The annual concerns about Sunday Afternoon in SS have again, on schedule,
appeared. The solutions proposed so far include such usual suspects as "let
DX operate", "make qsos once per band", "recruit new operators", and so on.
There is certainly nothing wrong with recruiting new operators, though if
someone is that interested, I can't see why we'd want to keep him in hiding
for the first 12 hours. The others are, IMHO, bad ideas.
But let me once again suggest the quickest, easiest, and most fun way to be
part of the solution:
Go find a second station to operate! Or a third, a fourth, or more!!
As many of you know, I've been doing this in CW SS for a number of years. I
call it Single Operator, Multi-Station. It's a lot of fun, and the rates
just keep getting *better* as the contest goes on. Nobody has ever complained
that I gave them some extra qsos on Sunday afternoon.
This year, there has been a rule change that will make this a more appealing
option for many. It is no longer required by the ARRL that the station owner
be a member of a club for the score to count toward the Club Competition.
Only the membership status of the operator counts. So now you can now go
out, find another station without regard to who the owner is, operate it, and
count the score toward your club's aggregate score.
Given the choice between spending Sunday scratching for another 400 qsos from
home, or making another 800 qsos from an otherwise unused station, I'd say
that it becomes an easy win-win choice to find the second station. You keep
your rate up, your club gets more points, and everyone gets a shot at an
extra qso(s).
If you are intent on winning an official award, this may not be for you. But
without going through all the aggravation of getting ARRL to make a new
category (not likely to happen anyway), would anyone like to join me in some
unofficial competition in the SOMS category?
I'd suggest these rules:
1. Operation must be from completely different locations. No using a second
call from an existing station, even if separate transmitters are used.
2. Add the individual scores from each operation.
3. Others (e.g. the owner) may operate after you leave, which would make the
entry a multiop to ARRL. Only the score you personally generate would count
for the SOMS competition.
4. Usual single operator rules apply, i.e. no spotting, PacketClusters, etc.
Open for discussion, before SS, would be the question of whether to limit
total operating time to 24 hours, to permit the full 30 hours (not more than
24 from one location, of course), or set some intermediate limit.
As a goal when operating, I suggest this one: Make more total points than
WP3R. It's a tough goal, which I've only managed once in my many years of
SOMS.
Anybody out there want to give this a try? No problem if you don't: just
think of me on Sunday afternoon of CW SS with my 10 minute rate timer sitting
at 100.
73 - Jim K8MR
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