On Sun, 28 May 2000 14:53:41 -0300, "MARTIN MONSALVO LW9EUJ"
<lw9euj@ciudad.com.ar> wrote:
>
>Hello Gilmer:
>Refer to N6TR message. You'll see you don't need big bucks. You can take
>advantage of this technique by using inexpensive transceivers and/or
>receivers.
>Consider you have an average contest station: let's say you invested US$
>15,000. You can enjoy SO2R with a little extra US$ 600-1000 = 4% to 6,66%.
This raises a very interesting point. What is the "average" contest station,
and how much does it cost? I know of very few people in their 30's or younger
than can afford to invest US$15,000 in radio gear. Even investing US$1,000
per year after age 21, that kind of investment takes 15 years, with no kids
and no house!
Is contesting becoming a rich guy's sport? While superb contest stations can
cost well north of the mentioned figure, I'd imagine the AVERAGE contester has
more like $5,000 US in a station (single radio, single tower, triband and
wire). Figure $2,500 for the tower (or much less if used!), $1,500 for the
tribander, and another $1,500 for the radio. I'd argue a competitive radio
can be had for about 60% of that on the used market (around a kilobuck).
I'm by no means competitive, as I'm in an apartment and have no tower or
antenna. But the "average" ham shack that I'm acquainted with has one HF rig,
one tower (if lucky) and a triband yagi, and some wire for 30m and down.
--
Marty, N5NW
______________________________________________________________________________
Lakeland (Memphis), Tennessee http://marty.w.tripod.com/
N5NW@midsouth.rr.com
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