[PVRCNC] W4MR (AA4NC) Contest Zen

[W0UCE]

Will:
Will:
I enjoyed reading your Contest Zen Post. I am not an SS Fan, to me it is
like receiving and sending NTS Book Messages (Boring) But... I had one goal
which was to support PVRC so I set a simple target, operate until I made
125K points. I didn't layout any band plan, run versus S&P strategy, sleep
time or anything else including concern about rates, just simply BIC until I
reached 125k points. 

By 10:00 PM local Saturday evening I had 79 of 80 sections but VE4 eluded me
so I added a goal of a sweep which I did not achieve. 

Since I have a "little pistol" station I operated Assisted HP which I hoped
would shorten BIC requirements.  I found I had better S&P Rates just tuning,
listening and working stations rather than running or clicking and the only
spots I clicked on were for VE4 but the button pushing spot cliker pile ups
on VE4 were so horrific with everyone sitting on top of each other sending
their calls 4 - 5 times without listening the one VE4 I heard sent "QRM QRT"
and went away. Why he didn't go split is a question that still sticks in my
mind.  He or she probably watched soccer versus a football game, hi hi...

At any rate, for me, SS is and will be just hitting a score or QSO target to
support PVRC.  Another way to look at it is kind of like those who hit a
little white ball, find it then hit it again... Just doing better than the
last time. 

Doing SS without a complicated or dedicated strategy allowed me to have some
fun and not loose much sleep over it so long as I made my goal.  I made the
125k goal and then some but I would have enjoyed making another sweep but it
was not to be.  

Oh well... next year I'll shoot for some other simple target like putting in
a four hours then doing something else...

Congrats on your results which was a real achievement. 

73,
Jack

 


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





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