[CQ-Contest] That pre-contest Feeling !!

[Dave Hachadorian]

On Thu, 7 Dec 2000 10:38:36 -0000 "Hammond, Rob (EU-Pencoed)"
<Rob.Hammond at eu.sony.com> writes:
> 
> I'm going through what I can only describe as that pre-contest 
> feeling !!!
> 
> Here's Mine:-
> *Overwhelming Anticipation
> *A headfull of "Have I done this have I done that"
> *Praying for good Band conditions
> *Dreaming of CQing ( Honest - last night )
> *Telling all your friends about it even though they're not Hams & 
> not
> interested !!!
> 
> What's yours & how do you calm down enough to get some sleep the 
> night
> before ?

Having worked for the military for 25 years, the idea of having
a CHECKLIST has been firmly ingrained in me. There are some
career military guys who, I swear, use a checklist to shower,
shave, toilet, blow their nose, and get dressed in the morning.

Having a checklist, CUSTOMIZED to the particuliarities of your station,
provides tremendous peace of mind, knowing that you have all the
bases covered as well as you can. Here is my checklist, to give you
some ideas with which to start:

                      K6LL CONTEST CHECKLIST

SET COMPUTER CLOCK TO EXACT/UTC TIME

SET UP COMPUTER FILE, CW MEMORIES, KEYBOARD OVERLAY

SIMULATE THREE QSOS ON COMPUTER, THEN ERASE LOG FILE

GET PROP FORECAST AND MAKE MINIPROP RUNS

REVIEW PAST CONTEST LOGS AND MAGAZINE RESULTS

SIMULTANEOUSLY UPDATE AMP TUNING CHART & CHECK FOR RFI

CONTEST EYEGLASSES HANDY (NON - BIFOCAL)

LOZENGES FOR PHONE

COFFEE CUP HEATER IN PLACE

LOAD SMARTDRV

SLOPER SWITCHES IN PROPER POSITION

TRIM PALM TREE NEAR SLOPER

ALL GROUND WIRES ATTACHED IN SHACK

VERIFY ATTENUATOR, NOTCH, NOISE BLANKER, SPLIT FREQ OFF

AIR CONDITIONER VENTS MAX OPEN IN RADIO ROOM

TELEPHONES, HIGH PASS FILTERS READY FOR HANDOUT TO NEIGHBORS

TUNED RADIALS - 5TH COIL TURN SSB, 8TH TURN CW

CHANGE VOX DELAY

CONTEST RULES HANDY

PREPARE SHEET WITH SUGGESTED FREQUENCIES

PREPARE OFF-TIME LOG SHEET

CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK ON

VFO A SELECTED

VERIFY ANTENNA POSITION MATCHES ROTOR INDICATOR

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ
K6LL at juno.com


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