“Grid Madness” in Hawaii — where radio amateurs operate VHF and UHF simplex to work as many others as they can reach — is growing. The number of logs for the 2016 event on September 18 was double last year’s figure, 23 more stations took part, and they made 150 more contacts than in 2015.

“This has proven to be a popular event in the islands,” said a news release from ARRL PIO Darren Holbrook, KH6OWL. “Grid Madness is about islands, mountains, ocean, and radio signals.”

Sponsored by the Aulani Hui Amateur Repeater Club, the 4-hour sprint is open to all, from mobiles and fixed stations to those operating with a handheld. The first place mobile this year was operated by Steve Kawamae, KH6WG, from his truck on Mauna Kapu on Oahu at an elevation of 1,800 feet. He also set the record for the longest simplex contact at 211 miles on 2 meters and 70 centimeters, from Oahu to the Big Island — the longest contact in the 3-year history of Grid Madness. Peggy Gentle, KE6TIS, placed first in the fixed-station category.

Event manager Stan Froseth, AH6KO, said he never heard so many stations on 146.52 MHz from his mobile perch at the Mauna Loa Weather Observatory, some 11,000 feet above sea level. Tom Worthington, NH6Y, and Arch Stewart, AH6U, roamed around Maui and showed up in many logs on the Big Island and Oahu.

Todd Wilson, WH6DWF, operated from Tantalus Lookout on Oahu, powering his station with golf cart batteries charged by solar panels and a wind turbine. “Other hams were checking out my setup, and so did visitors to the park where [two other operators] and I had set up,” Wilson said. “We are also getting the public thinking more positively toward Amateur Radio when we do events in public places.”