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.

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.

12th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is Saturday, 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.

2021 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Winners Announced

Point-to-point study of K1HC’s QSOs during the 2021 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge

This year’s overall winner of the Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is: 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.

The continuing pandemic meant that served agencies, such as the National Weather Service, County EMAs, and Red Cross facilities were closed to the public, so we didn’t have any activations from those places like in years past. There was also a continuation of the trend from the previous year, which saw more participants operate from their own homes.

John Horton KC1LSO, and Dakota Dumont KB1YYC, operated as QRP mobiles, while Stefania Watson K1GJY, Tim Watson KB1HNZ, Eric Emery N1RXR, and Jason Andrews W1SFS operated in the Medium Mobile category. Dakota, John, and Eric were heard mostly in the towns around Portland and west (Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland, Westbrook, Windham, etc.), while Jason travelled south from the Scarborough area. Tim and Stefania covered the most ground, ranging from Camp Ellis to Waldoboro.

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 separated by only 1 QSOs in Medium Mobile, and Medium Fixed tied a record for the number of entries. K1HC and WD1F led the pack, but K1JJS and KB1FGF were separated by just 10 QSOs and even on multipliers.

Some stations that appeared in many logs, include W1DYJ, KC1MSQ, N1TTT, KA1KJR, KC1HJN, and WZ1J.

The Merrymeeting Amateur Radio Association (MARA) captured the club competition for the first time, earning 7,782 points from 4 logs. Congratulations on a job well done!

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

The next Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, April 2, 2022.

Self-Quarantine Simplex Drill 06/11/20

Don’t get bored. Get on the air! Join us this Thursday evening from 7PM – 8PM, on 146.580, for the “Self-Quarantine Simplex Drill.”

This will be a basic net to test coverage on 2 meter FM Simplex, and to exchange traffic using the ARRL Radiogram format. The topic can be anything you choose.

I won’t be on the air this week because I’ll be spending the next 4 evenings at work, moving network equipment into our new building, so if anyone can pick up Net Control duties, that would be great!

The drill begins at 7PM Thursday evening on 146.580 FM Simplex.

Next week will be the Meeting On The Air, on the 147.090 repeater. We’ll be talking Field Day details, and more, including the possibility of restarting in-person meetings in July.

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ

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.

Self-Quarantine Simplex Drill – Net Report

Self Quarantine Simplex Drill – Net Report

Thanks to everyone who checked in and participated! We had a great turnout and handled 13 messages altogether. Besides giving us an opportunity to practice our traffic handling skills, the exercise helps us to determine who can hear each other, and which ops could serve as key stations during an actual emergency net on simplex.

Congrats to Ben KC1HBL, who contacted 7 stations directly and handled 7 pieces of traffic! Ben is our winner! Our honorable mentions go out to Dan K1DQ, who also contacted 7 stations directly, as well as Charlie W1CPS, Waylon KC1HJN, and Eric KC1HJK, who handled traffic or acted as relays. Great job, everyone! See the net report below:

The net started on time, at 7:00 PM. Net Control: KB1HNZ Tim, in Saco.
We had 14 check-ins:

W1CPS Charlie, in Westbrook (2254 UTC)
Contacted 3 stations: KC1HBM, KC1HJN, & KC1HBL. Traffic handled: 2

KC1HBL Ben, in Buxton (2302 UTC)
Contacted 7 stations: W1CPS, KC1HBM, KC1HJN, KC1HJK, KC1DFO, KC1JMH, & KC1MSR. Traffic handled: 7

KC1HJN Waylon, in Windham (2303 UTC)
Contacted 4 stations: KC1HJK, W1CPS, KC1HBL, & K1DQ, and could hear: KC1HBM. Traffic handled: 3

KC1JMH Brad, in North Waterboro (2303 UTC)
Contacted 2 stations: KC1HBL & K1DQ. Traffic handled: 1

KC1HBM Peter, in Scarborough (2305 UTC)
Contacted 6 stations: KB1HNZ, K1MGR, KC1MSR, W1CPS, K1DQ & KC1HBL

KC1FRZ Dave, in South Portland (2310 UTC)

KC1HJK Eric, in New Gloucester (2320 UTC)
Contacted 3 stations: K1DQ, KC1HBL, & KC1HJN, and could hear: K1UC, WZ1J & KC1HBM. Traffic handled: 1

K1MGR Greg, in South Portland /mobile (2322 UTC)
Contacted 2 stations: KC1HBM, & KB1HNZ, and could hear: K1DQ, W1CPS, and KC1HBL.

KC1DFO Pete, in Dayton (2335 UTC)

KB1HUU David, in Lyman (2336 UTC)

KC1MSR Nick, in Gorham (2338 UTC)
Contacted 3 stations: W1CPS, KC1HBL, & KB1HNZ.

K1DQ Dan, in Shapleigh (2339 UTC)
Contacted 7 stations: W1CPS, KC1HJN, KC1JMH, KC1HJK, KB1HNZ, KC1HBL & KC1MSR

K1UC Mike, in Portland (2344 UTC)
Contacted5 stations: KB1HNZ, K1DQ, KC1HBL, W1CPS & KC1HBM

WZ1J Steve, in Brunswick (2345 UTC)

 

73′

Tim  KB1HNZ