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.

Wireless Society to Return to Wassamki Springs for Ham Radio Field Day

Members of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine are set to participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise June 26-27 at Wassamki Springs Campground, 56 Saco Street, Scarborough.

The public is encouraged to attend on Saturday, June 26, from 2p.m. to 8 p.m.

“After the pandemic limited us to a much smaller operation last year, with very little public participation, it will be great to have a more traditional Field Day,” said WSSM President, Tim Watson, of Saco. “Field Day is part emergency communications exercise, and part competition, where we accumulate points and test our operating skills against other clubs and individuals around the U.S. and Canada.”

During the event, participants try to earn points by meeting specific goals as outlined by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Some of these include handling and delivering messages, hosting educational activities, and making contacts with other amateurs through various methods, such as voice, telegraphy, satellites, and digital technology.

“This is a fun event that gives us an opportunity to share our passion with the community and to improve our operating skills, all while getting everyone out there and on the air,” says Watson.

Field Day, which has taken place annually since 1933, is designed to test radio operators’ ability to quickly setup and operate portable stations in emergency conditions.

“The entire operation will exclusively use emergency power sources like batteries, or solar energy, in order to simulate how things would be during a catastrophic event,” Watson explained. “The public should be aware that in the event of an emergency, we’re ready to assist in any way that we can. While people may have the impression that cell phones and other technologies are good enough, we stand by as a trained pool of experienced radio operators to provide the vital communication services others may not. Hams have provided emergency communications during hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, blackouts, and other disasters, where more complex and fragile communications systems, such as cell networks, have failed or become overloaded.”

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine’s Emergency Communications Team provides communications support to the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency and members also support the National Weather Service’s SKYWARN operations in Gray, ME.

“Since 2014, the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, using call sign WS1SM, has recorded the highest club Field Day score in Maine and hopes to finish on top again in 2021,” says Watson. “The public is welcome to attend the event and if anyone is interested in learning more about amateur radio, we’ll be glad to help.”

Anyone can become a licensed amateur radio operator. There are more than 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 5 and as old as 100. The Wireless Society of Southern Maine is ready to help anyone get involved and licensed right here in Scarborough. For more information about Field Day, and amateur radio in general, please visit: http://www.mainehamradio.com

“We’d like to thank the Hillock family, owners of Wassamki Springs Campground, for being such great hosts and providing us with an exceptional facility to setup for Field Day at for meetings throughout the summer.” Please visit: https://wassamkisprings.com/ to find out more about this wonderful campground, located in Scarborough, ME.

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!

WSSM-ECT Training Net 03/25/2021 Net Report

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the WSSM-ECT Training Net! We had 7 check-ins, a few of which only participated via Packet. The net started on time, at 7:00PM. Tim KB1HNZ served as moderator.

Among the items discussed were the Maine Packet Network and Packet Radio in general. Even while the repeater portion of the net was taking place, we had an active chat session going on Packet, and several had already sent their first messages via BBS and Winlink. Thanks to Brad KC1JMH for helping participants out with problem solving (including myself), and answering questions.

Net Participants:

• KC1JMH Brad, Waterboro, ME (Phone, CHAT, BBS, Winlink)
• KC1HBL Ben, Buxton, ME (Phone)
• KB1FGF Dave, Scarborough, ME (Phone)
• KC1HBM Peter, Scarborough, ME (Winlink)
• N1XP Roger, Waterboro, ME (BBS, Winlink)
• KC1ETT Jimmy, Wells, ME (CHAT, BBS, Winlink)
• KB1TCE Steve, Owls Head, ME (BBS, Winlink)
• KB1HNZ Tim, Saco, ME – Net Control (Phone, CHAT, BBS, Winlink)

At one point, some time after 8:00, the W1YCA node, in Alfred, started acting up. Myself and a few others were able to maintain a good connection to it for almost an hour prior. Brad KC1JMH was able to telnet in and restart it, but it still didn’t seem right after that. This morning, however, I connected right up to the BBS, CHAT, and via Winlink, and everything seemed okay.

Nevertheless, we had a fun CHAT session going and Brad, who was multitasking, helping Peter KC1HBM get connected, also helped me troubleshoot why my call sign wasn’t displaying correctly. As it turns out, I just needed to treat my Kenwood D710 like a hardware TNC and enter “MY KB1HNZ” prior to connecting to a node, and that solved the problem.

This was a fun training and we’ll keep working over the next few months to get some more hams active on Packet.

73′

Tim

KB1HNZ

The Radiogram – Winter/Spring 2021

Featuring a review of the Maine Virtual Hamfest, a closer look at the Maine Packet Network, 2020 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge results, and more!

Click here to read the newsletter.

WSSM-ECT Training Net Tonight at 7:00 PM!

Please join us this evening, March 25th, at 7:00 PM on the W1QUI 147.090 (+ / 100) repeater, for our monthly On-Air Drill!

Last month we talked about the ARRL Radiogram and ICS-213 message forms and we practiced sending those over the air. We had lots of positive feedback about that and we will continue to practice message handling in the coming weeks.

Tonight, we’re going to build on a discussion that we started a couple of weeks ago during our monthly business meeting, and that’s Packet Radio and the Maine Packet Network. Brad KC1JMH gave a nice presentation on the topic, and he introduced a very informative website: www.mainepacketradio.org – Click this link if you’d like to follow along during the net.

For tonight’s on-air training, we’re asking that anyone who is equipped for Packet Radio to connect to your nearest node, check your messages, and send a message to either myself or Brad KC1JMH. If you have Winlink Express installed, you can connect via that same node (if it includes that feature), and send a message that way as well.

Catch you on the air!

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ

The 2021 Maine Virtual Hamfest

Thanks to the efforts of Joe Grace W1SK and Cory Golob KU1U, who put in countless hours to make it a reality, hams around the state, and elsewhere, gathered for the Maine Virtual Hamfest, on Saturday, March 6th! With in-person events still being cancelled due to the pandemic, this was the perfect opportunity to get caught up on all things ham radio in Maine.

The Maine Virtual Hamfest offered many of the same features you’d expect to see at a regular hamfest, including presentations, club meetings and talks, a place to socialize and make “eyeball QSOs” and even a virtual flea market.

The highlight of the event were the presentations, and the most anticipated of those was “Optimizing Your Audio,” by Bob Heil K9EID. There were also presentations on FT8, antennas, SKYWARN, and an ARRL forum, where attendees could learn about what was going on around the state and at the New England and national level at ARRL.

Bob Heil K9EID presenting “Optimizing Your Audio” during the 2021 Maine Virtual Hamfest

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine was represented by Eric Emery N1RXR and Tim Watson KB1HNZ, who gave a presentation at 9:30 Saturday morning, about the NWS Gray Amateur Radio SKYWARN program. Click here to view the recorded presentation.

“From our perspective, the Maine Virtual Hamfest was a huge success, and we were proud to be a part of it,” said Eric Emery. “Hopefully, we can all meet in person next year, but if not, this is a fantastic model to go by if it needs to be done this way again.”

If you were busy on the 6th and didn’t have a chance to attend any of the presentations, they were all recorded and are available on the Maine ARRL YouTube page.

Click here to visit the Maine Virtual Hamfest website.

A Closer Look at the Maine Packet Network

SCARBOROUGH, ME – During our March 11th monthly meeting, Brad Brown KC1JMH, gave a presentation on the Maine Packet Network and demonstrated how to connect to a node, check and send messages, and some of the terminal commands needed to navigate it. He also showed off a new website he created, which is an excellent source of information for anyone interested in Packet Radio.

Home Page of the Maine Packet Network website

During the presentation, Brad remotely operated his PC at home, which was connected to his FT991 radio and set to the frequency of the W1YCA node, located in Alfred, ME. Brad briefly talked about using software such as the UZ7HO sound modem and AGW Packet Engine to enable your radio to communicate via Packet. Once connected, he showed how to access features such as CHAT, and BBS on the node. He connected to the WS1EC node via W1YCA, and was able to check stored messages, and demonstrated how to send a reply.

Connecting to the WS1EC-4 Packet Node

Brad made it look easy! He next demonstrated how to use Winlink Express to connect to the Winlink Radio Messaging System (RMS), where he was able to check his inbox, and demonstrated sending a message from there as well. Packet is just one of the modes that can be used to connect to Winlink, and the only mode used on VHF and UHF.

After using the command L to list messages, you can read a specific message by typing R follwed by the message number. In this case, R 299 displays the message.

Sending a reply

The Maine Packet Network is described on the website as a “consortium of individual amateur radio packet nodes and their licensed system operators or sysops,” which are affiliated with county-level Emergency Management Agencies throughout the State of Maine. The stated mission is to interconnect these agencies to facilitate the flow of accurate and concise information between county EMAs, MEMA, hospitals and recognized groups operating in an emergency capacity such as the American Red Cross.

The network is currently comprised of eight nodes, three of which are local-coverage community nodes, and three digipeaters, and this list keeps growing.

“The 2019 statewide Simulated Emergency Test was the first big test of the network, at least in Southern Maine,” Brown explained. “At that point the network was in its infancy and it was overwhelmed pretty quickly with the amount of connections being attempted, but the improvements made over the past year have helped out tremendously, and it continues to get better.”

At this point you’re probably wondering “what’s this for?” Brad explains on the website that, just like amateur radio, packet radio is there when all else fails. “With a radio, a modem, and a computer, a licensed amateur operator can still send emails, text messages, chat, and so forth when the infrastructure that we rely on has become unreliable.”

For more information about the Maine Packet Network and how to get started in Packet Radio, please click here.

Click here to read Brad’s article, on the Maine Packet Radio website, about his presentation for WSSM.

11th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge is Saturday, April 3rd!

Please join us Saturday, April 3rd, from 12PM-4PM for the 11th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge.

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

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!

2020 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Winners Announced

Congratulations to the 2020 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge winners! Bill Richardson NG1P, from Topsham, Maine, who made 67 QSOs, in 26 different towns, for a total of 1,742 points, took the overall win. Bill operated QRP fixed, using a Kenwood TH-D79A and J-Pole during the contest. In the categories, Donnie Dauphin WD1F, won the Medium Fixed class. Charlie Shepard W1CPS, won QRP Mobile over Cindy Shepard W1CJS by just 2 QSOs, and Tim Watson KB1HNZ won the Medium Mobile Category, by just 2 QSOs over Stefania Watson K1GJY.

Please click here for a complete run down of the 2020 results.

Here’s a point-to-point study of NG1P’s contacts from the 2020 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge

The 2020 2 Meter FM Challenge is coming up soon, on Saturday, April 3rd.

Click here for more information and complete rules.