[CQ-Contest] Eating in phone contests

[Kenneth E. Harker]

On Fri, Feb 02, 2007 at 03:59:33PM -0800, Eric Hilding wrote:

<thread stolen from discussion of 100% recorded audio phone contesting...>
 
> A biggie for me is that I can eat anytime I want while simply pushing 
> buttons with one finger to operate a phone contest.  Try this one "live" !!!

My techniques for eating during a phone contest are:

* Eat during off times if you can.

* Eat while the DVK is calling CQ.  As a W/VE phone contester, 
  even during the highest rate times of a contest, I will still 
  be calling a lot of CQs.

* Eat small bites.

* Pick foods that can be eaten one-handed, e.g. with a fork, while 
  your other hand is doing something.  If you choose soup, sip it out 
  of a cup or something instead of worrying about accuracy with a spoon.

* Pick foods that can be almost swallowed whole quickly if need be.  
  Excellent choices include scrambled eggs, black beans, rice, baked 
  fish, soups, etc.  Foods to avoid would be hard granola bars, steak,
  salad, hard biscuits, etc.

* Be patient - eating a small meal can last over an hour.

* If you do get caught with a mouthful of food by accident, push it to the 
  side of your mouth and mumble through the exchange anyway.

-- 
Kenneth E. Harker WM5R
kenharker at kenharker.com
http://www.kenharker.com/