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.

WSSM-ECT Training Net – Thursday, March 24th, at 7:00 PM

Please join us this evening at 7:00 PM on the W1QUI 147.090 (+ / 100) repeater, for our monthly On-Air Drill!

This will be an on-air and in person hybrid meeting, with a limit of 5 people allowed at the CCEMA Bunker, which is located at 22 High Street, Windham, ME. For those who join us at the bunker, we’ll be doing a work detail to install an HRI-200 on the new repeater, to give it Wires-X capability.

Because of the work detail, we won’t be doing a formal on-air training following the net on the repeater, but we encourage participants to get on 146.580 FM Simplex to test out your stations.

As a reminder, the Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place this Saturday, from 12pm-4pm. The Simplex Challenge is a fun contest that is not only competitive, but also teaches us a lot about about the FM Simplex coverage throughout the state. I hope everyone has the opportunity to participate this year! For more information, including complete rules, please click here.

Catch you on the air!

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ

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.

Meeting Reminder – This Evening from 7PM-9PM

Please join us this evening from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, at 200 U.S. Route 1, Suite 210, Scarborough, ME, for our monthly business meeting. Per the Governor’s recent executive order, please wear face coverings at all times, if you plan on attending.

On the agenda, we’ll be reviewing the 2021 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge, which took place last Saturday, talk about the new Maine Dirigo Net that is scheduled to begin on the Maine Statewide DMR Talkgroup this Sunday, and also vote on membership outreach and recruitment items for 2021.

If you’d like to join us remotely, here’s the dial-in instructions:

Dial-in number (US): (425) 436-6366
Access code: 2618168#
International dial-in numbers: https://fccdl.in/i/kb1hnz
Online meeting ID: kb1hnz
Join the online meeting: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/kb1hnz

For additional assistance connecting to the meeting, text ‘Call Me’ to the Dial-in number above and you will be called into the conference. Message and data rates may apply.

See you there!

73′

Tim, KB1HNZ

The Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is this Saturday!

The Maine 2 meter FM Simplex Challenge is this Saturday!

Contest Period: Saturday, April 3rd, 2021 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.

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

Entry Categories – There are two entry categories: Fixed and Mobile. You may enter only one category for the contest. If a station gives out more than one multiplier during the contest, that station will automatically be entered into the mobile category.

Click here for complete rules – and don’t forget there’s a club competition as well!

Catch you on the air!