Maine 2 Meter Fm Simplex Challenge
Congratulations to our 2018 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Winners!

This year's Overall Winner is:

Ara Kemezys, AC1FB, from Old Orchard Beach, Maine, who made a total of 69 QSOs in 23 different towns, for a total of 1,587 points. Congratulations on a job well done!

CATEGORY
Fixed
Mobile
Mobile
POWER LEVEL
Medium
QRP
Medium
CALL SIGN
AC1FB
W1CPS / W1CJS
W1WMG
NAME
Ara Kemezys
Charlie & Cindy Shepard
Thom Watson
QSOs / MULTS
69 / 23
45 / 16
92 / 13
FINAL SCORE
1,587
720
1,196

Since snow storms effected 3 our of the last 5 Simplex Challenges, the contest was moved to the second weekend in April, making travel much safer for mobile operators. Most likely because of the better weather conditions, there were a lot more mobile participants in 2018 than there wer in 2017.

Charlie Shepard W1CPS, Cindy Shepard W1CJS, and Dakota Dumont KB1YYC, operated as QRP mobiles, while Thom Watson W1WMG, Tim Watson KB1HNZ, Stefania Watson K1GJY, and Adam Mains N3AWM, operated in the Medium Mobile category. Dakota was heard mostly in the towns North of Portland (Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland, etc.), while Charlie and Cindy covered a lot of the greater Portland area. Thom, Tim, and Stefania covered the most ground, ranging from Freeport to the Berwicks.

Similar to years past, the most popular categories were the medium-powered classes, and they were also very competitive
, with KB1HNZ and W1WMG being separated by only 3 QSOs. The closest finish came in the QRP mobile category, where Charlie Shepard W1CPS, and his wife, Cindy W1CJS, were in a heated battle for the class title - this time tying with 720 points each.

Four of the strongest signals in Southern Maine, as well as call signs that appeared in many logs, were those of eventual winner Ara Kemezys AC1FB (who operated as KC1HMK during the contest), eventual runner-up, Dave Wood KB1FGF, who operated from Pine Point, Stephen Hanks WZ1J, of Brunswick, and Tim Welch KA1VPU, of Gorham.

Other Medium Class notables:

CATEGORY
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
CALL SIGN
KB1FGF
KB1HNZ
N3AWM
K1GJY
NAME
David Wood
Tim Watson
Adam Mains
Stefania Watson
QSOs / MULTS
60 / 20
89 / 13
45 / 15
40 / 7
FINAL SCORE
1,200
1,157
675
280

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine took the top club score with 5,742 points.

Over the past few years we've supported multiple groups around the country and are happy to share our rules format and ideas for promoting similar SIMPLEX events. We're open to new ideas too, and continually try to improve the 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge to make it more fun and competitive. The April date was successful and for the first time in a few years there was no severe weather event on the day of the contest, so look for next year's Simplex Challenge to also be scheduled in April.


2018 2 Meter FM Simplex Visual Study

KC1HMK point-to-point
2018 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Point-to-Point study.
Green - KC1HMK (AC1FB)





  

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Wireless Society of Southern Maine, P.O. Box 6833, Scarborough, ME 04074