I'm one of the 4 who submitted an entry to the ARRL HBC contest. I
figure I put maybe 500 to 600 hours into the project. I had relocated
in February to take a new job, and my family wasn't able to join me
until July. Consequently, I had the time on my hands anyway.

This may seem like a lot of time, but when you consider the average
American spends that much time watching TV in four months, I don't
feel too bad.

I consider it time well spent. I learned a lot that I will be able to
use on future projects. I'm sure that the other contest participants
would agree.

73 - Dave NM0S