[UK-CONTEST] Contesting - What's the point?

[Bob Henderson]

Well, what is the point?

Surely the point is to have fun and maybe learn something new and worthwhile
in the process.

I'm certainly no contesting guru or anything even approaching an expert.
Perish the thought.  I've spent most of my life carefully avoiding any kind
of  "expert" classification.  Altogether too confining, in my opinion.

I do enjoy myself contesting and I hope I will continue to do so.  I believe
contesting to be very much about enjoyment.  About having fun and sharing in
the enjoyment experienced by other participants.  I've experienced many
styles of exchange.  Been thrilled by some and frustrated by others but how
boring it would be if everyone behaved like machines and sent precisely the
same thing.

In just about every contest I operate, I am called by a UA3 station who
inevitably sends my call twice, followed by his, three times.  Reports, he
sends three times too, even if it's just 5nn.  He always makes me smile.
He's done this for years.  You might think he surely would have learned to
introduce some level of efficiency into his operating by now.  I went
through a phase of thinking just that, a few years ago but now I accept that
efficiency doesn't interest him.  He's just there for the fun of it and you
know what?   I'm glad he is.

I think it's fine for folks to send a precise, well ordered, efficient
exchange but it's also fine for folks to exchange the odd greeting too.
Fine too, for those who are just there for fun to be a bit sloppy about it.
I get a lot of smiles on Sunday afternoon in the big events, when folks
appear on the bands after having lunched well and wined equally so.
Contesting could be really miserable if there was nothing to smile about.

Of course, it's nice to win an event now and again and it's good to perform
competitively from time to time.  But it's unrealistic to expect everyone to
do the same.  I think it's also undesirable.  If all operators displayed
machine-like precision all of the time, I think I'd throw the towel in
altogether and take up something which exhibited more of a human aspect.

Folks should just get on there.  Hopefully learn a few new tricks and
improve on prior performance but above all have fun doing it.  Take it all
as seriously or as casually as makes sense (to you).

Bob, 5B4AGN
www.5b4agn.net

CQWW 2004 SOAB RTTY #1 World
Commonwealth 2004 Restricted #1 World
Russian DX CW 2004 SOAB #1 World
ARRL DX 2003 SOAB CW #1 Asia
BARTG Spring 2003 SOAB(E) #1 World

etc.

Sometimes, I take it seriously..........but not that seriously and only if
it's FUN.