The better  station you have, the more fun ( easier) it is to rack up high scores.  Rates of QSOs and  number of multipliers = Score.  Logging programs automatically fill in the  perfunctory RS/RST so thats not slowing things down  like it used to.  Ditto no more duplicate sheets to cross check to make sure you havent worked a station three times before.

Quiet bands  rarely tell you what propagation is capable of.  Crazy contests HIGHLIGHT  good openings you didnt know existed.

Are antennas or is power more important?  Which antenna works best? 

Watching the whole world come in is exciting.  Pulling out call signs from  waist deep piles of  stations is an art.  But having a good radio helps.  QRN  QRM  QSB complicate things.Each aspect is a challenge. Technical skills and art come together.

I started DXing in the  early 1970s.  I met a few hams at their homes. Guys like SM7BVR, SM7DML, PY8AZT, 5A1TV, ON5CJ  Ive met guys  at DAYTON and in my home, like KH6IJ, VK0HI, VK9NS.  I talked with JY1 a half dozen times.  Working  DXpeditions on various islands, rocks, in countries I knew nothing about always appealed.  Far away places appeal. Learning about them appeals. 

DXing  and contesting are intertwined, IMO.  But contesting also lets you do things like set up special event stations to honor a local hero, or special activity like Arbor Day.  Or trying to work all the state parks in a given  state ( like Ohio) during an 8 hour period, once a year, or over a 12 hr of 26 or 48 hr period. Or to work all the counties in a given state on a given day or weekend.  We set up stations  by lakes, and make 400 contacts in one day.  Or 1200 contacts in a weekend.  Or work a guy on a solar powered  radio while riding his bicycle down the coast of California during Field Day.

It brings people together to have fun.  Or to chase a common goal.  To improve emergency communications skills just in case they are needed - and that is one of the major reasons  we have ham radio in the US.  It helps prepare us for emergency traffic after tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

Some like QSL card collecting. Postage stamp collecting.  It goes on and on.  But for some of us,  there are usually a hand full of things that  keep our interest piqued and keep us going.  For me,  its now 56 years  as an amateur radio operator.

I think you are starting to find some reasons to give contesting a try.  It's fun all alone, but its  IMO more fun in a group.

Good luck.

Unofficial early Results:

29 hrs on the air
2 CW ops
5 loggers
a barefoot rig: 100w to a 600 ft horizontal loop at 70 ft.
814 QSOs
74 multipliers
120k+ points ( up 50% from a year ago.)

Conclusions:  If you ever doubted what a  horizontal loop can do,  try  one, as high as you can go.   A couple of tall trees, or more,  vertical or  sloping or horizontal, these babies work!

Depends on how far out it is.

Had an FT902dm with CB crystals.  When I replaced them with 10m ham band crystals the output was  low.  I tweaked the alignment by ear and  restored normal output.

No rf output has  many causes, so the finals/driver tubes may need  replacement.

Thanks to all who responded.

I also have a large spray  can of Radio Shack  "electonic cleaner"  but using it does little good on electrical contacts/noisy contacts.  Smells like kerosene, so it may be more of a degreaser than anything else.

Nooooo comparison to the DE-OX-iT. 

SWL reports are pretty rare for most hams.  I especially enjoy getting reports/comments  on some of the more challenging bands:
6 meters
60 meters
160 meters.

Good luck.

Last year three CW ops and 2 loggers used a 40 ft vertical, quarter wave  inverted L with 22x65' radials and 100w from a barn in rural Licking County Ohio.  This year it will be a 70 ft high horizontal 160m loop excited by an IC-7600 @  100w, with 3 CW ops and 2 loggers from Fairfield County, OH.  N3FJP software.

Last year 67% of our QSOs were made on Day 1.  Our 60 mults included  5 DX plus 6 VE sections and 49 US states+ DC. Hoping for better cndx on Day 2.

So if you hear WW8OH, please give us a  contact.  Thanks in advance!

Bob, Fred, Jack, Kevin, Brad. (COOKEN A.R.C.)

no doubt about it....ten is much more fun than 6.

But why not get an HF all band rig.  HF is where the fun's at. Even for listening.

Use it for cleaning up my many old coax connectors and barrel connectors.  So I managed to empty  one of the two mini-aerosol bottles from Radio Shack in one day.

 Now Ive  got the GOLD bottle left. To use it next.

Got it. 

Agonizing, but  got it. 

Anyone know how this can be done?

Had great success with this product for cleaning up coax connectors and barrel connectors that have become noisy or intermittent due to  corrosion over the years. The noise is gone. The connectors  shine.  Even my SWR curves look different once the coax jumpers i the shack were  cleaned up.

Radio Shack sells  two tiny bottles of DeOxIT DN5, and DeOxIT Gold for $20 or so, which is  expensive for the tiny quantity you get.

Can anyone recommend a better source at better prices?

I love this stuff.  And I have   several old stereo amps with very noisy pots and switches I want to try and  restore next.

Note: there are several DeOxIT products.....not sure if one is better than the other, but the DN5 product works very well.

Part of  the fun ismaking do with what you have.  With a bow and arrow or  bait casting with a small sinker, or other method, hang some twine, tie it to stronger rope, and haul up a corner of your  loop.  Keep it as symmetrical s possible, although Ive had some pretty wierd shapes in the air and they all work well. 

Let enough sag  in the wire to let the trees sway.   If it  snaps and comes down, do it again with a stronger line or a little more snag.  Dont be Hercules when hoisting the wire. When it feels hard to move and its mostly up where you want it, accept it and start operating.

Our club uses horizontal loops as terrific antennas on 160-80-40m,  often erected just for FD, the Ohio QSO Party, etc.  Ive used them  for 20+ years and rarely had one come down.  But nothing is really lost if one does.  SO no need to sweat the details or seek perfection.

Ive used #14 solid copper on 160-40m loops ( an assortment of 4 sided and 3 sided shapes depending on tree availability) with some stretching but nothing I couldnt live with.  The tighter you hoist it the more stretching you get. So dont be a perfectionist. Being a slacker is ok!

Item 1:  Just jump in, listen for what the exchange is, and start giving yours out.  We appreciate each contact and dont ask questions.
Item 2:  If you get around to it, submit your log.  Most logs are computer files emailed in.  Once you get the hang of it, its no big deal.  BUT, f you dont know how to do it, dont let that stop you from having a little fun, and helping the contesters out. 

Hope to see you in the contests, beginning with the CQWW 160M CW contest  the last week of this month.  160 is wall to wall signals, 4-5-6 deep. Its amazing how the lesser used bands come alive at contest time.

The 2013 CQWW 160 CW Contest ( last weekend in Jan 2013)  is upon us.

More CW ops are again needed, this year, this time to help defend our  Ohio Section  1st Place award from 2012.

The 2013 station will be operating from Lancaster, OH, using a 160m horizontal loop at 70 ft, and 100w.  Bugs, keyers, keyboards all will be accomodated.  So if you can do 20 wpm or more, and live close enough to partake,  drop me an email at w3hkk@arrl.net for directions.
Remember, this is  a night time contest requiring two all-nighters.  So the more ops we have, the more sleep we get!

Guys want to help out, often have an antenna ready to go, and are glad  to help out.  Plus its always interesting to see how  different antennas perform.

We usually use  verticals for our special event stations, usually on 40m ssb, and make 125-150 contacts in a casual days operating.  On FD,  taking advantage of some 70 ft trees, we hang an 80m horizontal loop for 80-40.  With another club, we used a windom ( OCF dipole) at 35 ft on a hillside sloping down to the west and cleaned up on 40m CW.  There is no single answer for success.  Also have had good results with a fritzel multiband dipole at 40 ft. 

Surprising results with simple antennas and 100w.

Our club  won the Ohio Section high score last year on the CQWW 160m CW Contest with 100w to a 40 ft tall, quarter wave inverted L, with 22x65 ft  radials.

Trying new contests, from new locations, appeals to a group of members, and allowed us to make 6210 contacts during 2012 in 12 different contests/events. 

Identifying possible locations  for good antennas - and  nice equipment to use -is an on-going challenge.  Ohio has one of the few Worked all state parks" contests.  We used a members cabin for years,  and next year will be looking to rent a cabin for the weekend and try an even more exotic location.