[CQ-Contest] SO2R

[Tom Haavisto]

Hi Hans

Some contests have a "Tribander and Wires" class - perhaps adding this class to other contests would fill the need for the average ham who lives on a city lot with one tower and a tribander.

One important aspect to keep in mind is - stations are NOT equal (and there should not be an effort to make this so).  Some folks have big antennas and live in an area that favours propagation into certain parts of the world.  Others live in areas that have other good and bad aspects to their stations.  

For me, contesting is doing the best you can with what you have to work with.  If that means low power, no packet and no SO2R, so be it.  To compete, try and better last years score, or find stations with similar capabilities to yours and set up some friendly competition between yourselves.  That way, you will have similar propagation, and (hopefully) will encourage you to try a bit harder to best someone close to you both propagation and station wise...  Some contest clubs do this.

Tom





> Rather than limit just one aspect of the competition, provide an 
> entry or basic entry class with no advantages ... limit competitors 
> to one transceiver, no packet, no amplifier and antennas no 
> higher than 50 feet (or 30 feet) and antennas limited to no more
> than  .5 wavelength of total conductor.  Such a category would 
> provide an opportunity for those in antenna restricted areas and
> those who do not want to (or cannot) enter the "arms race" of ever
> bigger  antennas, amplifiers and multiple radios.