[VHFcontesting] Comments sought for new ARRL UHF Contest in May

[James Duffey]

John - Thanks for your comments, it is nice to get the perspective of a newcomer. As the years and contests accumulate, it is hard for some of us to remember what our first VHF/UHF contest was like. 
Please forward your comments to the committee, < vhf-input at arrl.org >, so they will be considered. You wrote:
>         I can’t tell if the goal of the proposed changes is to make the 
>contesting pie bigger or just to split up the pie differently.
Well, the stated purpose of the committee is to increase VHF/UHF activity in general and VHF/UHF contest activity in particular. So, I guess that would correspond to making the contest pie bigger.

Over the past few contests we have made an effort to work FM participants and it has helped our score. Few of them turn in a log though, despite our encouragement to do so. I think you are right, the FMers have a lot to offer to contesting and are a fertile field to develop. 
Several years ago I suggested to the appropriate league people that they add a VHF date to the Rookie Roundup. The answer then was that it was hard enough to get activity to justify the HF Rookie Roundups, let alone add a new one. I would hope that the situation would be better for a VHF/UHF only contest, but there needs to be activity to justify the effort put out by contest organizers. 
Thanks for your input. - Duffey KK6MC


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KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM