, Bob.
Here are some tips I have followed from various sources to maximize my
scores:
1. Operate the full amount of time allotted for your class. Stay on the
radio even in the slumps.
2. Run, run, run (call CQ) on the highest open band at any given time. Only
S&P when the CQ'ing isn't fruitful or your looking for mults. See #6.
3. Be polite but firm when chasing others off your run frequency. Ops who
can hear you will try to bully you. Don't let them.
4. Have the best antenna configuration possible at your location.
5. Use a "hard-core" logger such as CT, NA, N1MM, or WriteLog. Learn all the
possible functions and features before a contest. Set up all messages ahead
of time and know thier locations on the keyboard intuitively.
6. Make a plan on when to start searching for valuable multipliers. Raw
numbers of QSO's can and will be beat by superior numbers of multipliers in
some cases.
7. For CW, speed and efficiency rules! Anything below 35wpm is too slow. If
you can't do 35 then work towards it and go as fast as possible in the
meantime. Learning to touch type makes copying high speed CW via PC much
easier, too.
8. Plan your operation to maximize your antenna situation and propagation
events. Sometimes luck or good "guesstimation" will find you in the middle
of a nice, unexpected opening to an area of good multipliers.
9. Listen, listen, listen. Work hard to pick out the weak ones. They just
may be the mult you really need.
For example,
During the IARU I established a run during most of my operating time due to
the great band conditions. The YI call helps LOL! At the beginning of the
contest, 15 meters was open and that's where I stayed for about an hour
until contacts dried up. Then, I moved to 20 and kept an overall 127/hr rate
over 3 hours. After that, rates dropped to around 67/hr for the next 5
hours. I took no breaks to stretch, eat, or anything else----just stayed in
the chair and pounded away.
My antenna system is very limited and I knew I had to work as hard as
possible on the higher bands. I struggled to make 2 QSO's on 40 meters. I
went back to 20 and slogged on over the course of the evening, picking up
weak but workable Europeans. 10 meters opened up briefly the next day and
provided a few mults. The band sounded dead but calling CQ for only a few
minutes brought out a few stations.
Hunting for mults at around the 700 QSO mark, I did about an hour of
search-and-pounce. Then, I went back to running until the end of the
contest.
End result was 917 QSO's, 68 Mults, and 279,820 points after 16 hours. My
mults really suffered due to the lack to low band coverage. I feel I could
have been higher in the rankings otherwise.
I did much of the same during the CQWW WPX SSB and scored over a million
points as SOAB LP. Prerecored voice message automation in Writelog kept me
on the air for the final 4 hours of the contest after I lost my voice.
Whatever it takes to win.
I took the top spot in YI in that contest. My "mortal contest enemy" is
Dave, YI9QWO. He gives me a run-for-the-money in all SSB events. So far,
I've beaten him by staying in the chair longer and maximizing my hunt for
multipliers. During the WPX SSB, Dave actually had more mults than I, but I
had more QSOs and squeaked by him by 40k points. I was in the chair when a
major opening to Asia happened on 15 meters and he missed it. That ended up
being the difference.
Hope this helps.
73,
Korey YI9VCQ/KA5VCQ
Al Asad AB, Iraq
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