UPDATE 04 September 2023: I made it as a check in! Longest repeater FM 2m contact I have ever made. Not only that, I was able to hold a 10-15 min QSO after the net on the repeater with VA3UTT! Just wow.
03 September 2023: Ducting is amazing when it helps make some long distance contacts on a relatively short distance band. I made it into a repeater in Ontario during a local net! That would be 342 mi North of FM09 on 145.350 (VE3YRA). Couldn’t quite fully get checked into the net but that’s a personal best for FM 2m and I call that a win for even getting into the repeater.
I finished out the evening with a 622 mi 2m FT8 contact in North Freedom, Wisconsin while still vertically polarized.
Be sure to check the VHF Propagation Map.
Here is a quick audio snippet recorded on my phone. So ignore the room echo and listen to how strong the signal from VE3YRA is!