[CQ-Contest] N3BB IARU SOAB CW (Long Comments)

[George Fremin III]

On Tue, Jul 12, 2005 at 06:33:59PM -0500, Jim George N3BB wrote:
> posted.  It won't accept any thing else.  Here's my analysis and off beat 
> musing stuff.
> 
> Jim N3BB
> 
> This contest was *hard*!  It was a grind, and I concluded that 24 hours is 
> my max.  I just don't think it's sane or healthy to sit in a chair for 48 
> hours and made myself a promise to avoid 48 hour contests.  Right now, even 
> two and a half days after the IARU ended, I still think how hard this was.
> 

I think that if done right contests should be hard. If you are not
totally spent at the end then my guess is that you did not give the
contest everything you had.  I find that I have to make an effort to
keep the pressure on, to keep flogging the second radio, to keep
looking for rate or ways to get new multipliers.

In most contests you do not know how others are doing so you have to
keep working as hard as you can to maximize your score - you can not
let up - and I find it very hard to keep that going hour after
hour without a measure as to your place.

But I also know that I can rest when the contest is over - but until
then I know I need to keep pushing for the next contact no matter how
hard.

The thing that helped me become more focused in contests was finally
getting it through my head that the contest only lasts for a given
period of time.  As each minute goes by that is one less minute that
you have to increase your score.  It took me many years but I finally
came to understand this and with it the need to get contacts in the
log because before you know it your time is up.


-- 
George Fremin III - K5TR
geoiii at kkn.net
http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr