSJT there are other, more effective options.
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
The word is that JT65 is doing well on moon bounce. That mode was developed just for such types of operation. CW is a mainstay and the speed isn't all that fast so if your code isn't very good it really isn't a problem. There are occasions when SSB makes it but if you have a modest setup then you are limited to the narrow band modes. As mentioned, if the other station has a bang up setup then things are easier.
The frequencies used for moon bounce can vary. There are more and more stations that just show up instead of making a schedule. At those times station tend to start spreading out across the the band. Keep in mind that if you are going to resort to JT65 operation you have to be above 144.1Mhz. The part from 144-144.1Mhz is CW only.
Good luck and have fun.
73
Gary
Last year my club had a couple experienced EME'ers give a talk. As I recall they suggested a rule of thumb of "10/1000". You need at least one 10 element long-beam and 1000W of power to even start to be capable of getting a signal there and back. The signal losses are huge.
Yes the losses are hugh but it wasn't long ago that just a 10 element beam with a KW would not work. There have been advances and it's still rather interesting that at amateur power levels communications are possible. This is one field I wanted to get into but could never muster the resources to do it. It's was quite a task in those years long ago. Now the equipment to do EME is available from dealers.
Times have changed.
73
Gary
Lower power and reasonable antennas will allow e.m.e. contacts with the "superstations" because their end has so much gain they can do the heavy lifting.
I demo'd working W5UN off the moon using 50W and a 12L yagi on a 10' mast leaning against a tree for our local club, and that was CW not JT65, so everyone could hear the signal. But the number of stations like that is a small number, maybe 30-50 in the world. Still, it's a heck of a demo if you want to impress a club.
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
The club members were so impressed with that demonstration they immediately went out and bought a 12L beam and a rig and then swamped those 30-50 stations with requests for contact. Oh well, there's only so much time that you can do E.M.E. and the big gun stations probably have enough 6 land contacts as it is. Still it's got to be a kick in the pants to complete a contact.
I just worked Spain two days in a row on 40 meters. Not sure what the first contact was using but the second contact told me he was running a FT-1000D into a four element beam. Bummer, he was doing all the work. It still counts thiough.
73
Gary
2m Moon bounce
