[CQ-Contest] SO1R vs. SO2R

[VE5ZX]

> Before you ask........I have a fully functional SO2R capability.  I have

So do I

> I believe that SO2R skills are the most demanding a contester can acquire.
> They do not come easily and require a significant investment.  The time
> taken to learn the operating skills is considerable but for some very
> worthwhile.

Agreed! BUT! Even the most unpractised SO2R op can acquire a few more mults 
than an SO1R op. When I converted to SO1.5R before changing to SO2R and used 
it in a contest I immediately gained an advantage over my SO1R setup simply 
because of the ~few~ extra mults I could work in the slow periods. I can 
only image the advantage I will have when I become more proficient.

It appears that for some strange reason SO2R ops are afraid to face-off 
against one another. It seems they would rather remain anonymous in a crowd 
of SO1R ops. Very strange!

This argument can be settled once and for all. All that is need is 
information. Simply report which stations are running SO2R even by putting 
an asterisk beside the call of ops using SO2R. Even better - the sponsors 
only need to report it in the on-line scores. Without this information this 
debate may continue on forever simply as a war of words without facts to 
backup either sides point of view.

BUT wait a minute! In order to report SO1R vs SO2R would mean a change to 
the Cabrillo 2.0 format or even better a complete change to XML - an IT 
industry standard.

Lets get on with modernizing our contest data collection so we can gather 
some real information and settle this disagreement and many other like it 
using knowledge not simply speculation!

Syl

Sylvan Katz - VE5ZX
Saskatoon, SK