The June 2013 VHF contest was marked by contrasts.  Propagation was mediocre, a disappointment after several very good years.  The weather was wonderful or terrible, depending on where you were.  The east had a lot of rain caused by the remnants of a tropical storm.  The west had heat--unless you were very close to the ocean.  The temperature in Sacramento hit 104 degrees Saturday, according to longtime contester KC6ZWT.  In many desert locations, it was even hotter.  But there was thick fog in places like Newport Beach, where I operated.  The fog didn't burn off until about noon both Saturday and Sunday, and the temperature never got above the low 70s.  If you're in the field, that's a good thing.

I was again in the single operator (QRP) portable category, but with a tower trailer to get my antennas clear of local obstructions on Signal Peak, a heavily developed (and heavily landscaped) urban hilltop.  Being 1000' above the Los Angeles basin made for loud signals locally.  I don't think I would have worked many more L.A. and San Diego stations if I'd been using kilowatt amplifiers.  But when six meters finally opened, there was a time of reckoning.  I called one station near Dallas, TX twelve times before I finally got through!  He was loud, but he couldn't hear me until he was REALLY loud. Several times he just called CQ again after I called him.  I heard many grid squares that I couldn't work, including some double hop sporadic E signals.  With 10 watts, running during a band opening is futile even if you have decent antennas.  It's all search and pounce.

Unfortunately, activity continues to decline on the microwave bands where 10 watts is still competitive.  Several Californians who have all bands through 10 GHz opted for the new limited or three-band categories.  I worked no one above 1296 except for the N6VI multioperator group and five rovers.  Thank heavens they were there.  VHF contests were more fun, for me anyway, when there were only two categories (single operator and multioperator) and the multipliers were ARRL sections (as they still are in Sweepstakes).   There was a lot of incentive then to add additional bands to keep up with rivals who were also adding bands.  And certainly a higher percentage of licensed hams got on for VHF contests then.  I was working more unique call signs in the 1970s when there were 300,000 licensed U.S. hams than I can now when 700,000 Americans have call signs.

But June 2013 was fun nevertheless.  One of the highlights was working so many people whom I worked long ago but haven't heard on the air lately.  Of course, there are a lot of long-familiar call signs that could not be on this year.  It would be a mistake to start listing well-known calls that became silent keys this year because I'd leave some out, but many VHF pioneers who contributed so much to amateur radio are gone now.  I suppose these contests are becoming nostalgia parties with plaques.

73, Wayne