[CQ-Contest] SO2R

[Larry Schimelpfenig]

A lot of good suggestions based on lots of experience have been provided. I 
tend to agree with Andy AE6Y, to start out small and build up. As has been 
discussed in another thread on this reflector, SO2R means many things to 
many people.

Initially I found that having a second receiver to watch for band openings 
was a great help. Then I added a T4X to the R4C and used a crude but 
workable method of switching which transmitter was keyed. Used a rotary 
switch to switch receive audio. I continued to build from there. Recently I 
picked up a used DxDoubler, and have to say that it mades things easier.

It seems to me that after Lee's signature in one posting,  he indicated he'd 
be doing low power. That's what I do from the home qth and get by without 
filters or stubs. The rotatable dipole on 40 is 8 feet above the tribander. 
The only place I have a problem is hash on 20 when I get too close to the 
second harmonic from 40. If I stay 20khz away from the 40M harmonic, it's 
very usable.

I wouldn't write off use of a "decent" trap vertical. The cross polarization 
helps a lot. In the last few operations before K4JA shut down, a vertically 
oriented driven element from a triband beam was used for inband qso. I know 
several individuals who use trap verticals as the second radio antenna with 
success. The key is using a decent trap vertical that is configured to work 
well. You could also build one or several monoband verticals at very little 
cost.

K6LL suggested that a dipole at 75 feet with 1500W works well. I have a 
dipole for 20 at 50 feet in a tree that is 100 feet from my tower. It works 
great with 100W. I remember questioning it as I put it up for NAQP CW. 
NAQPs. As I was S&Ping on 40, I was amazed to have a KL7 answer my CQ on 20.

I look at it this way, one can dump a whole lot of money into an SO2R 
installation only to find they really dislike it anyway. If you start out 
small, you can get some feel for SO2R without a large cash outlay. You may 
also find that you don't need all the whizbang gadgets to be effective.

Just try stuff!

73 de Larry K7SV