[PVRCNC] W4MR (AA4NC) SS CW SO Unlimited HP

[Roberts, Will]

Contesting Zen...

There was a lot of talk about goal setting and that kind of thing this year. I kinda went the other way philosophically and I believe it worked (for me). I've found that in contests where I pore over rate sheets and obsess over strategy and band changes, etc. that I become very tense and can stay that way for the entire period. This ultimately has the effect of wearing you out even more than normal. Since I had N1MMlogger problems on Friday night, I started out in a very stressful state of mind. At this point, I made a decision. This year, I would have no goals and no strategy except for keeping my butt in the chair for 24 and to HAVE FUN. I had no rate sheet or any comparisons to go by - just start running at 2100z with football on TV to keep my attention when the rate gets slow.
After a very slow first couple hours, I normally would have had a bad attitude, especially if I had been obsessing over the rate that was way off the pace of my previous best efforts. Instead I just hunkered down and watched W4KAZ's LSU Tigers whip up on Alabama as I put the Qs in the log with no thought of score. When VY1EI called me early Saturday night on 40m, I looked up and saw that there were already 78 sections in the log with VE4 and NE being the last two needed. VE4EAR calls later in the evening and K0NE makes my sweep Sunday morning just after sunrise. I never hunted for a single mult. Not having to think about mults at all was also a great stress reliever. I can remember in years past spending a lot of time chasing mults, even to the detriment of score.

My non-goal of 24 hours of BIC and having fun was achieved. The end result is my best score ever and maybe a new Division record (depending on my accuracy).
At the end of the contest, I'm less tired than I ever remember being. Not sure if there's a moral to the story but I'd like to be able to duplicate it.

73,

Will




                   ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: W4MR
Operator(s): AA4NC
Station: AA4NC

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R

Summary:

 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  249
   40:  597
   20:  277
   15:  144
   10:   40
------------
Total: 1317  Sections = 80  Total Score = 210,720


Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club


Comments:

Actually did some preparation for this one. Antennas were all working and I got
on for the Friday night practice. The practice went well, but after the 30
minute session, N1MMlogger crashed. I spent a frantic 3 hours getting
everything back in shape.

Good conditions here in NC. Looking for some new records to be set...

Always nice to work all the familiar calls.

73,

Will AA4NC/W4MR