5 Centuries

The utility of a radio is how much fun you have when playing with it.  Research on attention dates back as far as Skinner, but really came into its own shortly after WW2.  As the study has progressed over the decades it now come to understanding the actual neuro-chemistry.  Attention is a big deal.  It turns out you can only pay attention to one thing at a time.  Multitasking is baloney.  It also turns out that lower center tasks such as flight or flight demand attention over higher level cognitive function.  You may be engrossed in solution of one of the two expressions of Hilbert's 16th problem and if I come in the room and clap my hands hard phhhzt the solution is gone.  We can't safely text and drive.  Even though driving at some point becomes automatic the analysis of the novel data that hits our consciousness every 100ft is higher order, like solving the 16th problem.  It turns out txting is lower order.  It is all bound up in the biochemistry of social interaction.  So when the dinger dings your brain is wired to disregard the analysis of driving and attend to the strongly positive biochemical rush of social interaction.

I think that's why I like DXing.  It requires intense attention trying to tease out a coherent signal from some God forsaken end of creation.  Adjust the phasing, reduce the noise, center the dynamic range, reduce bandwidth, tune to the hz the DX stations freq.... Analyze the pileup, look for the freq where the DX is listening, get another 5 watts out of the amp...  it's like playing an organ and eventually all the pieces come together and you hear your callsign followed by 5nn and your brain floods with dopamine... or you get on freq make one call and put him in the log.

I finished 5 band DXCC this morning with scenario number 2.  I needed one more on  15 for two weeks to close the deal.  I've been hunting T30D and his 12 khz wide pileups all hours trying to complete the task,  Hour after hour of calling. tuning. recalling. analyzing. then SV5DKL shows up on 15 in the GTC and I bag him with one call.  What's the GTC you ask?  I dunno.  I check WA7BNM's 8 day contest website and it turns out to be the German Telegraph Contest.  The exchange for me is RST so I call him confirm his exchange give him 5NN and its done

I started this on June 6th and it took a little less than 4 months to complete.  I'm 55 away from 6 centuries.  I have never been interested in multi band DXCC.  My antennas don't really support it.  If I get my 160 stuff back going who knows...

73  W9OY

PS while writing this I worked LB6B and MI0AHH on 15  Not sure why I was sweating it