Is attendance at a contest operation worth your time ?

Even if your not an HF op

There is a lot that non HF ops can do during the contest
but the most important thing is to come and have fun !

Things to do during an HF contest if you either do not want to operate or are just not sure if your fast enough or a proficient HF op......

Monitor the bands on The Multi-Op finder rig
looking for band openings and needed multipliers
In sweepstakes there are 80 multipliers available and the team is eligible for the prestigious Sweepstakes mugs once we work all of those multipliers
(In SS The multipliers are ARRL and Canadian Sections for example many states are divided into several ARRL sections) A couple of the hardest sections to work over recent years has been Alaska and North West Terittory (in Canada)

There will also be periods where the contact rate falls way below 60 -90 QSO's per hour !
and even ops that are not fast or real proficient get to work the rigs alongside a more experienced contester (many dedicated contesters including myself started by watching and learning this way)

Several ops show up just for a few hours to watch us dedicated contesters run the rate count whay up over 100 conteacts per hour, visit the antenna farm and tour the shack just before the contest starts or simply enjoy the wide range of "Contest Ala Gourmier Food" we have on hand

One word of caution......
Contesting is an addictive sport !

73
steve
KG5VK