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A natural result is the ham radio contest! Participants in the ‘radio sport’ have grown in number, technology and skill. Ham radio contesting is an operator endurance event, requiring intense concentration, strategy, and of course the right equipment. All of this is put to the test over a period of from 24 to 48 hours of nonstop, high speed communication. A few large contest stations occupy their own buildings on multi-acre sites with numerous high towers and intricate antennas. These contest stations field a team of two dozen or more skilled operators intent on posting a winning score - that score being in some contests over a million points! Others retreat to their own complex on a Caribbean island and become the target sought by thousands of hams around the world.
And then, there are the ‘normal’ guys.
For the thirty years DELARA has been in place, operating skills and contests have been the interest of a number of members. This group of operators has posted a number of successful entries in various contests - the results are on the wall all around you as you enter our “Trophy Room” here on the site. And now, we launch the logical next step:
We launch the team as representatives of DELARA, and examples of excellent contest operation. We hope this team will accomplish several things:
- The Contest Team will be a more organized approach to obtain high scores.
- The Contest Team will also exist to help hams who are interested in learning or improving their contesting.
- The Contest Team will be open to all ham operators. It’s hoped that the team will function as an outreach for DELARA. Hopefully team members will become interested in joining DELARA. But membership is not required to be on the team.
- The team will meet regularly to discuss their strategy, train interested operators, coordinate contest entries, and generally appreciate the art of radio contesting.
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