[SECC] Winning SS

[Bill Coleman]

On Sep 29, 2006, at 10:40 PM, Hal Kennedy wrote:

> 1.  Forget 160.

Since you can only work stations ONCE, 160m is a waste of time. It's  
easier and faster to work folks on 80m or higher.

> 2.  Forget 10 at this part of the sunspot cycle.

10m can often surprise. If it opens, there could be a lot of  
activity. An occasional ear to 10m might be worthwhile, particularly  
for bagging some of the longer distance mults.

If nothing else 10m opening might be a good indication that 20 or 15m  
may be good bands.

> 3.  Forget 15 if you are on the East Coast.  You will hear the left
> coast running on 15 - this is a trap.

If 10m opens from the left coast, 15m may be runnable. At this point  
in the sunspot cycle, that's not likely to last long, if it happens  
at all.

> 4.  You must stay in the chair for the first 10 hours.

Most SS activity comes in the first 12 hours. If you miss rate in the  
early hours, you will have a hard time making it up later.

> 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.

I think it depends on how high your yagis and dipoles are. I ain't  
got nothin' but high angles here.

> 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.

SO2R if you can.

> 9.  You must work VY1JA to get 80 sections.  Secret only available by
> private email.  Still reading?

VY1JA isn't the only YU/NWT station out there. You can sometimes find  
others.

> 10.  All off times should be between 30 and 30.1 minutes in length  
> - see
> above.

Don't get on too soon! Make sure you have 30 empty minutes. Get on  
one minute early and you've wasted your off time.

> 11.  The last hour is hot.  Taking the ending hours off is a BIG
> mistake.

This has not been my experience. The last hour can sometime be  
active, sometime be dead.

> 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.

Good tip.

> 13.  Sunday is a great practice field for SO2R.

The long exchange gives a lot of time for tuning.

> Insights one and all?

14. If you are not working 8 & 9-land, you are losing. Pick the band  
that gives you the best rate into the major population centers. This  
helps you avoid the left-coast trap on 15m.

15. If a lot of left-coast stations start showing up on your band,  
you probably need to shift down a band. If the band has gone long,  
shifting down will get the shorter skip needed to get into the major  
population centers.

16. Don't worry about mults for the first 12 operating hours.  
Concentrate on rate while the rates are high. If you are lucky to  
find a more difficult mult (YU/NWT, AK, HI, PR, VI) early, try and  
work 'em, but don't waste a lot of time.

If you end up with a good overall rate, missing one multiplier isn't  
too bad. Of course, getting the sweep is nice, too.


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901