[CQ-Contest] Youth / Newer hams in contesting

[Jim Stahl]

I agree with the intimidation factor of a big contest at a large station. This is especially true for phone contests at the current sunspot minimum, where even at very big stations such as K8AZ I have found that things often get reduced to S&P and watching the cluster spots. Which I why I have given up serious phone DX contests for a few years.

Much better for newcomers are the various state QSO parties, especially if it is for one’s own state. The congestion factor is much less, and one can actually become a desired object, not merely a statistic contributing to somebody's hourly totals.

Fortunately we in the spring QSO Party season. This weekend is an off one with the month end/start splitting the weekend, but the following month includes Missouri, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, New England, and all of W7. If you are in one of these areas it is a great opportunity to encourage and/or invite new contesters to get on the air. And even if you’re not, get on the air, especially on SSB, and pass out some QSOs to the deserving. Some of the ops may not be the most seasoned, but that is how they are learning.


73   -   Jim   K8MR



> On Mar 28, 2018, at 9:12 AM, rjairam at gmail.com wrote:
> 
> In FRC we invite new people (new to contesting) to take part in multi op
> operations such as K2AX and Jay does with K2TTT. Multi op maximizes op time
> and also enables mentoring. Some branch off into their own single op
> efforts and have fun even with limited antennas and low power. Contributing
> to club score is very encouraging so even if you don’t personally “win” you
> can be part of a winning team. I know it has motivated me to make bigger
> scores even if I can’t win a plaque for myself.
> 
> This brings me to another point - having big stations to use is nice but
> the newbies often get intimidated because winning a contest is now largely
> a game of high power and big stacks, either yours or borrowed/rented. There
> are also only a limited number of big stations and all of the newbies
> cannot just go and operate there. Not everyone wants to, either. For people
> with families, spending time away from home on a contest weekend is often a
> non starter.
>