Review - Contact Sport by J K George

Disclaimer – I received an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Contact Sport is a book about a somewhat obscure, and unknown (at least to me) sort called Contesting or Radiosporting, Specifically a competition which took place in 2014. This somewhat anachronistic event involves ham radio operators from around the world coming together in one location – in this case America – to compete against the other teams over a 24 hour period to make the most contacts with other radio operators in Europe.

The author does an excellent job of teasing out the history of previous events, and the characters who are involved in the whole competition. The fact that the author went out involved himself in the action, working alongside one of the teams made the story that much more interesting.

While not all of the concepts involved are explained particularly well – for instance, how the point scoring system works in the contest – but it is generally very accessible for people who don’t necessarily know much about ham radio. It was also interesting to hear about the use of, and integration of modern technology in this old

As a fan of bird-watching, and  other obscure sports, I can appreciate the obsessive nature of some of the contestants who took part in the event. Even the slightest mistake can ‘ruin’ everything.

I really enjoyed reading the book, and learning about something new – I had no idea that there were such contests still going on around the world, and while there is something “old-fashioned” about it, it still has a certain charm.

4.5/5 stars