Steve N2IC asks a very pertinent and interesting question?
"How seeing 200+ unidentified panadapter blips on a crowded band helps you
to identify non-duplicates and multiplier stations when you are running at
an average rate of 153 QSO's per hour for 48 hours."
There are a lot of nuances in the answer, and even though I don't pretend
to "educate" or have the stature of N6TJ's Secrets of Contesting Chapters
that I very much enjoy reading, I'll try to be a bit presumptuous and say
my explanation fits that Chapter.
First it is not a blip but a trace. By being a trace you have history. That
is you see back in time. If you are just an SO2R generation operator either
you are on the 500hz channel at the same time the possible DX is TX and you
listening to it or you are not and you listen nothing. With a panadapter
you see a signal trace. I set the motion of the traces on my panadapters to
be visible on the screen for about 20 seconds. This means as an SDR
generation operator I've just added another dimension to the contest. I
listen now and I see 20 seconds into the past, thanks to the signal trace.
As an SO2R generation operator you only have the present, as a SDR
generation operator you have the present and a bit of the past, and this is
very relevant for different techniques.
Another nuance that is important to take into consideration is the moment
of the contest. Is it the beginning? or is it late into the contest. Are
you randomly looking for needed multipliers or are you looking for specific
stations? Let's assume it is late into the contest and you are specifically
looking for, say 5 African stations that you are missing and you know are
active, and is the time of the day for them to be on that band.
You have this challenge in front of you. A crowded band, 200 stations
active and 5 African needed multipliers out there.
The SO2R generation operator would start in the beginning of the band with
his second radio, and with a 153 QSOs per hour average rate, not to mess
his run rate on run radio, to go over 200 channels on the band thoroughly,
it would take a couple of hours at least.
How do I do it in less that 30 minutes?
I beam one antenna to Africa, and I beam the other antenna off to the
direction where I have the greatest null (let's say it is 90º off
direction). Then I zoom my pandapter to 10 Khz span. In that zoom I have
about 30 traces (stations). By toggling between the Africa antenna for 10
seconds and the 90º off antenna for another 10 seconds, and then fezzing
the panadapter screen, it is very easy just looking at the width of the
trace (small width small signal, wider width bigger signal) to say where
from the signal is coming, in this case if it is from Africa or not.
This simple technique makes it possible not to go and check the 200 signals
on the band, but may be just 10 or so, and if you are lucky, may be out of
those 10, you'll find the 5 African multipliers that you were missing.
So what you see here again, is by using a SDR generation method instead of
a SO2R generation method you are accelerating the speed of the contest, in
this case, the speed of your search. You worked the needed mults, you saved
time not going over dupes and non mults, and you are free to another
challenge.
73 José Nunes - CT1BOH
*Steve London* n2icarrl at gmail.com
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*Sat Mar 23 09:42:39 EDT 2013*
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------------------------------
Jose,
As a lowly member of the SO2R generation, I need some education.
Your CR3E scores are listed as SOAB (not assisted). You say:
"I consider myself in the SDR generation because that is the way I
operate from CR3E."
Please help me understand how seeing 200+ unidentified panadapter blips
on a crowded band helps you to identify non-duplicate and multiplier
stations when you are running at an average rate of 153 QSO's per hour
for 48 hours.
73,
Steve, N2IC
José Nunes CONTEST CT1BOH - http://www.qsl.net/ct1boh
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