With the ARRL September VHF Contest coming up on September 9 - 11, I'd like to suggest a method to increase the use of analog modes (eg: CW, SSB, and FM) in all VHF contests. At the top and bottom of each hour, call CQ using one of the analog modes around the weak signal calling frequencies. In this past weekend's 6 Meter Sprint, I managed to put a few SSB contacts in the log by using this method.

Remember, analog-only categories have been added to the ARRL VHF contests, so users of digital modes might benefit by looking for analog-only participants to boost their score. I'd like to encourage some of the more prominent, higher-powered single operator and multioperator stations to adopt this practice, as this would give many of the low-power, portable, and rover operators more stations to contact.