[CQ-Contest] several contesting questions

[k1dg at ix.netcom.com]

> From: Hanlon, Steve <SHanlon at dnr.state.md.us>

> what makes a good contest radio? - ssb and cw modes
> are the one's i'm interested in.

In my opinion, a good antenna makes almost any radio a good contest radio.

Spend your money now putting up the biggest baddest antenna you can, even if you have to compromise on the radio for a while. Upgrading from a 746PRO to a 756PROII is fine, but replacing your inverted vee with a beam or much higher inverted vee is a much better investment, and you'll notice a bigger improvement.

Think if it this way: do you think you would have more fun in contests plugging your 746PRO into KC1XX or K3LR's antenna farm or using a brand new (insert your favorite unattainable dream rig here) into an attic G5RV. Trust me on this...go for the big antennas.

You will also learn to be a better operator using a modest radio for a while and in the long run that will add to your fun. Copying through intermods or modest filters is good practice for real-world QRM. 

You'll learn more about pile-up-breaking techniques if you use the great radio and the attic antenna, but it'll be a long time before it gets to be fun. Making QSOs is fun...and it's easier if you're loud. No amount of great receiver performance will make you loud...only a good antenna/location does that. Once you're loud enough to get through the pileups easily, then you can worry about CQing and getting a better receiver so you can hear the weak guys calling you. 

And the big antenna will work on all the modes, even RTTY if you get into that some day. They tell me there are RTTY contests.

To paraphrase a famous comment: "I've been weak and I've been loud. Loud is better." 

And N2AA's famous T-shirt sez: "Loud is good. Louder is better. Loudest is best."

73, 

Doug K1DG