K3LOE Mike<p>The <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/HamChallenge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HamChallenge</span></a> this week: Do a contest.</p><p>As a new ham, it's hard to imagine ever taking contests that seriously. I like that more people are on the air. I dislike communication as competition.</p><p>Nevertheless I had fun doing my first not-a-contest: Winter Field Day 2025! </p><p>I did all 8 highly contrived QSOs on VHF/UHF. I (unsuccessfully) activated a POTA spot and hunted (a successful) POTA activation. </p><p><a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/WFD2025" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WFD2025</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/US2755" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>US2755</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/simplex" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>simplex</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/POTA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>POTA</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/HamContests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HamContests</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/EmComm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EmComm</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/portable" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>portable</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.radio/tags/HC06S" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HC06S</span></a> <br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mas.to/@hamchallenge" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>hamchallenge</span></a></span></p>