[CQ-Contest] How Many Hours are we Putting in Now?

[steve.root at culligan4water.com]

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>If you are in these numbers, how many hours did you put in and why didn't you do more? Would a 12 or 24 hour category change your mind?
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>Ed N1UR

Hi Ed,
I'd fall on your list of top 40 scores, and I put in 35 hours. From my part of the world, there was essentially nothing to do from 0200Z to 1100Z. During those hours all frequencies above 80 meters were dead, the sun was up in Europe, and the only signals you could hear were the guys in the Caribbean worked hours earlier. To a lesser extent the same thing happens after 1900Z to 2130Z when we no longer have any propagation to Europe on the high bands and the sun isn't up in JA yet. Other than waiting for an LU or PY to show up, there isn't anything you can do to make contacts. This is true even with monster stations like W0AIH with high stacks. For a single op it's pretty tough staying awake when you're tuning a dead band. N2IC's point is well taken; it's better to get some sleep and be fresher for a possible European run in the morning.
There is a practical limit to the amount of operating time I can expend during a weekend due to the nature of my job. I put in 9 hour days and a lot of it involves heavy physical labor. My body is used to getting up at 1100Z and sleeping at 0400Z. It's very hard to break that cycle after all these years, and frankly I need some recovery time.
I have nothing but respect for the guys like W4PA, K5ZD, N6TJ, etc. who can sit in the chair for the full 48. And again I don't see any pressing need to change the rules just because I can't. On the other hand, given my circumstances I doubt any of the top guns would operate the full 48 either. Because of that I'd be in favor of a 12 or 24 hour format within the framework of the contest since that has more to do with my personal reality.

73 Steve K0SR +