[CQ-Contest] Station Upgrades

[Stewart Cooper]

Whilst this is probably one of the most fundemental and interesting
questions asked for a while, I'm probably not the only one who's going to
say this... I can't agree that a 3 second band-change is going to make much
difference to the score, if the antenna is a tri-bander at 30ft!
For info, I have built monobanders for all HF bands at hardly any real cost,
utilising scrap, old beams and a few pieces of new aliminium. I have noticed
a huge improvement.
I still haven't upgraded the old TS940 or (even older) Collins amp. The only
risk assessment involved there is whether my wife finds out if I did ;-)

Stewart GM4AFF

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-cq-contest at contesting.com
[mailto:owner-cq-contest at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Leigh S. Jones
Sent: 10 June 2000 01:24
To: CQ-Contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Station Upgrades



While the easiest answer is to make antenna improvements, the real answer
requires a bit of risk assessment.  Upgrading your antennas will only
improve your overall score if your indoor equipment can reliably be expected
to last through the contest season.  Your transceiver must be equipped with
a minimum of a CW filter and no tuning required when changing bands.  A
1300+ W output class amplifier with 10 meters and 160 meters capability is
important.  Autotune amplifiers or a second amplifier are recommended to
reduce time lost for band changes and increase your mobility.  The goal is
an honest no-tweak bandchange in under 3 seconds including antenna switch,
transceiver, controls, and logging software.  Until these goals are met,
score improvement through antennas may cost more than score improvement
through equipment.

Although most have found that a major score improvement can come from
improved 80 and 40 meter antennas, those who are primarily interested in the
Sweepstakes or other domestic contests and who do their contesting from the
Eastern seaboard may discover that increasing their antenna height or adding
a 40 meter beam may be disappointed with the overall score improvement.
Also, due to the difficulty of working crossband on 40 meters, a 40 meter
yagi may not improve a phone DX score as much as hoped for...

Assess the survivability of your existing equipment before concluding that
antenna improvements are your best approach, but also assess the true
potential for antenna improvement carefully.  In many locations there will
be antenna height restrictions, limitations on antenna turning radius, and
other factors that will cap the antenna growth potential.  If turning radius
is a problem, try a cubical quad.  Also, remember that a 70 foot crank-up,
fully installed, with antennas, rotators, and feedlines, is a very big
investment by comparison to a used transceiver and amplifier.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pedro Pedroso" <l38217 at alfa.ist.utl.pt>
To: "Chris Blakely" <chrisb at waveinter.com>
Cc: <CQ-Contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 6:46 AM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Station Upgrades




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