[RTTY] Staying Alert in 48 hour contests

[Larry]

This was covered a few years ago on one of the groups - CQContest I think.
It covered what to eat /drink or not eat/drink for example. I don't recall 
the
details unfortunately.  I can't stay up for the 48 hour contests any more 
regardless
of what I do, eat, or drink.

I recall the Navy did a study maybe 20 to 30 years ago that concluded that
most folks can function on 3 hours sleep. Not for extended periods of time
of course. Combat would tend to bring out the adrenaline to overcome some
sleep deficit.

73, Larry  W6NWS
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don AA5AU" <aa5au at bellsouth.net>
To: "rtty reflector" <rtty at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 4:26 PM
Subject: [RTTY] Staying Alert in 48 hour contests


I'm thinking I'm going to have a hard time staying alert for the CQWW RTTY 
Contest. Since I didn't operate this contest last year, I have no idea how 
I'm going to react on little sleep. I'm a big fan of sleep. The most I ever 
operated this contest was 44 hours in 1999 and that was only because 20 
meters was open to EU all night that year. I've noticed that 20 meters has 
been open all night to EU a lot here lately. If that's the case this year, I 
may have to operate more hours than I had hoped. My plan is to sleep 4 hours 
each night. Even if I do that, I'm afraid I won't be fully alert toward the 
end.

A few years ago I switched from Coca Cola to Diet Coke in order to cut down 
on my sugar content (I have high blood sugar but not diabetic). I also like 
to consume a BC Powder every six hours or so to prevent headaches and to get 
some caffeine going. The problem with that is that when it's time to rest, 
the caffeine in the BC powder, combined with being jacked up for the contest 
makes it hard to go to sleep even though I'm physically very tired. I've 
never been a big coffee drinker and actually have quit drinking coffee all 
together. Prescription drugs are out of the question. One thing that helps 
me (I think) is that I tend not to eat big meals during contests. I'm not a 
big eater anyway.

Recently I tried "5 Hour Energy" a couple of times when I was feeling tired 
at work and it really picked me up. I'm thinking about getting a few of 
those and trying them during the contest. The manufacturer recommends no 
more than two drinks a day which means I could do the whole contest on four 
shots (they aren't cheap). I know there are tons of energy drinks on the 
market today. I'm wondering how many contesters might be using them and if 
so, which ones might work best. I'm wondering what others do to stay awake 
and alert during iron man contests like CQWW RTTY?

I certainly don't want to fall asleep at the keyboard with the auto-CQ going 
as one prominent contester did recently. HI HI

73, Don AA5AU
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