Why Contest?

The allure of amateur radio appealed to my sense of adventure. I enjoyed listening to Morse code while Brian a neighborhood friend communicated with different parts of the country from his room. My grandfather (KA9EEU) who is a silent key passed the generational legacy of ham radio to me. He sat with me after making a long trip from Waukegan, Illnois and we practiced Morse code on the dining room table. He taught me basic electronic theory enough to pass the novice examination.

I received my novice license in 1979 at 15-years of age. My shack consisted of a crystal controlled Heathkit DX-60 and a HR-10 receiver on a tiny wooden table in the bedroom. A 40-meter dipole antenna bought and built by my grandfather connected KA3DRR with the world. I used a straight key for Morse code and a knife switch for receive and transmit. The wireless knows no borders and soon my signal bounced around our blue planet.

A friend of many to follow through the fellowship of amateur radio wrote a QSO script. He outlined what to say when a ham answers one's CQ and the follow-on content such as rig, weather, and antenna. I recall the moment vividly as the first KA3DRR CQ departed Sharon, Pennsylvania assisted by the Earth's ionosphere. Nervous? Yes. Excited? You bet. Certainly, mistakes followed and learning the art of Morse code took practice much like today. However, the deeper quality of amateur radio remained that is, the fun of meeting those who share in our wireless hobby.

My passion for contesting developed through a series of stages. First, attending my first-ever field day in Transfer, Pennsylvania whose location overlooked Mercer county. I remember Drake C-lines and their bluish glow as local contesters called CQ Field Day and used paper logs and paper dupe sheets. The stations dispersed between grain silos and a few acres of freshly cut grass. The novice station transmitted within a grove of tall oaks using a Kenwood transceiver and a Nye Viking tuner for the random wire. I strolled between each station listening to the rapid clip of Morse code. The 24-hour event exhausted me and I fell asleep on that Sunday summer night with the echo of Morse code.

The excitement of contesting deeply etched itself into my sense of self. The next stage of contest development happened as a chance circumstance that evolved into passion.

The Novice Round-up sponsored by the ARRL opened the contesting door for good. I upgraded my station by then with an electronic keyer although the DX60 and HR10 remained. The knife switch broke a record for the number of throws per contact. I experienced for the first time the physiological and psychological meaning of running stations. One experiences a synergistic effect when mind and body syncopates with the keyer, the log, and other contesters. Time itself while moving forward stands still in the run mode. Suddenly, one looks at the clock realizing an hour passed and 70-plus QSOs are in the log.

The thrill and adrenaline of running stations does not match today's instant messaging.

My military career in the Air Force presented an opportunity to operate in the Republic of the Philippines as KA3DRR/DV2. This stage of contesting allowed me to experience the other end of the pile-up. I enjoyed running JA's on 15-meter SSB and Europeans on 20-meter CW. The most notable contest was CQ WPX CW multi-single with another G.I. as DX2F. I remember well his deftness and skill with the keyer. We shared a lifetime memory beneath a tin roofed home running a Kenwood TS530SP into a Butternut HF6V with 20-radials at 25-feet.

Life circumstances took me away from contesting except for a brief year while serving in South Dakota as KA3DRR/0. The indelible print of contesting remained however and, after retiring from the Air Force and completing graduate school, the dormant CQ contest echoed again.

Why contest? The answer might vary from contester to contester. Personally, contesting wove itself into the fabric of my life from my first Field Day in Transfer too the Republic of the Philippines and South Dakota. Contesting is a good friend who patiently waits through the seasons of life. Today, the evolution of technology and its impact on contesting is to say the least, amazing!

Technology changes but the lifelong friendships and lifetime memories as a direct result of contesting are not worth missing. This is why I contest.