2023 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Winners Announced

2023 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Point-to-Point study.
The purple lines show contacts by Stephen Jordan KD1OM during the 2023 FM Simplex Challenge.

Congratulations to Stephen Jordan, KD1OM, of Bangor, who made 89 QSOs, in 49 different towns, for being this year’s overall winner! Stephen operated as Fixed Medium, using a Motorola Spectra and a 5/8 wave ground plane antenna.

The 2023 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge took place Saturday, March 11th, from 12 PM to 4 PM. This year, we were happy to receive a lot of logs from the Bangor area, so its great to see the contest is continuing to grow in popularity and attract new participants from all around the state.

John Horton KC1LSO, and Dakota Dumont KB1YYC, operated as QRP mobiles, while Wesley Linscott WA1IOG, Rebecca Rowe W1LIC, Peter Bither AI1O, and Frederick Nickerson K1CMN, operated in the Medium Mobile category. Dakota and John were heard mostly in the towns around Portland and west (Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland, Westbrook, Windham, etc.), while Wesley, Peter, and Rebecca traveled around the Bangor area, ranging from Corinth to Holden and as far North as Alton.

Similar to years past, the most popular and most competitive categories were the medium-powered classes, followed by QRP, with QRP mobile being a tie for first place between Dakota Dumont KB1YYC and John Horton KC1LSO.

Some stations that appeared in many logs, include KU1U, W1XAW, K1UC, K1GUQ, W1JFF, K1GUP, KC1AMQ, KB1ZLV, and WZ1J, but of those only KC1AMQ and KB1ZLV submitted logs.

The Pine State Amateur Radio club won this year’s Club Competition.

Click here for complete details, and to see all the category winners.

Mark your calendars! The next Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 16, 2024.

Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is Saturday, March 11th

The 13th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 11th, from 12PM – 4PM!

Contacts are limited to FM Simplex on the 2 meter band.

Participants may be entered as either fixed or mobile, (but not as both).

Exchange – Exchange items include your call sign, the name of the city, village, town, or township you are operating from, and your power level. Rovers and mobiles must be within the city limits of whatever city they claim to be operating from. If you are operating from a served agency station, you should also include this with your exchange. Specify which agency you serve, for example, “SKYWARN,” “EOC,” or “Red Cross.” On the log sheets, however, there will only be a place to notate whether or not the station is operating from a served agency.

City or Town – This is simply the name of the city or town you are operating from. If you do not live within the city limits, use the name of the town or municipality to which mail or a package would be addressed. For mobile entries, use the name of the city or town you are in, or the closest city or town.

Power levels are defined as follows:
• QRP – 5 watts or less
• Medium Power – greater than 5 watts, but less than 100
• High Power – 100 watts or more

Enter as either Fixed (either at home or portable) or Mobile (roving).

Click here for complete rules and details, including Entry Forms and Log Sheets, for the 2023 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge.

2022 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Winners Announced

Point to point study of K1GJY’s QSOs during the 2022 MEQP

For the second time in Simplex Challenge history, we had a tie for the overall win. Stefania Watson K1GJY and Tim Watson KB1HNZ, who operated as Mobile Medium, each made 164 QSOs, in 17 different towns, for a total of 2,788 points. Congratulations on a job well done!

Although most pandemic-related restrictions had been lifted by late March, served agencies, such as the National Weather Service, County EMAs, and Red Cross facilities were still closed to the public, which prevented activations from those facilities.

John Horton KC1LSO, and Dakota Dumont KB1YYC, operated as QRP mobiles, while Stefania Watson K1GJY and Tim Watson KB1HNZ, operated in the Medium Mobile category. Dakota and John were heard mostly in the towns around Portland and west (Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland, Westbrook, Windham, etc.), while Tim and Stefania covered the most ground, ranging from Camp Ellis to Waldoboro, and west along Rt. 196 to Androscoggin County.

Similar to years past, the most popular categories were the medium-powered classes, and they were also the most competitive, with K1GJY and KB1HNZ being even on QSOs and multipliers in Medium Mobile, and Medium Fixed continued to show a strong number of entries. K1HC and WD1F led the pack, but K1JJS and AC1FB were close behind.

Some stations that appeared in many logs, include KC1HBL, KC1MPV, K1CYJ, and WZ1J, but of those only KC1MPV and K1CYJ submitted logs.

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine captured the club competition, earning 7,533 points from 8 logs. Congratulations on a job well done!

Click here for complete details, and to see all the category winners.

Mark your calendars! The next Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 25, 2023.

The Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is this Saturday!

The 12th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 26th, from 12PM – 4PM!

Contacts are limited to FM Simplex on the 2 meter band.

Participants may be entered as either fixed or mobile, (but not as both).

Exchange – Exchange items include your call sign, the name of the city, village, town, or township you are operating from, and your power level. Rovers and mobiles must be within the city limits of whatever city they claim to be operating from. If you are operating from a served agency station, you should also include this with your exchange. Specify which agency you serve, for example, “SKYWARN,” “EOC,” or “Red Cross.” On the log sheets, however, there will only be a place to notate whether or not the station is operating from a served agency.

City or Town – This is simply the name of the city or town you are operating from. If you do not live within the city limits, use the name of the town or municipality to which mail or a package would be addressed. For mobile entries, use the name of the city or town you are in, or the closest city or town.

Power levels are defined as follows:
• QRP – 5 watts or less
• Medium Power – greater than 5 watts, but less than 100
• High Power – 100 watts or more

Enter as either Fixed (either at home or portable) or Mobile (roving).

Click here for complete rules and details, including Entry Forms and Log Sheets, for the 2022 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge.

12th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is March 26th!

The 12th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 26th, from 12PM – 4PM!

The Maine 2 meter FM Simplex Challenge is a ham radio contest primarily designed to give 2 meter operators a chance to compete on an even basis, and have fun doing it.

Saturday, March 26, 2022, and runs for 4 hours, beginning at 12:00 PM local time.

Contacts are limited to FM Simplex on the 2 meter band.

Participants may be entered as either fixed or mobile, (but not as both).

Exchange – Exchange items include your call sign, the name of the city, village, town, or township you are operating from, and your power level. Rovers and mobiles must be within the city limits of whatever city they claim to be operating from. If you are operating from a served agency station, you should also include this with your exchange. Specify which agency you serve, for example, “SKYWARN,” “EOC,” or “Red Cross.” On the log sheets, however, there will only be a place to notate whether or not the station is operating from a served agency.

City or Town – This is simply the name of the city or town you are operating from. If you do not live within the city limits, use the name of the town or municipality to which mail or a package would be addressed.

For mobile entries, use the name of the city or town you are in, or the closest city or town.

Power levels are defined as follows:
• QRP – 5 watts or less
• Medium Power – greater than 5 watts, but less than 100
• High Power – 100 watts or more

Enter as either Fixed (either at home or portable) or Mobile (roving).

Click here for complete rules and details, including Entry Forms and Log Sheets, for the 2022 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge.

The Overall winner of the 2021 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge was Dick Bean K1HC, from Westwood, Massachusetts, who made a total of 95 QSOs, in 41 different towns, for a total of 3,895 points. Congratulations on a job well done! K1HC operated as Fixed Medium from his vacation home in Haprswell, Maine, using an Icom IC-9700 into a Diamond X50 at 295′ above sea level, during the contest. Click here to see all the 2021 category winners.

Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Today from 12PM – 4PM

It’s almost that time! The Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge kicks off today at noon!

For complete rules and more details, click here.

The Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is Saturday, March 28th

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT

Saturday, March 28th, from 12PM – 4PM

The 2020 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 28th, for 4 hours, beginning at 12pm local time!

Getting started is easy!

Choose a power level from: QRP (5 watts or less), Medium (Greater than 5, but less than 100 watts), or High (100 watts or more), and decide whether to operate as Fixed or Mobile.

The Exchange is 3 items: your call sign, the name of the city, village, town, or township you are operating from, and your power level.

For example, if your call sign is W1ZZ, and you’re operating from your home station in Gorham, and running 50 watts, you’d say: “Please copy, Whiskey One Zulu Zulu, Gorham, Medium Power”.

Suggested frequencies: 146.475, 146.490, 146.505, 146.550, 146.565, 146.580, 147.420, 147.435, 147.450, 147.465, 147.480, 147.495, 147.510, 147.525, 147.540, 147.555, 147.570.

Contacts with an EOC, SKYWARN, Red Cross, or other served agency station are worth 2 points each! Check out the official rules for more details.

Now, get on the air, and have fun!

Click here for complete rules and details.