[CQ-Contest] several contesting questions

[Hanlon, Steve]

my contesting research is progressing (at the expense of CW study) and i have a few questions that might cause a holy war.  

what makes a good contest radio? - ssb and cw modes are the one's i'm interested in.  i currently have an Icom 746PRO.  i understand several features of my rig are useful to contesting, but i don't think that the 746PRO is a "contesting" rig per se.  what makes a rig a "contesting" rig.  i'm looking to the future when i upgrade to SO2R for next year's SS.

i'm also at a loss on what frequencies are "in play" on a given band during a contest.  if it's a CW contest, is the entire band within one's license fair game?  since CW is allowed per the band plan on an entire band, why wouldn't it acceptable?  i understand that there are DX freqs that should be left alone, but while S&P'ing you come across someone calling CQ on the freqs, do you work them?

i'm trying to prevent bad habits before they have a chance to form and being a courteous operator is paramount to being a successfully contester in my eyes.  i could splatter my signal all over creation, but eventually i would get my just desserts.  these are the things that i wish i had a local elmer to help me with.  it's difficult to understand my errors if i don't know i'm making them.  and since i can't xmit on HF, i can only hear the QSO's of others as my guide.

-steve hanlon
KB3KAQ