Totally stressed out by a DXpedition?

[AB8MA]

This is a hobby. It is supposed to be fun. If you are really getting stressed out because you did not work PT0S on CW even though you already have SPSP confirmed on SSB and RTTY I would say you are getting too wrapped up in this hobby and instead of a relief from the stresses of daily life this is actually causing you added stress. My personal opinion is when this hobby is no longer fun and is instead adding to one's stress levels instead of reducing them, it is time to take some time off from the hobby.

It's time to reevaluate the hobby my friend. I think you are much too invested in the DXCC count ...

73,

Chris/NU1O

I printed this and taped it to the wall at my operating position. You described me to a fault. Thanks.

[W2IRT]

I will tell you the ultimate stress. Working CQWW-CW from a lightweight station in Canada. Once the band to Europe closes, IF I can get a rate of 5 Qs an hour to the Caribbean or Africa it's miraculous. The stress is absolutely insane. Every PY and LU has 5-10 guys calling constantly. The places in SA or countries with only one active station have piles worse than PT0S. OA4SS may as well be BS7H. Now, try running 100W and a small yagi at 25' with an extremely bad callsign. The only stations I can work are the ones CQing. I'd sell my left, um....arm....for an amp or a real antenna from here. Not possible to work more than 200 Qs in the entire weekend single band 15.

[NU1O]

It seems a good number of ops will be stressing over finding out they didn't work PT0S on 28051.8 today where they really worked 6V7V.  Yes, 6V7V was ID'ing.....even really slow at times.....and the pile raged on!

6V7V is causing a lot of problems.  There was a spot during CQWW for a BU7V and although it turned out to be 6V7V many just looked at the cluster and worked them w/o even listening for their call.

If there is one rule I see commonly broken it is not listening for an actual call but trusting a call from a spotting network. 

73,

Chris/NU1O

[W9RND]

If we can convince enough people that DX'ing is a disease and that it is NOT worth the stress -- it will make bagging those ATNO's that much easier! 

seriously though, with my modest station I always relish ATNO's but don't get too upset if I strike out. 

as for self-inflicted misery -- LoTW being so far behind is causing me stress.  I am so addicted to getting a new confirmed QSO every day or two that the current bottleneck is driving me nuts.  It has been DAYS since I have had my LoTW QSO's and confirmations change, and it is driving me nuts   

I cannot imagine doing this all the old school way and waiting for snail mail (although I could not afford that).  Did DX'ers of old camp out by their mail boxes? 

[KY6R]

Did DX'ers of old camp out by their mail boxes?

Yes.

[NU1O]

If you are really getting stressed out because you did not work PT0S on CW even though you already have SPSP confirmed on SSB and RTTY I would say you are getting too wrapped up in this hobby and instead of a relief from the stresses of daily life this is actually causing you added stress.

It's time to reevaluate the hobby my friend. I think you are much too invested in the DXCC count which many hams do not even pay attention to. 

Chris,

That is good advice.  Decided to reevaluate some things this afternoon after spending too much time on the CQWW contest.  I should be grateful that I have PY0S confirmed on 2 bands and modes, and I have ZL9 confirmed on 20m CW already, so need to keep that in perspective.

Decided to delete my scoresheet for the 2012 DX marathon.  Don't need the stress of keeping that score as well.  So it is gone and already out of the recycle bin.  Same thing for the log I was keeping for the CQWW contest.  To quote Black Sabbath "It seems like desperate measures but sometimes it has to be done."

Nice to work you last weekend in the SSB SS.  I was running from the minivan in the parking lot of Olympic Gold Gymnastics in Clinton, OK where my daughter was doing a meet.

Now to get on the exercise cycle and hit the cycling again!

John AF5CC

Hi John,

I was reading your bio and you have more countries worked than I do and you're using a "minimalist" station.  I would've thought you would've got stressed out a long time ago since you are using such a modest station.

When a rare DX station, like PT0S, comes on I do not look to work them on every band and every mode.  I just go with the flow and work them where they have a strong signal.  Since I have a Triband Bencher Skyhawk that usually means 10, 15, and 20 meters.  I do not  enjoy RTTY so that eliminates one mode.  I ultimately worked PT0S on 4 bands and 2 modes and I was extremely happy with that result. I am trying to fill in band slots so I can have DXCC on all bands from 10 through 80 but there are many easier targets than SPSP for 80 meters and I don't bother with 160 meters as I will never have a competitive signal from this location.  If I work all the easy targets in just Europe and The Caribbean I will be very close to 100 countries on 10 through 80.

I participate in many of the popular contests but I realized a long time ago since I was never going to win my section it made very little sense to stay up all weekend just to add points to a losing score. For this past weekend's contest I spent about 10 to 12 hours in the contest mainly going up and down the band S+Ping. I did make it a point to work the African stations which were activated for the contest (7P8, EL2) on the 3 big bands and I added three countries to my total for the Diamond Award. I enjoyed the time spent but I really could care less how my score competes with other stations since I did not try to maximize my score.

As for the Marathon, I have other interests and do not want to have to tie myself to the radio for a whole year. I am counting countries for the Diamond Award because I find it interesting to see how the world has changed politically in the past 75 years yet I will not be as competitive as some since I only started participating about half way through the year.

The ARRL Handbooks have a section at the beginning of each issue called The Amateur's Code. I think it would do us all well to keep a copy someplace in the radio room and to read it once a year. I think the part about an Amateur being balanced is the part most DXers and Contesters need to pay attention to.

Here is an excerpt from The Amateur's Code:

BALANCED: Radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community.

It was written in 1928 and it sounds a tad hokey now but many DXers and Contesters could benefit by keeping the principle in mind.

It is very hard to be balanced if one is looking to fill every band slot and be competitive in contests while working full-time and raising a family.  Actually it is virtually impossible. 

I'm glad the advice was of use to you.  It just seemed like common sense to me.

John, nice to work you on 10 meters during SS.

Here is a link to the full text of The Amateur's Code for anybody interested in viewing it:

http://www.qcwa.org/amateur-code.htm


73,

Chris/NU1O

[NU1O]

This is a hobby. It is supposed to be fun. If you are really getting stressed out because you did not work PT0S on CW even though you already have SPSP confirmed on SSB and RTTY I would say you are getting too wrapped up in this hobby and instead of a relief from the stresses of daily life this is actually causing you added stress. My personal opinion is when this hobby is no longer fun and is instead adding to one's stress levels instead of reducing them, it is time to take some time off from the hobby.

It's time to reevaluate the hobby my friend. I think you are much too invested in the DXCC count ...

73,

Chris/NU1O

I printed this and taped it to the wall at my operating position. You described me to a fault. Thanks.

Does that make me an author now?  I always wanted to be one.   

73,

Chris/NU1O

[N2RJ]

Nothing is wrong with being passionate about DX, but when it begins to take a toll on your mental and physical well being then maybe it's time to reevaluate your priorities.

Like others said, it's just a hobby.

[W5DQ]

John,

Don't feel like you're alone.... I spent a couple of long sessions trying to get them on ANY mode as I needed them for an ATNO but to no avail. I think this was the worst DXped I have heard in years, not due all to the ops but the myriad of A-holes whos life calling is to create havoc in pileups. I understand and can accept a big pileup but to have to fight a big pileup along WITH the burping, whistling, 'heeelllllloooooooo'ing, constant carriers / tuning, and other piles of dog doo that I heard made it not worth my time to continue to fight it all. I gave up and went to do something more relaxing. I'll wait for the next one (if there will be one in my lifetime).

Gene W5DQ

[W1VT]

Did DX'ers of old camp out by their mail boxes?

Yes.

Now we just check LoTW a couple times a day!  My 80M LoTW QSL for PT0S just came through!

I figured that since these guys were great low band operators, it was worth getting up in the middle of the night to work them.  Sure enough, I had easy contacts on both 80 and 40.

[N2RJ]

I wrote a little program to check LoTW for me. Haven't really used it much but soon I will get a notification in my mac's notification center whenever a new LoTW entity gets confirmed. Has a few bugs to iron out yet though.

[AF3Y]

I wrote a little program to check LoTW for me.

Well, it would not help much right now. ARRL.org is down, and obviously LOTW is down as well.  Why am I not surprised?

73, Gene AF3Y

[W1VT]

LoTW is on a different server.  It was still up a few minutes ago.

[AD9DX]

I wrote a little program to check LoTW for me. Haven't really used it much but soon I will get a notification in my mac's notification center whenever a new LoTW entity gets confirmed. Has a few bugs to iron out yet though.

That would be sweet on my iPhone while I am at work.

[W9RND]

Now we just check LoTW a couple times a day!  My 80M LoTW QSL for PT0S just came through!

Congrats!  when did your QSO take place?  My one good (10 meter SSB) contact with PT0S was on Nov. 20 and for a few days now I am  waiting for LoTW to give me anything beyond Nov 19...