I had a great time in the 2018 June VHF Contest. I roved in FN12, FN13, FN02, and FN03 with 10 bands. One of my highlights on Saturday was working W2SZ over a 341km path up to 5GHz. This was a new distance record for me on 3.4 and 5G. Though Sunday was most notable for the extended 6m opening that added dozens of new grids to the log, I also had a good contact with VA3ELE on 10GHz over a respectable 141km path. This was encouraging because I rarely make long distance contacts on 10G during VHF contests. Special thanks to VE3OIL/R, VE3CRU/R, K2ET/R and K2LDT/R who helped add a lot of microwave contacts from multiple grids.

We had a good time at lunch on Sunday with several Rochester VHF Group club members attending as well as a ham new to contesting. It is enjoyable to hear everyone's contest stories, check out the gear, and make lots of Qs. We get quite the looks from other restaurant patrons when we pull into the parking lot. In terms of score, this was by far my best contest ever. I have been a rover in all of the last 15 consecutive ARRL VHF contests. I have learned a lot over the past few years and built a station I am proud of. But I took pleasure in hearing a couple of hams new to contesting on the air who seemed to be amazed at what they could work with an off the shelf radio and simple antennas. Hearing their enthusiasm made me remember why I started contesting to begin with. The experienced contesters should recognize that these new folks are going to soak up everything we say on the air and write in our soapbox, email reflectors, and newsletters. Will our perspectives on contesting excite, educate and interest them?  I hope so.  This is an amazing hobby!