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:
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:
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