[CQ-Contest] Contesting Time Calculation

[Mark Beckwith]

It's interesting that most of the replies to the posted question:

> Is there a generally accepted way to
> calculate operating time during a contest?

said a lot of stuff about how people think it could and/or should be done. 
K6LL answered the question the way it IS done.  Let's assume that "the way 
the sponsor does it" is equal to "generally accepted".

So to answer the question, the generally accepted way to calculate operating 
time during a contest is to take any 30 consecutive whole minutes where 
there are no QSOs and call that "time off."  Anything that's not "time off" 
is regarded as "time on", with the exception of any time during the contest 
that comes either before the first QSO in the log or after the last QSO in 
the log.  Those are considered "time off" too.

Dave's also right: according to the rules you're not supposed to listen to 
the radio during your breaks.

Mark, N5OT