[SECC] Winning SS

[John T. Laney III]

Hal Kennedy wrote:

>Here is a quick and incomplete compilation of my own 40 years of SS
>contesting and reading the competitions' reflectors:
>
>1.  Forget 160.
>2.  Forget 10 at this part of the sunspot cycle.
>3.  Forget 15 if you are on the East Coast.  You will hear the left
>coast running on 15 - this is a trap.  If you study past winners,
>geography and propagation; the West Coast runs a larger population
>center (East Coast) than vice versa.  Make those W6's work us on 40 and
>80.  To misquote Alfonso Bedoya: "15 meters?, 15 meters?, we don't need
>no stinkin 15 meters!"
>4.  You must stay in the chair for the first 10 hours.  Exception:
>Having fun - don't care about score - in which case get on for the last
>hour.
>5.  Its all high angle.  Dipoles beat high yagis in this contest - to a
>point.  If you own a dipole, try stringing a 1/2 wavelength wire on the
>ground directly under it for SS.
>6.  The "U" category is less competitive, but less so every year.  I've
>been top ten in that category for the last two years, running just two
>multi-band dipoles, but it is getting harder and harder. 
>7.  You can keep an internet display of solar disturbances at your elbow
>- even if you are unassisted.  Solar "up" and bands getting bad? - stay
>in the chair vs. taking a break.
>8.  The winning margin comes from working the casual and nearly-uniques.
>These guys sometimes call CQ for an hour on Sunday morning then go to
>church.  You must S&P to find them.
>9.  You must work VY1JA to get 80 sections.  Secret only available by
>private email.  Still reading?
>10.  All off times should be between 30 and 30.1 minutes in length - see
>above.
>11.  The last hour is hot.  Taking the ending hours off is a BIG
>mistake.
>12.  The Sunday doldrums are talked about ad nausea by losers.  My
>personal observation is that the contest is won on Sunday afternoon.
>WP2R wins every year - he is behind every year until Sunday afternoon.
>I am behind every year and finish "top ten" by catching up Sunday
>afternoon.  It is an S&P game on Sunday - the lazy CQ-CQ-CQ ops complain
>about no action because they are L-A-Z-Y.  I run an 80 rate on Sunday
>afternoon - 40 on the CQ radio and 40 on the S&P radio (SO2R).  I can
>run nearly an 80 rate just S&P on Sunday afternoon - I have the logs
>that show this.
>13.  Sunday is a great practice field for SO2R.
>
>Insights one and all?
>
>Hal
>N4GG
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Be sure to take a full 30 minutes off.  Better still take 31 minutes off 
to be sure.  Remember that the way of counting now is different than it 
used to be.  If your last QSO before a break is at 0030Z and you make 
your next QSO at 0100, you were off only 29 minutes.  Don't take a 
chance on losing your off period.  73, John, K4BAI.