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Speak Out: How do you explain contesting?

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Anonymous on 2007-05-10
Just having good clean fun.

n4muh on 2007-02-19
A chance to contact many different stations around the country and around the world. To challenge and improve operating skills that can be used in an emergency to save lives. A way to test your skill agenst fellow radio operators.

k6faf on 2005-11-05
Explanation to laymen: I collect connections to other people like me to compete with them towards the overall result of the competition.
At this moment I only collect connections that I have not made before. Once I cannot improve that number any more, because I have reached my goal, I will compete for the number of connections with all the others out there. So far this soothed my wife and my neighbors!!!! They do not think I am a lunatic, because sometimes I take the earphone jack out and let them participate live.
Explanation to insiders: I still hunt for the 5bDXCC,5bWAS,5bWAZ and 5bIOTA. Once they are on my wall, I might consider to compete for numbers again.........or some contest-team signs me up as op!
You are welcome to tempt me!

KD4MCA on 2005-10-22
I was always involved in sports. Baseball, basketball, football, cycling, you name it I played it at one time or another. I never was a great athlete but I loved the competition. Then about 9 years ago my eyesight began to fail me (too many years of type 1 diabetes). Now I can't catch a ball, hit a ball, etc. Radio contesting gives me a way to fuel my competitive spirit that lives inside me despite my physical limitations. This past year I practiced CW so I could get more points in the NC QSO Party, much like I would have worked on free throws or batting practice 10 years ago. For me contesting fulfills that competitive need I have, the need to improve, to compete, to attempt to win.

WA0AVL on 2005-10-20
Contest operation is analogous to Indy 500 racing for competitive amateur radio Op's who display a test of equipment preparation, physical endurance, and strategic planning that can result in the THRILL of VICTORY or the agony of defeat...

K0HB on 2005-10-10
Worldwide game of electronic splat-ball.

AD6WL on 2005-10-05
It's when my wife (XYL) gets to go shopping, visit her mothers or sisters. She can do just about what ever she wants as long as she doesn't bother me.

DJ7EC on 2005-09-28
Sitting in dark hot rooms, toegether with other crazy guys and listening to the funny sounds wich are comming out of the radio. No sleep for 24 or 48 hours but fun fun fun! :-)

I just tell them you have to make as much contacs as possible in the given time. Some say: Oh what a stupid hobby you have! Others are sitting next to me and listening to the radio for hours (CQWW SSB 2004 at my fathers Camping side hihi).There I explained about 25 times what i am doing hi hi

73 to all contesters CU on the bands !!

N3XL on 2005-09-23
I have had to explain this to my family several times, so I'll share. Contesting is a way to test my gear's capabilities and to develop better operating knowledge and skills. Building up my log book of contacts is a fun part of it, too. As a LP, little pistol, station with a vertical antenna, I find CW and RTTY to be my favorite modes for contesting. Watching my CW skills gradually improve is very rewarding, alalogous to improving your personal best in a 10K run, or mastering a musical instrument. Another nice part of radio contesting is no lost golf balls, no green fees, nor other wasted consummables like many other hobbies. Yes, radio gear is costly, but it lasts a long time and selecting it to get the most bang for the buck is a big part of the learning experience. Or put another way, making wise purchases is a fun way to apply your technical knowledge.

V31JP on 2005-09-02
A lot of my friends know about fishing and I explain that it very similar. It is all catch and release (We don't kill and eat our contacts/fish). General operating is like going out on the bank or in a boat to just catch any fish that are around. DXing is like going after a trophy fish, you keep at it until you catch that elusive fish or DX country. Contesting is like a fishing tournament, you go fishing during a specified time period and try catch as many fish (or specific type of fish) during that time period or have contacts on the air instead.

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