Hi Ron,
Thanks for the info. I'll bear it in mind.
In my experience as a CW DXer, the best approach is not to zero-beat the
last station worked, unless you have a rock-crushing signal (which I don't).
Rather, what works for me is to analyze the DX op's pattern of replies, to
figure out where he might be tuning next. As you said, the Orion/O II's sub
receiver is good enough for that. CW Skimmer, while it might be nice to have,
isn't really necessary for that either.
Actually, if more and more ops use CW Skimmer to position themselves in
pile-ups, it will become self-defeating in the same way that DX clusters are
today. As the old-time ball player said, the thing to do is to "hit 'em where
they ain't."
I "retired" from serious contesting 35 years ago, when I moved out of the
PVRC's contest circle. It sure has changed since then!
73 Ray W2RS
In a message dated 11/19/2008 6:09:08 P.M. GMT Standard Time, ronc@sonic.net
writes:
Ray: FWIW although I'm not a contest "heavy", I have operated numerous
contests over the past 43 years including FD, CQP, SS, NAQP, CQWW and
others, and I have never once heard a station running split in a contest.
Split operation is unique to DX operation and the sub receiver in the Orion
and OII is more than adequate for "tailgating". If you want to update the
tailgating practice, CW Skimmer can be used in 3 kHz mode listening to the
output of the sub receiver to more accurately pinpoint the station you want
to tailgate. Yesterday, I decided to "guild the lily" by ordering a Perseus
SDR receiver (see the newest QST for a review) that I will use in
conjunction with my OII to give a wider bandwidth view of the split
listening spectrum of a DX station.
For more information on the Perseus and CW Skimmer (it's not just for
contests!), see the PowerPoint links on Bob, N6TV's QRZ listing. He gave a
demo of the system to our club last Wednesday, and my brain is still smoking
trying to absorb it all!
Ron N6IE
www.N6IE.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <Rsoifer@aol.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Ten Tec Fan Disappointment....
>
>
> In a message dated 11/19/2008 4:21:51 P.M. GMT Standard Time,
> k9yc@audiosystemsgroup.com writes:
>
>>The O II meets my current needs, and I do not consider the K3's
>>incremental
>
>>performance improvement to be worth trading rigs for.
>
> I agree -- unless you're a VERY serious contester. :)
> Which, for the record, I'm not. I am, however, a serious DXer, on CW and
> a
> little RTTY. I hardly ever operate phone.
>
> It may seem strange to some, but I actually like the general coverage
> sub-RX. It's nice for Armed Forces Day, and for keeping up with the fun
> activities
> of the Maritime Radio Historical Society. The sub-RX performance on the
> ham
> bands has been good enough for what I use it for, which is spotting
> callers
> in pile-ups. I suppose, however, that if I were a serious contester I
> would
> want the K3's sub-RX over the O II.
>
> 73 Ray W2RS
>
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
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