[CQ-Contest] How many hours do SOAB entrants actually operate?

W0MU Mike Fatchett w0mu at w0mu.com
Fri Mar 29 11:00:11 EDT 2013


In the USA:

As a volunteer firefighter we are having more and more trouble 
attracting new recruits and the ones we have are not able to volunteer 
as much as in the past.  Employers while sympathetic to the needs of the 
community also need to produce their product and they need all their 
employees working.

There are some statistics (that I can't find right now) that show that 
the average working person has just a few hours per week solely for him 
or herself after all the household and other obligations are met.

I found a number of articles that say that the average American worker 
is actually spending more time at work than ever before. Employers would 
rather pay overtime instead of hiring additional workers.

Are we asking or expecting too much from contesters?  It if very 
difficult for anyone with kids to devote 48 straight hours to anything 
let alone a hobby.

Is it wise and prudent to ask the participants to fore go sleep when 
getting sufficient rest is very important for our health?  Is the 
contestant affected for hours or days after the contest?

The stats show that the vast majority of 'players' do not even come 
close to the 48 hour limit.  Our contesting population by far is growing 
older.

I think we should at least consider the effects this has on the contests 
and if changing it would actually get more people to spend more time and 
put forth more 'serious" efforts regularly.

Mike W0MU

On 3/27/2013 4:05 PM, Joe wrote:
> Really?
> I find it hard to believe that so few do the whole 48 hours.
>
> Now today of course I could never ever do this. But when I was young, 
> ( a long time ago) I was in my teens when I did this.  MY CQWW weekend 
> would be this.
>
> Wake up at 5 AM Friday morning andgo to work, Work Starts at 6 AM
>
> Work till 3 PM
>
> Go Home
>
> Eat Something
>
> Drive 1.5 hours to buddy's house with the BIG station.
>
> Get ready with everything, plenty of pencils sharpened, paper logs and 
> dupe sheets all set, Yes I did say a long time ago.
>
> Start Contest
>
> Run the entire contest all 48, with only ummm,  litter box breaks? no 
> naps, no breaks, nothing,,,
>
> contest ends
>
> eat pizza and drink Beer with buddy the station owner. Drink more Beer,,
>
> finally leave for home
>
> get home at midnight, take shower, decompress, and go to bed.
>
> Get up at 5 AM Monday morning 4 hours later and go to work and not 
> feel any the worse for wear.
>
> Just the way I was, and even still was 30 years later able to do this, 
> when I got into this form of contesting. 48 hours? Peanuts!
> 48 hours sitting at a desk? Thats a vacation, it is taking a 48 hour nap!
>
> Try 7 to 10 DAYS!!
>
> Yes I said 7 to 10 days, in a competition, no breaks, if you take a 
> break the next team may get ahead of you.
>
> If you get too tired at CQWW you fall asleep at the desk.  In these 
> events you may DIE!
>
> Check these out
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7eRxNPQKbM&feature=share&list=PL3CAE0B086A57BDB2 
>
>
> Now he he he, with messes up knees, i'm lucky i can walk a mile now.
>
> And contesting Single OP a 7 hour sprint wastes me.
>
> Joe WB9SBD
>
>
> Sig
> The Original Rolling Ball Clock
> Idle Tyme
> Idle-Tyme.com
> http://www.idle-tyme.com
> On 3/26/2013 7:00 AM, Stan Stockton wrote:
>> It would be interesting to know whether there is some maximum number 
>> of hours (for single operators only) that would cause many of those 
>> who play around for 20-30 hours to go all in.
>>
>> How many don't give it a full effort because they can't go 46 but 
>> would make the attempt to go 40, for example?  I wouldn't recommend 
>> less than about 40 or 42 max but would think it might be a positive 
>> to have some required off time if the end result was more activity 
>> overall.  Looks like only 3% (less than 150 out of 5,000) operate 
>> even as many as 36 hours.
>>
>> There are some who are passionate about the 48 hours but it can't be 
>> many.
>>
>> Stan, K5GO
>>
>>
>> On Mar 25, 2013, at 2:53 PM, David Gilbert <xdavid at cis-broadband.com> 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Great info, Doug.
>>>
>>> That's only the results from the people who submitted logs, right? 
>>> I'd bet that the curve is skewed even more toward fewer hours for 
>>> the people who did not submit a log, and I wonder how many of those 
>>> would be more inclined to submit a log if categories existed for 
>>> fewer hours.   I suspect quite a few.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Dave   AB7E
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3/25/2013 4:07 AM, kr2q at optimum.net wrote:
>>>> Toivo, ES2RR asked how many "iron men" there are.
>>>>
>>>> Here are the "iron man" results from a recent CQWW SSB contest.
>>>>
>>>> First column (left) is hours operated (2 hours groups).
>>>>
>>>> The second column (middle) is number of entrants
>>>>
>>>> The last column (right) is the percentage of those shown
>>>> (which is limited to SOAB entrants only, all power groups, assisted 
>>>> or not).
>>>>
>>>> "0" in the first row means "too few QSOs over too many hours to 
>>>> calculate."
>>>>
>>>> I don't know the algorithm used to calculate non-operating hours.
>>>>
>>>> Hope the table below "lines up" OK
>>>>
>>>> de Doug KR2Q
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 0    22    0.4%
>>>> 2    540    11.0%
>>>> 4    664    13.5%
>>>> 6    689    14.0%
>>>> 8    527    10.7%
>>>> 10    460    9.4%
>>>> 12    388    7.9%
>>>> 14    296    6.0%
>>>> 16    233    4.7%
>>>> 18    223    4.5%
>>>> 20    132    2.7%
>>>> 22    157    3.2%
>>>> 24    107    2.2%
>>>> 26    88    1.8%
>>>> 28    80    1.6%
>>>> 30    76    1.5%
>>>> 32    53    1.1%
>>>> 34    35    0.7%
>>>> 36    30    0.6%
>>>> 38    28    0.6%
>>>> 40    28    0.6%
>>>> 42    19    0.4%
>>>> 44    22    0.4%
>>>> 46    12    0.2%
>>>> 48    8    0.2%
>>>>     4917    100.0%
>>>>
>>>> ~50% operate for 8 hours less.
>>>> ~75% operate for < 15 hours.
>>>> ~90% operate for < 24 hours.
>>>> ~95% operate for < 30 hours.
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