[CQ-Contest] SO2R "Time Element"

[Robert Shohet]

This SO2R "Time Element advantage" is NONSENSE!

Bill if you are concerned about a "Time Advantage" that some stations
have over others then why aren't you concerned about differences in
antennas?  I could sit ALL DAY in the YA4A pileup in the CQWW CW contest
on 10 meters and NEVER get through with my low wires.  Or I could spend
2 minutes getting through with the 4-stack that I now have.  Isn' there
a time advantage here?  I could have use 8 radios and it wouldn't have
made a darn bit of difference.  Same with the other 100+ mults. I worked
in CQWW CW in S & P mode.  

Frankly, (and I speak from personal experience here) there is NO
comparison between the advantages that high power makes vs. low power,
big antenna systems vs. little antennas etc. and a second radio or third
or fourth would NEVER make up for it!  High power or big antennas are
MUCH BIGGER advantages than a second radio so this time element savings
stuff ONLY because of SO2R is bunk.  Big antennas matter MUCH more!

Big antennas save many hours and generate a much bigger score than any
advantage from a second radio even if operated perfectly.

Or, to put it another way, I could have run a SO2R from my QTH with the
low rotatable wires that I used to use vs. a SO1R operation with the
antennas that I have now and the SO1R operation would CRUSH the SO2R
score and with considerably LESS effort!

A comparison of my scores in many of the contests that I have operated
over the past two years (with similar radio condx of course) would bear
this out.  

Why don't you do this comparison to prove it to yourself?   Put up low
wire antennas and operate SO2R, then go to a station with big antennas
and operate SO1R.  If you do this for two years for a bunch of contests
you will soon see that BIG antenna systems are a much greater advantage
to saving time than a second radio.

Why not legislate away directional antennas while you are at it?  A beam
pointed S or E or at JA is a tremendous time saver vs. having to rotate
an antenna there.  Isn't that an unfair advantage vs. stations that
don't have directional antennas?  What about differences in tower
heights?  Can we compare the time saved with a low angle antenna high up
when trying to work longpath vs. an antenna at 40'? 

Real competitors compete against THEMSELVES to maximize their
efficiency, skills and scores versus what they were able to do
previously.  They don't look to make excuses and are willing to work
harder than less serious competitors to get the most out of what they
have to work with.

Their primary focus is to better themselves in competition by comparing
themselves to the best with the best stations regardless of what they
have to use themselves and their victory is when they KNOW they have
done well because of a higher level of skill, new knowledge or a better
understanding of stategy exhibited in a higher score.

For years I competed (my choice) in the SOABHP category with my low
wires against the best operators in the US with the best stations in the
US.  I had NO chance of winning but I did not care.  My progess was
measured against how close I could come and how much I could improve by
raising the bar to almost impossible heights. My victory was that after
20+ years of operating and winning lots of contests previously, I became
an even better operator, with greater skill, greater knowledge and a
better understanding of what it was possible for me to acheive.  

I decided to test myself with the ultimate challenge, how to maximize my
score to the utmost by maximizing my score for EACH MINUTE of the ARRL
DX contest.  The means when 1214z was over, what could I do to maximize
my score for 1215z, then 1216z, etc.  

By doing this vs. a more normal operating strategy, I could have taken
the last five hours "off" and still had a higher score.  The would just
about have equalized the SO2R time advantage that you claim.

So, I suggest that you work harder, compete harder and raise your skill
to a higher level if you don't want to be SO2R.  If I can continue to
improve to make up for perceived "disadvantages" I am sure that you can
too.  You may not want to work that hard and that is ok, but then let's
accept the categories as they are and compete within rather than
without.

In the long run, honest self-praise and and the knowledge of improvement
are much more long-lasting and rewarding than a piece of wallpaper.

73

Bob KQ2M


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