(Sorry about first msg, somehow it was chopped by AOL.)
After 39 years in the hobby I entered my first Sprint this year.
Unfortunately for me I had developed an arthritic thumb joint in my
keying hand. Two days before the Sprint my thumb swelled up from
the wrist up, what to do?
Since I was using NA, I reprogrammed several F keys to handle
requests for repeats should they be necessary and two different
reports to handle the calling or being called conventions.
After an hour or so I finally got into the rhythm of the Sprint and had
mucho fun. This really wasn't a one handed Sprint since I was able
to use 9 fingers most of the time to type but not being able to use
my key, it seemed one handed. (smile) I may have a few more
typo's then usual but I really didn't expect to win anyway.
Did I have fun? You bet I did! Was this the ultimate test of my
skills? Not really, great CW ops, easy to copy, strong signals,
mostly familiar calls, no annoying QRM and NO fatigue.
Grrrrreat S&P practice! I agree with Larry, K7SV that a Low
Power catagory would be desirable especially since this is a
domestic contest.
There has been a lot of flaming about which contests are the best
test of ones skills. We all have subjective opinions. Each contest
has something different to offer and which one is the best test of
ones overall skills can never be resolved, they each present a
different set of challanges in our subjective minds. Enuff said!
One handed Low Power fun.
Band Q's pts
80 60 60
40 75 75
20 49 49
_____________________
184 184 X 36 = 6,624
Tony, K2SG FRC Domestic
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