[CQ-Contest] Contest Burnout

[Zack Widup]

 I have so much going on in my life these days that I find it difficult to
spend much time in a contest. I was out of town over the SS Phone weekend
and had to miss that one completely.

I have been a participant in most of the major VHF+ contests for decades. I
usually have been setting up masts and antennas for about 10 bands as a QRP
Portable. That involves putting guy ropes up for each of two masts. It was
worth it when I had a lot of stations to work. It seems the number of
people in these contests is diminishing, though. I don't do FT8. I've been
finding only a handful of stations to work recently. I am thinking I'm
getting too old to keep putting up all those masts and antennas, especially
when I'm only going to work a small handful of stations. If I should get
into the situation where I could afford a van and set up the antennas on
it, it would be a lot less time and effort setting up. I may even be able
to do some Rover operations. We'll see what happens.

73, Zack W9SZ

On Fri, Dec 2, 2022 at 7:30 PM <w1rm at comcast.net> wrote:

> I would like to have a serious discussion regarding contest burnout.  I'm
> not interested in nasty or snide comments but rather a real discussion on
> those, like me, who are suffering from it and have overcome it.
>
>
>
> I have been a serious contester since the late 1960s.  I am a CW guy and
> have won CQWW, ARRL DX, and a bunch of others.  I have been a regular
> participant in many of the majors for a very long time and have a wall full
> of plaques for my efforts.
>
>
>
> After 66 years of contesting, I'm faced with ben there, done that.  At 80
> years old, I am not going to win anything, and I know it.  I don't have the
> stamina.  My station used to be very competitive, and it still is, but I
> don't do SO2R, I only have one beam/antenna per band.  I do have top-grade
> gear, though.
>
>
>
> So, I would appreciate some honest thoughts about how to combat contest
> burnout.
>
>
>
>
>
> Pete Chamalian, W1RM
>
> W1RM at Comcast.net
>
>
>
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