[CQ-Contest] M/S CQing

[KEN SILVERMAN]

>MY QUESTION - Is this allowed to have two stations calling CQ on different
>bands even if one of them is saying he is calling for new multipliers only
???

I have spent a lot of time talking with CQ Committee members on M/S
operations from all the times I organized M/S trips to 4M5X, 4M5I, C6AHX,
VP5P etc.

It is perfectly legal to call CQ on the MULT station.  Though in my opinion,
the benefits of calling CQ are of questionable strategy when trying to
maximize score, especially with the current good conditions.  It can be
beneficial if you have really worked all the other mults on the band at that
time... (which I doubt).  Or if the band has a somewhat limited opening, to
AF or OC, it could be beneficial for a few minutes to call CQ to see what
answers.  If any station spends an inordinate amount of time CQing on the
MULT station, they are loosing the contest in my humble opinion.

Having the MULT station call CQ on SSB is more effective than on CW, as you
can deal with non-mult callers much easier.  Also, the IQ4A MULT station
could actually have worked you with the MULT station, but they would have
had to count your QSO as zero points per the rules, since they are only
allowed to work MULTS for POINTS on the mult station.  They can work
non-mult QSOs on the MULT station , but they cannot count them for points.

When conditions were poor at the bottom of the cycle, I used to call CQ from
many of the 4M5X M/S operations with the mult station on 10m.  I was often
rewarded with many rare African mults, as the band was not open to much
else.  Quite often a PY or LU would call, and I would log/work them too, but
I had to count them as zero points.  The problem with logging a non-mult QSO
on the MULT station, is that you cannot go back and log those zero point
QSOs again for points when the RUN station goes to that band.  In effect you
are "burning" QSOs for the sake of trying to scare up some MULTs.  So the
strategy of CQing on the MULT station generally only pays off when the band
is open to a limited geographic area with a lot of mults.

With the generally excellent conditions on 40-10, I personally would not
spend any time on the MULT station CQing for mults.  There are sooo many
other easy mults to be picked off by S&P or via packet, that CQing on the
MULT station probably would not be overly productive.

Kenny K2KW
Team Vertical Web Site:  http://pages.prodigy.net/k2kw/
DX Holiday Web Site:     http://pages.prodigy.net/k2kw/qthlist/



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