On a daily basis, I’m not extremely active compared to some hams and the radio propagation has not been the best lately (though it is improving.)\u00a0 In a couple of weeks there will be a contest<\/a> and, with luck and effort I may contact several hundred stations, all over the world, in a single weekend.<\/p>\n Although it doesn’t seem that it should be difficult, contesting can be quite taxing.\u00a0 Imagine sitting in front of a radio for many hours listening to signals from all over the world and trying to sort them out from one another.\u00a0 Add in various kinds of noise and interference to make the task harder.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u00a0 need to accurately log the call sign, time and other details for every contact, avoid ‘dups<\/em>‘ (working the same station twice) and checking for changing conditions on 5 or 6 different frequency bands.\u00a0\u00a0 When I was younger I would go for a whole contest weekend with 4\u00a0 hours or less of sleep a night.\u00a0 I’m not sure if I have that stamina now but I’ll give it my best try.<\/p>\n Why?<\/strong> Well, for the personal challenge mostly.\u00a0 It’s a way to test your equipment and improve your operating skills.\u00a0 There is also the fact that scores are published and you can compare your performance with other amateurs.\u00a0 Finally, there are awards for the top scorers in their category.\u00a0 Here is a certificate I won 20 years ago and\u00a0 I haven’t done that well since.\u00a0 But I keep trying.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tom.hise.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/DXcontestcertificate.jpg\" "\\"DXcontestcertificate\\"")
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