The most recently published list of high-claimed scores in the August NAQP CW
'test includes the following:
N5TJ
K3MM
N4ZZ
NM5M
AA3B
K1VUT
K4FXN
N4AF
K0EJ
N0AV
K6LL
K3PH
K7UP (KN5H)
K4AMC
WC4E
I asked for some input on whether these folks used two radios in this
particular contest. Here is a summary of comments received---some have
already appeared on this reflector, others sent their comments to me
directly. Thanks for the insight provided by these comments-----73, Phil,
N6ZZ
>From N5TJ: Conditions were good overall with nice openings on 10 and 15. 20
and 40 sounded strange at times, hard to get a response to CQs. Thats when
Radio#2 comes in handy. According to TRLOG I made 200+ QSOs on the
second radio. And a little over 40 of those were multiplier moves.
>From K3MM: Yes, I run 2 radios. However, I'm a bit crippled because I only
have one
high band antenna system...a tribander stack. So for the first few hours,
I'm a single radio guy in effect. My second radio must be on either 40 or
160, so I spend a lot of time S&P on 40! hi! I'm hoping to remedy this at
least partially with my next tower and a 20 meter stack.
Usually the best thing to do is CQ on one radio and S&P on the
other...especially if you are just starting out on 2 radios. You can take
it at your own pace that way. S&P on 2 radios is very difficult to do
well, but can be effective if your CQ's just arent making it. The last
method I use when things get desperate is to CQ on 2 bands alternately.
This is usually only effective when things are getting really slow. You
have to keep the CQ's short to avoid losing a frequency, and also be
prepared to scramble when 2 guys call you in a row! Working 2 QSO's at
once is the ultimate, but if someone asks for a repeat (or a pass!) it can
destroy your timing and make you look like a real lid! All this stuff
takes a lot of practice, and the NAQP and SS are perfect!
Getting back to the NAQP, my guess would be that running two radios in this
particular contest netted me about 60 QSO's or so, and probably 10 or 15
multipliers.
I moved a lot of multipliers as usual. There is one common key to the
short contests and that is to keep moving, and this NAQP was a standout for
this philosophy! I was successful in CQing on every band for some period
of time. On 10 meters it might be 5 minutes...on 40 it might go for a 1
hour stretch! But the key is to recognize IMMEDIATELY when your rate is
slowing down and do something about it! Either move to another band to
call CQ or sweep a band for S&P/multiplier QSO's. If you start a band by
sweeping it, you can get a pretty good rate going just S&P and also get a
feel for the band before you plop down on a clear frequency to call CQ.
Just keep your eye on that rate meter. Compare the Last Ten rate to the
Previous Ten rate all the time. If it's going down, you'd better be making
some good multiplier contacts to justify it, or maybe passing a multiplier
from band to band. If not, go to another band and work it out (again).
Just keep that rate going! When I saw my rate meter dip below about 70/hr,
it was time to get concerned and try something new. If and when it hit's
about 50, I usually decide to take my first 1/2 hour off. This time with
conditions the way they were it was well after 0200Z when I took my first
rest, and only because I was hoping that 80 and 160 would mature so I could
work further west later! Usually I'll duck out much earlier, since the
east coast USUALLY gets skunked by the midwest on the high bands. The east
coast usually has to take whatever advantage it can of it's low band
opening. However, every once in a while for NAQP, Sprint, or SS, you get
conditions like we got with both long and the all-critical short skip in
the east! That's when us guys on the correct coast can actually win a
stateside contest! (Well, almost! :)) One other thing is to make sure you
check all the bands before the contest starts. I noted that a lot of guys
lamented their missing out on 10 meters. I had heard all the phone
activity a couple hours before the start and said to myself, " Man, this
COULD be GOOD!". And it was! Although the skip was spotty, it seemed to
constantly shift around to different areas, so I could work out the band in
10 minutes, come back 15 later and pick up a few more. I actually didnt
make my first 20 meter QSO until sometime in Hour 3!
>From N4ZZ and K0EJ: Speaking for myself and N4ZZ. We are both 1-radio guys
but SO2R "wannabe's"!!
>From NM5M: I need to disect my log to get an accurate count on how many 2
radio qsos I had.. Just looking at the log it looks like about 150 qsos on
radio 2. Mults, I would guess about 15...
The greatest benefit of second radio operation at my station is that I can
operate radio one on 15 meters for example when the rate is low (55/hr) and
s&p on 20 meters using rig 2 with the vertical for 20 qsos/hr bringing the
total to something reasonable.
What amazes me about the 2 radio stuff is that I can do it and keep my
concentration on the primary stations rate. When I am not using 2 rigs I
seem to get bored, especially if I am cqing (even is the rate is 90+).
Pushing buttons is not enough any more, i really enjoy S&P operation, and
because of 2 radio operation my scores have risen in the last 2 years.
>From AA3B: I only used my TS940S for the NAQP. I have a second radio, a TS
830S,
but I'm not set up to easily move between the two radios. I also have a
relatively simple antenna system here - dipoles and a 3 element
tribander.
Based on Jeff's comments, it looks like he benefitted from the second
radio in two ways - maintenance of rate and movement of multipliers. I
had my best QSO and multiplier totals ever during this contest - my
score was up over 60K from my highest past performance, so its hard for
me to estimate how use of a second radio would have changed my score.
My strategy for maintaining rates was to go to an open band, call CQ and
run stations until the rate dropped, search and pounce, then change
bands. It seemed to work throughout the contest - helped by excellent
conditions on 10M and 15M.
I also modified my multiplier strategy for this contest. In the past, I
attempted to move as many multipliers as possible from band to band;
this time I was much more selective in attempting moves. I found this
strategy to be much more successful and will likely continue this
approach in the future.
>From K4FXN: I have everything set up to do two radios, but don't use the
second radio. I think it distracts me from concentrating on one radio. I
tried it for a few
contests, but I feel my scores went up when I turned the second radio off!
The only time I use 2 radios is on Sunday afternoon of the SS.
I still havn't got the interference bugs worked out of two radio contesting.
I am on a average residential lot with one 75' tower and my antennas are
close
to each other. I have a Dunestar 6 band filter on the main rig. I feel that
I need one on the second radio also. So far I havn't justified the cost. I
havn't even approached high power due to TVI, etc. At the same time, I use
the second radio antennas all of the time on radio one.
It's funny that Jeff said that he had 200 second radio QSOs. His QSO total
was about 200 higher. On SS the year before last I made about 25 second
radio
QSOs. Last year - none!
I hate to admit it, but I will be happy just to make the top-ten (If my score
holds up!). I think a lot more dedication and work on both techniques and
station design will be necessary for me to improve.
>From K6LL: I'm redoing my second radio bpf switching, ant switching,
and antennas. It wasn't ready for the naqp, so I used
only one radio.
>From K3PH: I didn't use two radios, as I have
a difficult enough time handling ONE radio! 8^) However, it's nice
to be thought of this way, especially since this was my first try at
NAQP!
I suspect the two radios would have helped some, difficult for me to
say how much. There were a number of times when I wished I could have
been on both 10 and 15 at the same time, or 20 and 15 at the same time.
I suspect this would have helped the multiplier total as well as
increasing the QSO total. As I ended up with a rate of about 66 Qs
per hour for the duration, many CQs were resulting in no answers.
I suspect considerable search and pounce on another band could have
been accomplished. However, I'm not set up for it antennawise, even
if I could figure out the logistics of headphones, keyers, computers,
etc. for two radios. Sigh.
>From WC4E: Did you use two radios in a somewhat efficient manner? (Such as
CQing on one band while listening on another)
Yes, ICE Band pass filers Model 219 computer controlled.
The antenna on 2nd radio was only a 40/20/15 M inv at 70' w/765
> If the answer to #1 is yes:
> 2. How many additional QSOs do you think you got by using two radios,as
> compared to what you would have gotten had you been using only one radio?
I made approximatly 100 qsos on the second radio. Not a great number of QSOs
because of 2stn antenna limitations, but a great help anyway.
I'd say half, about 50 I would have gotton on one radio, I used it to "be"
on 40M early with out acually CQing there. I'm sure I would haven most of
those
guys later. Same on 10 and 15, you can "be" on a band with out comitting
to running and CQing at cost to the "main" run freq.
> 3. How many additional multipliers do you think you got by using two
> radios, as compared to what you would have gotten had you been using only
one
> radio?
I think I gained about 20 to 25 mults with the second radio. Mostly because
of a "early" arrival on a band where they are new QSOs. Many were new mults
that
I would not have gotten if were not for the second radio. To have a clear
place to move a guy quickly, knowing whether a band is open to move a guy
there,
etc...
Even if you gain 1 QSO or 1 Mult it is worth it. It may have been that one
extra mult that you may not have otherwise gotten.
The key is productivity, I am still struggling with it. For Jeff N5TJ it
seems to come so easy.
I am pretty sure I will get to the point of 200+ QSOs on the second radio
with a "full" second station (tribander with all other antennas 40/80/160).
Then you have complete flexablilty mult hunt and to move guys anywhere.
I just need to practice w/2 radios, and try to in every contest I enter.
Try it, you will love it. It can make a contest go so much faster and you
will feel like you got the most out of the bands. (my major mistakes were
taking
off times at the wrong times).
A few other comments:
>From W4AN: I can tell you from January that I made more than 200 2nd radio
QSO's. I dont know what the mult distribution was but I suspect it was in
the
order of 40.
2 radios makes the biggest difference in this contest, more than any
other that I operate. That's why I like it and why I do so well.
>From K7RAT, aka N6TR: <How many additional QSOs do you think you got by
using two radios, as compared to what you would have gotten had you been
using only one radio?
In this contest, I would guess about 50.
<How many additional multipliers do you think you got by using two radios, as
compared to what you would have gotten had you been using only one radio?
About 20.
There are other hidden advantages: never missing an band opening, not
wasting a lot of time looking for CQ frequencies to name a couple.
>From KG5U: > 1. Did you use two radios in a somewhat efficient manner?
(Such as CQing on one band while listening on another)
>
>If the answer to #1 is yes:
>
Yes. I would have. I was operating QRP, so my QSX times were
probably longer than those for the big guns. I noted many places
in my log (during and after the contest) where I went for extended
periods of time (couple of minutes) between QSO's. Those times
I was S&P'ing, looking for someone new to work, I could have been
calling CQ on another band and maybe making the odd QSO here
and there that way.
> 2. How many additional QSOs do you think you got by using two radios, as
>compared to what you would have gotten had you been using only one radio?
>
Probably 30 or 40. Seems high (~10 percent of my final QSO count),
but then, there were lots of opportunities to be calling CQ while either
waiting for a QSO to finish or looking for a new station to work.
> 3. How many additional multipliers do you think you got by using two
>radios, as compared to what you would have gotten had you been using only
one
>radio?
>
Half dozen or more? Lots of mults were S&P'ing. I played leap-frog
with a bunch of them by calling CQ just above their QSO QRG in
hopes they were tuning that direction and would hear and call me.
In a few cases it worked. In more, it did not.
But, I think having the second radio augmenting the on-air presence
cannot hurt.
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