Hi Al:
Well get ready - this is going to be a good thread ! HI I see already some
interesting comments by Dave K6LL.
In my case (and I'm NOT in the Top 10 in anything), I've been using RTTY as
my preferred contest mode for only about 5-6 years. I have upgraded my
station accordingly to compete in HP DX contests, at least to my
satisfaction. In my opinion, you first ask "top 10 IN WHAT ?" You don't have
to go HP, and SO2R (which WILL increase your score) does NOT require a
special SO2R box. Now if you plan on CW and SSB contesting as well for SO2R,
yes, you need something to direct your transmit 'focus'. I use the Microham
SO2R box. But for RTTY, you can get by with simple 'right channel, left
channel' audio from each radio to the sound card. I have the endless emails
several years ago to/from Joe at Microham to get this working right ! HI You
also don't have to have 2 super-duper radios. I was using my trusty FT1000MP
MkV and an old FT-847 that I used for satellite comm.. Getting the audio off
the '847 was tricky and had a different impedance than that from the MkV
requiring me to build a little break out box with a transformer.
You will need more than one antenna - even if it's just a dipole and
vertical. In fact, it's just those antennas that work well on domestic
contests such as the NAQP. You don't need a separate antenna switch if you
dedicate one (or more) antennas to the one radio. I dedicated an old R-7000
vertical on the roof to the '847 and everything else to the MkV. It wasn't
the greatest way to do it, but it got me in the game and I could tell the
difference in my scores.
At low power you don't really have to consider bandpass filters and if you
"experiment" with coax stubs you may make matters worse, as I did. HI (You
need to know how to specifically get the frequency right on those).
Understand it's just like Field Day with several unfiltered radios going at
it in close proximity ! If you can get your antennas separated as much as
possible, this will greatly help with the inter-station interference. Using
different polarizations (vertical and horizontal) will also help as will
keeping horizontal antennas generally orthogonal to each other. Stay
cognizant of where your harmonics are on the radios you're running.
All this and more are on the great web site of Don AA5AU. I'm sure he'll
chime in on this.
73 and have fun !!
Jamie WB4YDL
-----Original Message-----
From: rtty-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:rtty-bounces@contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Al Kozakiewicz
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 11:43 AM
To: RTTY reflector
Subject: [RTTY] What does it take to finish in the top 10?
I'm curious about the operating techniques part of RTTY contesting.
Forget, for a moment, about the DX contests where the station QTH and
antennas can be a major contributor to score. The just ended NAQP is kind of
a great leveler - low power, $20,000 antenna systems are not a tremendous
advantage and there aren't too many rare multipliers. I looked at Don
AA5AU's QTH on Google satellite and it doesn't look like a world class
contest station. A decent tower on a suburban lot - well within the
resource limitations of many hams.
I put an honest 9 h0our effort in. It would have been 10 except that it
snowed here for the first time this winter and my planned 2 hour break for
dinner out with my wife turned into 3. But, in my case, I doubt the extra
hour would have made a huge difference. I had a total of 429 QSO's and my
best one hour rate was 69.
I did learn this time to be more aggressive in switching from run to S&P
when the running QSO rate slowed down.
But what I really want to know is how many of the contesters who score north
of 500 QSO's are running SO2R? When I consolidate my 2 QTH's this year, I
will build SO2R capability, but I need to know how much is dependent on my
ability and operating techniques and not station capabilities?
Al
AB2ZY
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