[CQ-Contest] Be Proud of your effort

[Scott Pederson]

Hi Tom,

I have to agree.

I've enjoyed contesting for the last 14 years.  With a small station I
knew going in there was NO way I could compete with the big stations. 
Heck, I did the 10m contest for YEARS with just the Radio Shack rig and
25w.

The challenge was to make 1/3 the contacts of the big guns for 1/10th
the money invested, or some other relativity such as working 6 hours
out of the 24, but making better than 25% of the other scores. 
Sometimes the challenge was JUST to have fun.  Sometimes the Contest
was just an excuse to experiment with a new antenna.

The point is to be proud of your effort, no matter how great or small
it is.

I am continually amazed at the number of folks who post their scores,
apologizing for their effort, claiming problems and "Murphy got me" or
other hardships to explain why they were not Top 10.  It's hard not to.

If everyone's goal was to make the top 3, we'd have a Helluva lot of
disappointed folks, and many would probably give up because they never
win.  My guess is most folks pick realistic goals in a particular
category and enjoy competing within the already established guidelines.

Pick a friend to compete with. Bet them lunch, or Pizza and a beer.
Enlist your kids or grandkids to help you log Qs on the computer. 
Better yet, give 'em the Microphone.  I give a lot of credit to those
who build great stations then invite others to come and operate it. 
And I'm not talking about picking the best ops to help achieve the
highest score, but picking newcomers to the hobby or to contesting and
encouraging them to try it out.

When was the last time someone tried to invent a new contest from
scratch?  I haven't ever tried, but I'm sure it's not an easy task.

Pick a contest.  Pick a category.  Live by the rules.  Operate.  Do, or
Do Not. There is no try...

But, be proud of your effort!

Scott - KI5DR

--- TOMK5RC at aol.com wrote:
> 
> 
> Geez guys, we revisit these same issues midway through every contest
> season. 
> How about a little perspective?
> 
> 1.  There are many contests with many formats that give variety and
> different 
> challenges. Why do we want to make them all the same by cloning rules
> from 
> one to the other? It would make little sense to have the format of
> the 160 
> contest and the 10M contest exactly the same because of different
> dynamics 
> and a different base of operators. The lack of a 10 minute rule
> allowed me to 
> operate SO2R with packet in the 10M contest. It was a different
> strategy, 
> different scenario and The Old Man had fun competing against the guys
> who had 
> 2 to 4 ops and breaking 2Meg from the West Coast.
> 
> 2.  While this thread is going, the "technology" thread has been
> raging on 
> the WriteLog reflector. The old controversy about "supercheck
> partial" and 
> the logging program unfairly entering known states and provinces 
> automatically has reared its ugly head. The truth is that technology
> is going 
> to evolve every year and, if we don't continue to push the envelope 
> contesting will cease to be a challenge. There is no such thing as a
> level 
> playing field in life and none in radio contests. Those who hone
> their 
> skills, utilize the best tools available and work the hardest will
> prevail 
> every time.
> 
> 3.  SO2R has been quite a revelation to contesting and a real
> challenge to us 
> old farts. Guess what, we adapt, embrace change or go atrophy in a
> corner. My 
> challenge right now it to master SO2R and to learn to use at least
> half of 
> the features on my FT1000MP. After all, how far away can SO3R be?
> 
> Tom, K5RC
> aka NV7A
> 
> 
> --
> CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
> Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com


--
CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com