[RTTY] Roundup to the max

[Bill, W6WRT]

A funny thing happened on the way to the 2010 Roundup. I decided to get serious
this time. 

This is my 17th Roundup, starting with the 1994 competition, but I have never
been truly gung-ho like some folks are. This time I figure I'm getting pretty
old and may not have many Roundups left, so why not do the max and see what
happens?

I do not have a real "contesting" station. Just one radio, one antenna per band,
no four-squares, no beverages or stacked yagis, nothing fancy except I do have
an amplifier I designed and built especially for RTTY contesting. Alpha would be
proud.  :-)

My problem is staying in the chair. After about five or six hours, the need for
a nap overwhelms me and I give in. Well, not this time, I vowed. And I almost
made it. I ran 10.5 hours on Saturday and 12 straight on Sunday and crushed my
previous record. 1417 QSOs!! I couldn't believe it. Worked all states, too. 

My purpose in posting this is to give some encouragement to guys like me who put
in a part time effort and figure that's good enough. Granted, any amount of time
is fun and not to be missed, but at least once, go for the max and see what
happens. You might be surprised too.  :-)

           ARRLRTTY Score Summary Sheet

       Start Date : 2010-01-02

    CallSign Used : W6WRT
      Operator(s) : W6WRT

Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
             Band : ALL
            Power : HIGH
             Mode : RTTY
 Default Exchange : CA
       Gridsquare : DM14TF
        Operation : SO1R
            Hours : 22.5

             Name : Bill Turner
          Address : 520 Bowman Trl
   City/State/Zip : Landers  CA  92285
          Country : USA

     ARRL Section : ORG
        Club/Team :  
         Software : N1MM Logger V9.11.0

        Band    QSOs    Pts  Sec   Cty
         3.5     139     139    3    0
           7     337     337    2   10
          14     700     700   55   36
          21     241     241    0    1
       Total    1417    1417   60   47


            Score : 151,619

73, Bill W6WRT