Background
The EVE project is intended to implement the first ever two-way amateur radio communications link by bouncing signals off Venus. The ultimate technical goal is to exchange messages with other stations via an Earth–Venus–Earth (EVE) path.
Introduction
This project will demonstrate that amateur radio can achieve new and difficult communications goals and will serve as a platform for development of new technologies when needed, and will provide an environment for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels of study.
The EVE project will be open source, both in hardware and software design. It will be open to all who wish to contribute or learn from the activities. It is hoped that the project will also include international partners to foster inclusion of a broad range of ideas and cultures.
The core contributors are current active members of DSES that are already working in teams, each with specialized proven capabilities. These include the EVE hardware design team that is responsible for the RF designs, the “System 1” team that is responsible for antenna steering and tracking hardware and software, and the Building and Grounds team that is responsible for the construction of our new building and other facilities to provide the best possible environment for our developers and students. Other teams include the community outreach team, the engineering team, the Science team that primarily is involved with detections of pulsars and 21cm Galactic hydrogen and the amateur radio team that provides access to an HF/VHF ham radio station that can be accessed both locally and from remote locations. This team also provides an Earth-Moon-Earth station that is available to licensed radio amateur on site under supervision.
We are always looking for more talent to provide more depth and breadth to our capabilities. Some of these people will come from our partner groups and some from community outreach.
This is a multiphase project. Phase 1, completed in 2025 was a feasibility, proof‑of‑concept that will utilize technology and resources to attempt the communications link. Later phases will build on what is learned in this phase.
Goals
The obvious goal of this project is to establish the first ever amateur radio communications by bouncing the communications signals off the planet Venus. This is a very technically challenging goal but it is not the only goal for the EVE project. Additionally, our goals include:
- Support and growth of amateur radio,
- Education, and
- Research and Development.
As part of the DSES charter, we will be using this EVE project to work with the high school in rural Eads Colorado as well as all other local high schools and colleges to foster a science experiment. High school and college students will be asked, with permission from the science teachers and professors, to write papers which include subjects such as understanding of planetary movement in our solar system, the physics of radio waves traveling through space, digital communications, computer science and engineering. The EVE project will serve to catch the imagination of the students and hopefully encourage careers in space science.
The local communities in SE Colorado support DSES and our outreach efforts. A recent open house in September 2025 had many attendees from the local area as well as visitors from as far away as Illinois and Arizona. The open house was publicized on multiple radio stations and in the Kiowa county newspaper.
Objectives
Why: DSES proposes this project to make good use of our assets to do something that has never been done before in support of the amateur radio and broader educational communities. All technical aspects of the EVE project are to be open source and will be published in a way to maximize the distribution of the information to the interested communities.
What: DSES will approach this project with optimism and personnel expertise that will maximize the probability of project success and will make our outreach goal a priority.
When: The EVE project, as defined in this proposal, takes place during 2004 and well into 2005.
Where: The primary activities are conducted at the Paul Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center in Haswell Colorado. Design, prototyping and other activities are conducted in other areas of Colorado and Arizona and other places, as appropriate.
Who: The primary stakeholders and participants are DSES members and the project partners. However, other interested parties will be encouraged to participate, as well.
Each of the DSES teams contribute directly to the goals of the EVE project.
- EVE Project Management ensures that the project activities of all teams are well coordinated and remain focused on the project goals.
- The System 1 Dish Control Team ensures that the 60’ dish acquisition, steering, and tracking meets the needs of the communication link.
- The Hardware Engineering Team designs and implements all hardware components of the EVE project from the 60’ antenna’s feed, the RF components, power and RF transmission lines, and control console and computer resources.
- The Software Engineering Team designs and acquires the needed software components, including antenna control, RF and power control, communications protocols, and other software, as needed.
- The Science Team participates, with engineering, in the selection of communication modes, equipment design requirements, and low-noise operations.
- The Financial Team controls the allocation and distribution of funds to ensure the best use of the available financial resources.
- The Communications and Public Relations Team ensures that interested parties receive regular updates and that design documents are made widely available, as all technical aspects of this project are to be open source. This team is also responsible for directing feedback from people and organizations outside the projects to the appropriate team or teams so that all ideas are available to aid in the achievement of the project goals.
EVE25 (Phase 1)
The first attempt to complete bouncing a signal off Venus was conducted in March 2025. While DSES did not achieve the goal of hearing our echo from Venus the effort was a success in many ways. To learn more see the revised final report for the phase 1 project (EVE25).
EVE26 (Phase 2)
Venus is closest to Earth during inferior conjunction — that’s when Venus lies between Earth and the Sun. The closest possible approach distance is just under about 40 million km (≈ 25 million miles). The next inferior conjunction of Venus is predicted for October 24, 2026. DSES is planning to make another attempt to communicate via Venus in a period beginning shortly before and ending after that date. DSES will use the many lessons learned from Phase 1 to improve the chances of success.
ORI Contributions
Open Research Institute (ORI) developed a sophisticated mathematical model reassessing the EVE link budget. This is available both as a Jupyter Notebooks file and as a PDF file.
Also available from ORI is a diagram depicting EVE Signal Processing using Zadoff-Chu sequence parameters. A Zadoff–Chu (ZC) sequence is a special kind of complex-valued, constant amplitude, zero autocorrelation (CAZAC) sequence widely used in digital communication systems such as LTE, 5G NR, and radar. It’s prized because it maintains ideal correlation properties even after frequency shifts, which makes it excellent for synchronization and channel estimation.
