Some of the notes in this thread have discussed ways to make one's
physical environment "correct" for the operator -- correct in the sense
that it is no longer a distraction from what's happening on the air.
That's very important. After that, one is free to turn one's attention
to matters such as those mentioned below.
I find contests to be completely absorbing. Once the headphones go on,
the following threads are always running around the brain:
-- the mechanics of working the QSO in progress, and logging it correctly.
-- the mechanics of SO2R, and logging correctly.
-- what's happening around my frequency? how far away are people
calling me... who's running above/below me... am I too crowded to be
heard well in my target area... etc
-- what's happening right now to my rate? drying up? should I move a
bit to get more in the clear? is it time for S&P pass or to switch a
radio to a different band? how long since my last band change?
-- how does what's happening right now compare to yesterday, or last
year, or this point on the solar cycle last cycle? am I
under-performing; if so, why and what should be done to correct matters
right now?
-- forming, and updating, a mental model about what's actually happening
in the ionosphere for this band and other bands. The ionosphere is a
seething, boiling, dynamic soup even less stable than the ocean. So
what does it mean when a UA0 calls in with no trace of aurora? or a LY
station has a bad echo? or a VK calls in on skew path? or a JA is
heard on the long path, or from the SW on 40m? how has that changed
since the last time I heard a station from that area? what might that
mean for the ionosphere... and how does that affect my timing of band
changes (e.g., spend more time earlier checking 10m? expect poor
conditions to east Asia and need to check back frequently for spotty
openings?)
-- based on the above, and my current partial score, what band(s) should
I be on to most improve my score... and what geographic areas are of
primary and secondary focus on those bands. Will signals be arriving
straight, skewed, high or low angles for those areas?
-- in the critical population/volume centers, what's happening to
contesters over there? is aurora worse now? will they be checking 10m
now, or moving down to a lower band?
-- what can be improved in my operating practice and my station
hardware/software to do better next time? (jot down a quick note for
review later).
I also divide the contest up into bite-sized pieces: hours and
10-minutes on the clock. I re-evaluate my current bands/tactics every
10 minutes (and set a timer to remind myself to do that -- it's not yet
instinctive and I can get easily distracted for an hour or more in SO2R).
I always chuckle to myself when people talk about "slow periods" in a
contest. There isn't such a thing as a slow period. If the QSO rate
drops, the challenge is to figure out what to do to maximize the results
in the next little unit of time. In a 48-hour contest, a few Qs per
hour difference adds up to a significant lead at the end. When
conditions are difficult, those little differences are even more important.
73,
-- Eric K3NA
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