07/25/2002 | K3FT This 10M contest in 2001 was a first for me.

In my 33 years licensed, all my contesting activity had been with
groups, never alone, so I never really had a guage on how I was
progressing or how I would stack up against others.

Thanks to W3PP, I was able to accomplish the goal of learning,
with objective evidence, where I was in the realm of being
competent at the crazy contesting game.

W3PP offered me the use of his excellent station. Dallas' station is
at configured as such (after lots of years of his hard work!)
which levels the playing field with other competitive folks
in terms of hardware, location, and facilities. This level playing field meant that the only real variable
(besides props and Murphy of course!) would be my own skill level.

So, with this goal to test myself and see where I rank in mind, I ran
unassisted CW single op low power and set off to see what would
happen. My goal was not to win or place highly.. but to test myself
and see where I would fall in terms of my skills and abilities.

However, as time went on and Q's accumulated the thought that I might place
well inspired me to become more aggressive in seeking Q's and mults.
My adrenaline starting running when I thought I might actually have
a chance to crack the top ten W/VE LP for 2001.

I had not made any plans for attempting to do so, but seeing that the
possibility existed made me more agressive in hunting mults and Q's.
When the results came out it was a pleasure to be able to actually get some quantifiable
data concerning my own abilities after all these years.

Band conditions were great. Lots of activity! W3PP is a great host
and station and the 10M contest is a great contest!
(regardless of where I scored, It was a blast!)

73
Chuck K3FT -- K3FT