KEY ELEMENT #7 Half time adjustments
After what seemed to be a great start, we discussed strategy every chance we
had during the course of the contest. Marty had looked at prior years' scores
and compared them to where we were. We hoped, like all contesters, that what we had
done during the first day would be good enough to give us a chance to win. Up
to this point we were still competing against ourselves, doing our best for
each other and ourselves. We had already made more QSOs in the first day than
the PJ2T multi-single team had made in the entire ARRL DX CW contest a few
weeks earlier! Would there be enough casual operators available in the U.S. to
continue the rate? Many questions entered our heads as we began our second
day. One thing that kept creeping up was our level of fatigue. I noticed, as
I�m sure Marty and Jerry did also, that every time a new operator took over
the rate seemed to increase. Was this a change in conditions? No, it was a
change in operators. A fresh operator, came in with new enthusiasm, new energy
and was able to log more contacts. Because of this, it made sense that we
change our plans for day 2. Our 8 hours on and 4 hours off plan worked for the
first day, but with fatigue now entering the equation, we needed to adjust the
plan to fit our new picture. So after each of us received one more extended
2-, 3- or 4-hour rest period, it would be 2 hours ON with 1 hour rest. This
provided a fresh operator every 2 hours.
KEY ELEMENT #9 Persistence
During the course of the second night, rates reached painfully low marks but
the boredom and frustration were lightened with words of encouragement from
other contesters stopping by for a quick chat. K0XM, K5NZ, K9PG and others
stopped by for humorous interactions, which provided encouragement and
motivation. It was during this time when Jerry WB9Z mentioned how �plugging
away,� or successfully enduring these tough times, is often the difference
between success and second place. Looking back at it, I can�t agree more. This
is what makes those top guys the one's to beat. Several times in my young 4
year contesting career I �wished� I had tried a little harder, stayed up a
little longer, etc. The difference is in the effort during the tough times, as
I experienced first hand while operating next to Jerry. He was a figure of
consistency, a diesel engine just continuing with the somewhat monotonous task
of working one tough station after another. �Kilo Alpha Seven again....�, �Kay
Ay Seven Whiskey.... what�s the last letter?� �Thanks for hanging in there�
�QRZ this is Papa Japan 2 Tango?� In a later discussion we all noted that, we
living in the Midwest we are used to digging out the tough ones. Even when
times are good we have to do that.
KEY ELEMENT #10 A push to the finish
Daylight came again, and with it some renewed enthusiasm. Marty awoke from his
rest and after making some calculations wrote a �Post It� note at each
computer listing the number of QSO�s needed to make it to various benchmarks:
10 Million Points = X QSOs, 12 Million = Y QSOs, 13 Million = Z QSOs. These
were good targets, something that I usually do at the Multi-Multi�s at my
house. Now we could see what it would take, and it became a race to see who
would be the operator to turn the point total over to 10 million mark. By now
fatigue was almost comical, with each of us struggling at some point to speak
the same words over and over again. Many callsigns other than PJ2T were spoken
inadvertently, needing correction. Anyone who has been to this level before
understands what I�m speaking of. Even with 2 hour operating schedules we
struggled. The schedule was working however... Marty�s voice was beginning to
fail and he considered (after 10 million points were secured) taking an
extended time off. However, not giving up on the team, he was back in the
chair operating after a short rest. With about an hour left and a brief
discussion of beer (Marty offering free beer for those who would join us after
the contest), I reached into the refrigerator and opened a couple of Amstels
(the local favorite) and placed them in front of Marty and Jerry, just a
little more encouragement. Just a few more QSOs and now a new goal: 12,500
QSO�s. We had held off moving to 20M because the rates on 10 and 15M remained
good. With the move to 20M, the final pileup on an extremely crowded band was
incredible. There was no problem working them as fast as we could speak; both
15M and 20M kept us going to the final total of 12,510 QSOs and a score far
beyond our original goals but not beyond our ambition. We had, after all, made
the effort to assemble a good team, in a good location, with good equipment,
good planning, and we operated with persistence and determination. Success
comes to those who are prepared when the opportunity arises. I�m sure glad the
Propagation Gods shined on PJ2T that weekend. Thanks to each of you who logged
a QSO with us.
Marty (NW0L), Jerry (WB9Z) and Tom (AE9B)
BREAKDOWN
Hour 160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total Cumm
OffTime
D1-0000Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 273/50 273/51 --+-- 546/101 546/101
D1-0100Z - - 112/30 226/6 - - 338/36 884/137
D1-0200Z - - 101/11 251/0 - - 352/11 1236/148
D1-0300Z - - 161/6 244/1 - - 405/7 1641/155
D1-0400Z - 192/46 161/6 14/0 - - 367/52 2008/207
D1-0500Z 84/33 20/1 101/0 - - - 205/34 2213/241
D1-0600Z 33/6 32/3 124/1 - - - 189/10 2402/251
D1-0700Z 47/5 85/1 45/0 - - - 177/6 2579/257
D1-0800Z 30/3 39/2 53/0 --+-- --+-- --+-- 122/5 2701/262
D1-0900Z 1/1 52/2 31/0 - - - 84/3 2785/265
D1-1000Z 1/0 50/0 29/0 - - - 80/0 2865/265
D1-1100Z - 22/0 27/0 31/1 20/1 - 100/2 2965/267
D1-1200Z - - - 66/1 119/1 93/27 278/29 3243/296
D1-1300Z - - - - 178/3 131/7 309/10 3552/306
D1-1400Z - - - - 156/1 192/12 348/13 3900/319
D1-1500Z - - - - 138/2 199/5 337/7 4237/326
D1-1600Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 159/0 259/1 418/1 4655/327
D1-1700Z - - - - 210/0 270/3 480/3 5135/330
D1-1800Z - - - - 184/1 230/2 414/3 5549/333
D1-1900Z - - - - 200/1 189/2 389/3 5938/336
D1-2000Z - - - - 269/0 199/0 468/0 6406/336
D1-2100Z - - - 72/0 187/0 76/0 335/0 6741/336
D1-2200Z - - - 176/1 219/0 - 395/1 7136/337
D1-2300Z - - - 204/0 111/0 - 315/0 7451/337
D2-0000Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 167/0 131/0 --+-- 298/0 7749/337
D2-0100Z - - - 251/0 167/0 - 418/0 8167/337
D2-0200Z - 98/0 150/1 17/0 - - 265/1 8432/338
D2-0300Z 6/1 94/2 116/2 - - - 216/5 8648/343
D2-0400Z 81/1 46/0 111/1 - - - 238/2 8886/345
D2-0500Z 31/1 37/1 90/1 - - - 158/3 9044/348
D2-0600Z 11/0 89/0 76/0 - - - 176/0 9220/348
D2-0700Z 15/0 32/0 45/0 - - - 92/0 9312/348
D2-0800Z 5/1 20/0 25/0 --+-- --+-- --+-- 50/1 9362/349
D2-0900Z - 30/0 19/0 3/0 - - 52/0 9414/349
D2-1000Z - 17/0 19/1 3/0 - - 39/1 9453/350
D2-1100Z - - 15/0 37/0 - - 52/0 9505/350
D2-1200Z - - - 91/1 37/0 - 128/1 9633/351
D2-1300Z - - - 89/0 40/0 40/0 169/0 9802/351
D2-1400Z - - - 125/0 - 169/0 294/0 10096/351
D2-1500Z - - - 36/0 42/0 177/0 255/0 10351/351
D2-1600Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 64/0 143/0 207/0 10558/351
D2-1700Z - - - - 73/0 178/0 251/0 10809/351
D2-1800Z - - - 25/0 14/0 121/0 160/0 10969/351
D2-1900Z - - - - 144/0 169/0 313/0 11282/351
D2-2000Z - - - - 146/0 155/0 301/0 11583/351
D2-2100Z - - - - 178/0 153/0 331/0 11914/351
D2-2200Z - - - 61/0 141/0 59/0 261/0 12175/351
D2-2300Z - - - 201/0 134/0 - 335/0 12510/351
Total: 345/52 955/58 1611/60 2663/61 3734/61 3202/59