[SECC] Contesting info and SO2R

[Hal Kennedy]

I think it's great we reinvigorate this refletor.  But, also, self-help on
the technical side and operating practice are required too.

The Contest University presentations are open to everyone.  They are here:
https://www.contestuniversity.com/

Subscribe to NCJ and read every issue cover to cover.  It's $25
annually through the mail and free in digital format for ARRL members.  Old
issues are on the ARRL pubs archive site.  I'd like to encourage
subscription - ARRL does not fully cover the cost of NCJ.

SO2R is a long subject to address in writing.  I would suggest visiting and
maybe operating a few SO2R stations if interested.  N4GG is available for
visits and guest operating.  The antennas are modest at best but the
station can put up 1,000 plus QSOs in 20 hours.  It just did.  COVID is
unfortunately a near term consideration.

This is an interesting and, I think, valuable little website:

http://www.k8nd.com/Radio/SO2R/K8ND_SO2R.htm  I studied it intensely when
it came out - learning from others.

Some notes on the K8ND site:

- It was last updated in 2009.
- It will give you a good idea of what competitive SO2R stations used to
look like.  NONE of them were plug and play.  You had to know the ins and
outs of station design and building to be SO2R.  This does not mean you
needed to be an EE.  Many of those stations are still on the air and look
just as they did 11 years ago.  The CRT monitors are now LCD, the rest is
the same including the rigs in many cases.  As an aside, contests are
routinely still won with TS-850s and FT1000MPs.  You don't need a new
radio, you need a good radio.  Both of those are extraordinarily good
radios and can now be had for small money.  If you are starting out in SO2R
and need the "second radio," buy a used 850 or 1000MP.  Then keep it.
- The K8ND website still has some working links to some excellent
presentations.
-  The pictures did not and do not reflect basic SO2R stations.  The
pictures are of the big guns.  Don't be discouraged.  Small stations can
have fun SO2R.
- 11 years later there is now SO2R hardware that is plug and play - you can
buy almost everything you need.  Doing it first-class is expensive, but you
should not start, IMHO, with the thought of going all-in at the beginning.
You still need to understand how the stuff works and how to put a station
together.  You need to  UNDERSTAND it.   You still need to have a sense of
what you are doing.  You still need to understand the basics of station
design.
- If you have not done it before, visit someone who is doing it.
- It is possible to start small.  Very small.  Got a second rig?  You are
on your way.  Put the two rigs on different antennas, get a bandpass filter
for each rig, set your software to two rigs and get on.  You dont need 6
band auto-band-switching BPFs to start.  You can operate on two single
bands, with low power to start.  Don't have a second antenna?  Throw up a
dipole or tiny vertical in the backyard.  If you run 50 watts or less you
probably don't need any bandpass filters.
- As always, everything matters.  Station equipment, antennas, operator
ability and desire.  You can buy the hardware, you cannot buy a good score.

I have done a ton of helping others build stations, beginning in 1960.
Only once did my sarcasm get the best of me.  Knowing the station had good
hardware and good antennas, I was asked to come over (once more) and spend
time taking the operator(s) "to the next level."
My reply:

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.  I have given you all the tips I
have and helped build your station.  You need experience to get to the next
level.  Street smarts are learned on the street.  Operating style is
personal.   You can't copy my style, it's based on my strengths and
weaknesses and preferences - yours will be different.

A strong conviction I have:  Successful contest stations rarely change
hardware.  You need to be able to run the station with your eyes closed -
at 3 AM.  How can you do that if you keep replacing the rig(s)?  Also,
current generation rigs and architectures are inferior to the past
generation.  SDR radios are not ready for prime time.  Note the K4
advertises itself as a hybrid digital/analog radio.....and admits it is so
because the digital part isn't always good enough.

Ask questions of the old timers.  We are here.  Read too.  The internet has
an infinite supply of contesting information to get you up a level or two,
including in niches like SO2R.  After you assimilate all that, you MUST get
on the air to be any good at it.  Be a lid for a while - we all did while
climbing the mountain.  I'm still an SO2R lid at 3AM.  Every big gun SO2R
operator gets jammed now and then - sit and listen to one for an hour.
Notice the long lags and requested repeats?  Actually at 3 AM I often drop
back to single-radio.  I've been SO2R since 1997 and age is catching up
with me.  SO2R becomes second nature but it still requires a lot of
concentration.  Read up on "mastery learning" and "automaticity."  Or, read
my NCJ article on that.  For serious contesting you need to have that, even
if you don't know it by those names.  Every rig change makes you have to
attain mastery all over again.  Rig changing is a disaster after you have
one or two good ones.

Also.....(this is getting awfully long)...SO2R isn't needed.  Look at the
scores on 3830.  There are top 10 stations in every contest who are not
SO2R.  Some start down the SO2R path because it will improve their score
under some circumstances, some do it because it's fun...for them.  Some ops
try it and drop out.  It's a challenge for sure and can be a chore
and.....this is supposed to be fun.

N4GG
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