For those of you who have never operated in this event before, please make sure to give it a try. In the years it has been around, it has grown to become one of the most popular non-contest operating events of the year. Details can be found here - http://www.13colonies.us/
Notice I kind of highlighted the words "non-contest". It's supposed to be a fun operating event. You know, a low stress, have fun kind-of-thing. I've participated several times and always had fun. Even had a "clean sweep" two times.
Unfortunately, and way beyond the organizer's control, there are those who turn this into a competition, to see who can complete the task the fastest. Immediately, "What's the fun in that?" comes to my mind, but that's just MHO. The event last from July 1 to July 13 - there's ample time even for casual operators.
Then, in the past few years, there have been the regrettable instances of jamming and people just acting like butt holes in the pile-ups. and yes, there ARE pile-ups! The baddies are hard to ignore, but you can. When someone starts acting like a jerk, go chase one of the other Colonies until things calm down. Some people feel the need to spoil things for everyone - and unfortunately this event gets its fair share. This year, with a lot of folks working from home, maybe the activity will be more spread out with less of a reason for the jerks to act jerky.
But all that aside, getting all 13 Colonies and the bonus stations can be a ton of fun, and you can feel good about the accomplishment. My advice would be to just have fun ...... period. If you find yourself smacking your forehead at some of the idiocy you may encounter (hopefully you won't) ....... then it's time for an ice cream break, because we all know, ice cream makes everything better!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
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