[WriteLog] Dual Run and CSS

[Tom Georgens]

Since more people are starting to use the dual CQ and the simulator, I wanted to add some thoughts on things to consider.  Of course it is all personal preference, so feel free to disregard.

1.  In Dual CQ there are a couple of arcane set up items.  The first is about enabling the "red box."  In normal operation, this is a good thing as it allows you to start sending while continuing to type a call.  In dual CQ, the focus does not shift until the red box goes away.  This means you need to watch the screen before typing in a call on the "other" radio.  I find it best to disable this in dual CQ, but it still works otherwise.
2.  There is a setup item for aligning the windows on exit.  You want this.  Many times you will want to stop dual CQ to focus on one radio, send something manually, or edit a qso.  This makes sure the focus of both windows is the same.  It can be very confusing to exit dual CQ with the focus split and try to do an alt-k.
3.  It is really hard to do dual CQ and automated head phone switching.  The timing is seldom in sync and you really want to hear both frequencies at once.  Headphone switching may work when simultaneous q's on both radios are rare.  If you do have a reasonable amount of overlapped q's, you really need split headphones to be efficient.
4.  The external:clear function is crucial.  Entering letters into a window stops that radio from cq'ing.  Deleting them does not necessarily restart the CQ engine.  You either need to complete a qso, or use the external:clear to restart automated cq'ing.  It is real easy to not notice that one radio has stopped cq'ing.  This needs to be mapped to a key that is easy to use.
5.  I found that Practicing Dual CQ outside of a contest is very difficult.  The exchanges are not crisp or predictable enough to emulate real contesting so the timing is never right.  The simulator is the best practice tool
6.  IMHO - the key skill in dual CQ is copying in one ear.  If you are going to practice something outside of contests, practice copying in one ear.  Note that dual CQ is a simpler case since one radio is cq'ing when you are trying to copy so, as long as side tone is turned down, the non-listening ear is quiet.  Copying with signals in both ears is much harder.
7.  Keep sidetone very low or off so as to make single ear copying easier.  This makes manual sending harder and may be a reason to use alt-k to send.
8.  Slow the timed CQ parameter down.  If this set too fast, you may not get a full call typed before the CQ restarts on the other radio.  Then, when you send the exchange, the CQ will get cut off.  Elongating the repeat interval cuts down on aborted cq's.  Likewise, if a qso bogs down on one radio.  You will continuously CQ in the face of callers on the other radio.  This is impolite and may send them away if the interval is very short.
9.  The simulator is very good but pileup behavior could use some nuance.  If you get the call of a caller wrong, the station will not respond.  However, since you typed some letters, the cq'ing will stop.  This creates a deadlock.  A "?" Will get them to send again.  Also external:clear will start the cq'ing and also get them to call again.  The latter works real well to keep the simulator rate up, but it is not a good operating practice

Of course YMMV, but I think Wayne has done a good job on both of these and just wanted to pass along my comments having used the dual CQ, admittedly under ideal circumstances.

One other note, dual CQ puts much more emphasis on elimination interstation interference.  Unlike SO2R,  you can just stop transmitting on one radio when you find something to work, with dual CQ to work well, you need to be able to listen and transmit simultaneously on all the most common band combinations

Have fun

Tom W2SC

Sent from my iPad