[CQ-Contest] Tri-banders/Wires

[Bob Shohet, KQ2M]

Hi Stan,

For the first 4 1/2 years that I operated from my present qth in Western CT (1994-9), I used only LOW wires on 10 – 160 and competed in the SOABHP NON-assisted category with the “big boys” rather than the Tri-bander category.  And I was barefoot on the 2nd radio!  

Even with those enormous handicaps I still managed to come in 3rd in the 1995 ARRLDX contest at the bottom of the sunspot cycle and one year I actually had the North American high score in WAE CW!  And, in addition, I had mostly top 5 and ten 10 finishes in ARRLDX, CQWW during those years whenever I operated almost full time.

I was amazed at how competitive I could be even though I was 15 – 25 db+ weaker on the high bands with wire antennas lower than 50’ feet!  And I wasn’t much stronger on the low bands either.

I focused on developing and maximizing my skills and made every minute count in the contest.  I became much more effective as an opr and realized that how I did was really mostly about my skill and attitude.  I operated like I was a big station and it made a HUGE difference in my results.

In Summer 1999 when I put up two towers with yagis on 10 – 20 and  wires on 40 – 160, (which is what I am still using 19 years later) I was ready to take my scores to the next level because I had already learned to compete against the best ops with the best stations in the toughest category – even though it wasn’t a “fair fight”.  By setting my sights higher, it helped me to raise my level of operating and expectations for myself and that directly translated into better scores and results.

I chose not to group myself with the Tri-bander category but rather with the “Super Heavyweight” class.  And I would recommend that for anyone that is looking to challenge themselves and become the best operator that they can be and get the best results.

73  & GL!

Bob  KQ2M


From: Stanley Zawrotny 
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2018 1:12 PM
To: CQ-Contest at contesting.com 
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Tri-banders/Wires

While discussing fairness, ask anyone who uses a wire antenna if they think being grouped with amateurs that have tri-banders is fair? Sure is hard to rotate my 80M OCF dipole.

Stan, K4SBZ

"Real radio bounces off the sky."