[CQ-Contest] Basic SO2R ?

[RT Clay]

>From: Dirk Hacker <dirk.hacker at yahoo.com>
>To: "cq-contest at contesting.com" <cq-contest at contesting.com> 
>Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 11:50 AM
>Subject: [CQ-Contest] Basic SO2R ?
>
>
>I'm new to this email group...
>
>Can I start SO2R contesting...with no major problems...with only >>


Yes


>- 2 CAT controlled Radios
>- dipole ants (rig #1)
>- multiband vertical (rig#2)
>- DX doubler (audio controller)
>- low power...under 200 watts


An audio controller isn't really needed, you could make a simple manual audio switch.


If you restrict one radio to a single band (say 40m for a domestic contest) the setup
will be even simpler. You can also easily add filtering for monoband antennas (coax stub).


>How can I make sure I don't fry the Rx front end(s) ?


With horizontal/vertical polarization you probably won't have a problem at low power
assuming your antennas aren't very close together.


>If I add soft rock SDR to monitor "band openings"...how make sure I don't fry soft rock rcvr as well ?


One simple way is to ground the input of the SDR with a reed relay tied to the key/ptt line.
You won't see anything while transmitting but that is not a big loss.

Or feed the IF of one of the radios into the SDR...then it is automatically protected.


>I believe dipole & vertical with 
>no-coupling is ok. 
>(Horizontal vs. vertical polarization)
>I don't believe band-pass filters are a must until power is 500 watts or more (?)


Usually, but depends on the antennas.


Tor
N4OGW