Ken nailed it...at least for me. I'm primarily a RTTY contester and I run
SO2R because it is fun. Being proficient at running two radios presents a
challenge. Since I'm a little pistol (two radios, two beams on one 65 foot
tower, one rotor) from the badlands of West Texas SO2R might give me a
small step up over someone running one radio everything else being equal.
If I was serious about winning a RTTY championship, it would require much
more than two radios. I'm at least one more hop from Europe and there ain't
enough 40 meter ops within 500 miles of me to make one good hour. It is
just fun. My challenge is beating my own scores which, excepting this
year's RTTY Roundup, is worth the effort.
I'm pretty certain there won't be a leveling of the playing field anytime
soon. Probably the only way to do it would be some sort of complicated
handicapping system. When you consider location and antennas, SO2R is well
down the list as an advantage.
And besides, at least in RTTY, guys like Ed, W0YK, and Don, AA5AU, would
still be big time winners with one radio.
I do run prefill as well. After all, I need all the help I can get. I don't
see prefill as a big advantage though. It may pop up the exchange, but I
still need to check what's there against what's sent. It's a small tool but
worth the effort. And I'm a good typist as well.
Interestingly, prefill is available to all of us because guys like Ed,
W0YK, and Gary, AL9A, are willing to share what they have...even though we
may be competitors. To prefill, or not, is a personal choice but certainly
within the rules.
One of the nice things about amateur radio is we have so many choices to
fulfill our ham radio wishes. Regardless of what the contest organizers
decide about these issues, I will continue to play. Each new contest
season, I can find things I need to work on: better accuracy, butt in the
chair longer, learn better where I need to be when. The result has been
some certificates, even some plaques but more importantly the satisfaction
of knowing I did the best I could with my circumstances.
CQ Contest!
Bill, KE5OG
On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 4:15 PM, Ken Widelitz <widelitz@gte.net> wrote:
> I disagree with you Dean. I have no interest in going back to SO1R, whether
> there are new records to be set and broken or not.
>
>
>
> I do SO2R because it is MUCH MORE FUN than SO1R. Yes, it does require time
> to learn and optimize the required skills. Yes, it does require more
> technological challenges but it is MORE FUN to plan, implement the plan and
> overcome those challenges.
>
>
>
> After doing SO2R for a while, SO1R for an entire contest strikes me like
> Sunday afternoon in the Sweepstakes. That is NOT to say SO1R can't be or
> isn't fun or challenging. It just isn't near as much fun nor as
> challenging.
>
>
>
>
> 73, Ken, K6LA / VY2TT
>
>
>
>
>
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