[SECC] Fwd: Re: Contesting info and SO2R

Thu Nov 12 17:45:49 EST 2020

Thought I had sent this to the list. D*** Thunderbird got me again!

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [SECC] Contesting info and SO2R
Date: 	Thu, 12 Nov 2020 10:19:56 -0500
From: 	Randy Farmer <w8fn at windstream.net>
To: 	Hal Kennedy <halken at comcast.net>

I have three presentations specifically addressing contest station 
engineering and SO2R station design that I gave at the Dallas area 
Ham-Com gatherings in 2013, 2014 and 2017. If anyone is interested I'd 
be glad to send you a copy. They're all in PowerPoint format, but I 
believe I could put them in pdf fairly easily. Let me know.

My new station here in North Carolina has advanced considerably from the 
layouts shown in the presentations. Continuous improvement is a virtue.

73...
Randy, W8FN

On 11/12/2020 9:55 AM, Hal Kennedy wrote:
> 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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