[CQ-Contest] Contesting in the Sunlight [was: SO1R and SO2R]

[Robert Naumann]

W6WRT said: "Your statement shows you do not understand two radio
operation".

I'm Sorry Bill, but you are incorrect. 

I happen to know a lot about it, and I have been using more than one radio
on and off for around 25 years. It started when I got my new Kenwood TS-830
and used it and my old Heathkit SB102 at the same time. Back then we didn't
call it SO2R - in fact, we didn't call it anything. If you wanted to be a
competitive single op, it has always been de rigueur. I still have the
"SO2R" switching box that I built around 1980 to do it. My highly
advantageous antenna farm back then was a TA33 at 25' and a ground-mounted
4BTV.

You said: "the operator can listen during 100% of the contest period". 

That is simply not true. 

The other thing you don't seem to understand is that it is impossible for
even the very top competitors to listen to the other radio for even a
majority of the time. It is impossible to operate at very high rates on one
radio and listen to the second radio a lot - if at all. The effect is that
it sits dormant - certainly providing no advantage during those times.

The time when a second radio is beneficial to anyone at any skill level is
when the rates are slow - like in SS on Sunday afternoon where you can
seemingly call CQ endlessly without an answer. Using the second radio may
help keep an operator from passing out from boredom. SS is a special case
(and a really good opportunity to learn how to do SO2R) where it is
especially useful because of the endless CQing and the long exchange giving
you plenty of time to use the second radio. 

In DX contests when the exchange lasts a second or two at most, the ability
to tune around on a second radio is much less of an advantage than you seem
to think. Think about how many new multipliers and qsos you could find while
you are saying fi-nine three or fi-nine Caleeforneea - or even when pushing
a DVK button to say it for you.

So, in your scenario, for the guy with one radio, who is highly skilled, and
presuming that he wants to remain competitive, I would highly recommend that
he (and those who are alleged to have "studied the issue") ought to get a
second radio so that he (& they) can use it during slower periods like all
other competitive single operators have been doing for decades and stop
complaining. In fact, I would recommend that beginners get a second radio
and learn the skills necessary to use SO2R as soon as possible.

Problem solved!

73,

Bob W5OV

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Turner [mailto:dezrat at copper.net] 
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 8:55 PM
To: Robert Naumann
Cc: 'CQ-Contest MailList'
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Contesting in the Sunlight [was: SO1R and SO2R]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:07:32 -0500, you wrote:


>Aside from him having better skills, there is no advantage.

------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------

Your statement shows you do not understand two radio operation.

Here it is in a nutshell: When using two or more radios, the operator
can listen during 100% of the contest period, even while transmitting.
The one radio operator, no matter how skillful, can not do that. As a
result, the two radio guy can find mults and unworked stations that
the one radio guy can not.

If the two ops are both very highly skilled, the two radio guy will
win every time, all else being equal, and by a large margin too.

Most people who have studied the issue feel that the advantage of two
radios is about equal to the HP/LP advantage, the SO/MO advantage and
the assisted/unassisted advantage. Those situations eventually
resulted in the creation of new classes in the interest of fairness
and one/two radio situation should too.


Bill, W6WRT