[CQ-Contest] Contesting on a Budget

[VK4TI]

Budget $1000 yeh right....OK ...

one of my Elmers used to say a SSB signal regardless of how simple the rig
is will get you on air what you do after that is up to you..within the
budget everything would need to be second hand...

The station you describe unless its located in 3D2(Fiji) is a S&P station so
it needs to be able to do that very well.

Second antenna options are good - home brewing gets more bang for
buck....spend the most on antennas and auto switching /stacking capacity 

The rig must be computer controlled and the interfaces all work on all
modes...new Microham or equivalent might spend $350 or Homebrew for $100 -no
need for S02R unless you are home-brewing as the budget wont get there
properly -try the so2v ideas instead..

for SSB the audio needs to be very good and if it is well setup can take the
place of the amplifier spending..but if this is a limited space setup then
the AMP is needed..say $500 second hand..with one rig and so2v with
individual amps on each vfo band (depends on main rig) this can be a very
smart setup..

bench for operating needs to be comfortable and a spend of $200 will get a
very smart second hand unit...get all the wires controls easily accessible -
operator fatigue is a major downfall in a lot of station design.


Trent VK4TI 


Ralph Bellas wrote:
> 
> 
> Folks,
> 
>  
> 
> I'm looking for ideas for the NCJ "Contesting on a Budget" column.
> 
>  
> 
> Assume you have a fairly recent rig, tribander at 40 ft, some wires for
> the low bands, and a computer.  If you had a budget of $1000 how would you
> improve your station for contests?  What would you do first?  What's would
> give you the most bang for the buck?  How can you have the most impact on
> a small budget?
> 
>  
> 
> Ralph
> 
> K9ZO
>  		 	   		  
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