[CQ-Contest] SO2R a new category?

[Dick Green]

Just about everything I would have said against making SO2R a new category
has been said here, except for one thing: SO2R has made contesting more fun
for me and so I participate more. Do you really want to discourage guys like
me?

Being technically inclined, I had a lot of fun designing and building my
SO2R station, and have enjoyed the challenge of learning to use it well.
That has also made contesting much more attractive to me.

For the last two years, SO2R has allowed me to turn in competitive scores
with just two low tribanders, a 4-square and a low inverted vee. Without
SO2R, I would have little hope of competing with ops who have massive
towers, stacks, beverages, and so forth. As it is, they're still way ahead
of me. I can't erect a huge antenna facility here, so I've put the effort
and dollars into building a state-of-the-art SO2R station. Why do I need a
separate category and the guys with super antennas don't?

Stacked antennas can allow you to work JA and EU at the same time, provided
you have the skill to build and use them effectively (i.e., you've studied
propagation and worked contests enough to know when to split the antennas.)
Why isn't there a separate category for that?

Incidentally, knowledgable ops tell me that very skilled SO2R ops can
increase their score by about 10%. I haven't come close to that yet. 10% is
pretty good, but not exactly earth shattering. If you think it's undeserved,
try designing, building and learning how to use an SO2R station. It's a
*lot* harder than you may think and those who master it deserve the
advantage.

73, Dick WC1M


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