[CQ-Contest] I loved the WPX

[Randy Thompson K5ZD]

I really enjoyed WPX SSB this year as well.  Just seemed more fun than
usual.  Conditions were good, although not great.  But, good enough that
stations were able to spread out across all bands. Activity was good, but
without so much crowding that it was impossible to find a frequency.  It was
just enjoyable.  

And I could tell everyone else was having fun too.  There is something about
prefixes for multipliers that avoids the big cluster pileups or rare DX
pileups. And the ability to work everyone for points helps fill the log and
accelerate the score.

My brain is addicted to contesting.  Maybe it will help me be smarter some
day.  :)

Randy, K5ZD

> -----Original Message-----
> From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
> Charles Harpole
> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 1:47 PM
> To: CQ-Contest Reflector
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] I loved the WPX
> 
> This is long, sorry.  At 69 with beginning shakey fingers and less
> stanima, I nevertheless entered the WPX ssb with determination.  I came
> out breaking
> 2 million points and with a very satisfying experience.  WPX trained my
> brain... again!
> 
> The HS0 prefix makes me desirable, of course, and I am above just-loud
> with even marginal openings, but something geophysical makes me heard
> much better than I can hear.  Other local hams confirm this gator
> situation.
> These factors give me a pile up with nearly every call.  So, my brain
> gets the duty of sorting the voices.
> 
> By the end of the contest, I had re-learned to discriminate the voices on
> the same frequency and was surprised that I actually did not hear the QRN
> and QRM that was there and so vexing at the start of the contest.  By the
> end of the test, I could copy much better, my short term memory had
> improved and allowed me to hold calls and numbers whole even prior to
> typing them into the log, and I had succeeded in holding my impatience
> with frustrating operators.  Also, I had modulated my sleep and wake
> pattern to end feeling refreshed and sorry WPX was over so soon.  (I am
> retired.)
> 
> My point is that this contesting had significantly sharpened my
> concentration skills and mental focus, had slapped my memory around to
> better function, had made me manipulate my gear well and multi-task it
> while planning which band and which direction to point as condx changed,
> and had just sharpened me up overall!
> I am thinking at how much today's children and youth need this
> sharpening, too.  Research on mental processing and learning indicates
> that what one does in a contest is very good for mental development and
> problem solving in an organized way, teaches not to give up on a self-
> determined goal, and gives satisfaction at a task well done... and hope
> that the learning will stick with one.
> 
> Obviously, I really loved this WPX.  73,
> --
> Charly, HS0ZCW
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