MULTIS vs Total Score : [WWYC] CQWW SSB 9A7P(9A6XX) SOAB LP

[Franki at ON5ZO.be]

OK Guys, some good scores were made here!
This is an interesting thing. How do you win a contest?
You need a massive amount of QSOs, for sure. Muls are important too. And what with
different point values per QSO?

We had that issue at OT3H last weekend: do we go to 80m where we can work EU at
1pt/QSO and almost no mults, or do we stay on 15m (almost closed) or 20m (closing
down) to work low rate 3pt/Q with a juicy mult every hour?

I think the secret for succes is a healthy balance Q-mult and a good sense of
propagation: know where to be when it's hot. A big gun antenna setup is better, an
amp definately helps, and SO2R is a Q-booster for sure. But, I think most of us have
to do with smaller, more modest setups.
I know what Ken ON4CCP is saying, but I don't consider him to be a 'small gun' with a
4 or 6 el KLM at 20m, and big high wires. 'Small pistolero', that's more my setup:
wires not too high, verticals here and there, nothing that is really resonant and
antenna couplers and tuning on all bands.
But even if I can start a modest run, I'm not afraid not leave a frequency for a
while (couple of seconds) to hunt a multiplier. I use the 'SO2V' principle, that is
using the rig's second VFO to look for mults (when working assisted, of course). BTW:
SO2V is a term introduced by N1MM to make a difference with SO2R and stands for SO2
VFO's. I've done this years before I got to use N1MMLogger but now it even has a name
;o)
So what do I do? I'm running on VFO A, and switch VFO B to another band(segment). I
can see the spots in the bandmap of VFO B and can tune in packet spots VERY fast
without touching the rig and without halting the CQ. Suppose I end my CQ and no one
comes back, I quickly toggle VFOs with the keyboard and listen to the mult, like SO2R
goes. I can work him right away or just hit a key to go back to the CQ QRG, al in
less than 3 seconds (excluding the time to make the mult QSO). I can do this for a
while until I cleaned up all the spots and bagged some mults. So the secret weapon
here is using a good contest program, like N1MMLogger, to get around to work mults
faster.

Of course, when you have a really good rate, it's hard to quit running and go
S&P'ing. But here at home where I do almost all my contesting, I can never achieve a
high rate nor keep a clear QRG for longer than 30 minutes, so often I'm forced to QSY
which is a good thing in order to sweep the bands. Another issue is that, since my
setup is so pathetic I never can achieve a stunning result, so that's where my DXer's
background pops up: if I can't have a good rate, I might as well work those exotic
things for my DXCC score and the nice QSL. After all, it is a QSO in the log, and
often those nice ones are multipliers that are hard to get too. They won't answer
your CQ most of the time. They're too busy working their massive pile ups on a fixed
QRG for hours on end, and when they go looking for mults, they surely already have
worked a dozen of ONs in their pile up so what are the odds of them calling a weak
ON5ZO?

I'd really like to know what you other guys think, Hlre 9A6XX and Ken ON4CCP have
really put an interesting question.

To ON4CCP: Of course, we can discuss this with N1MM himself next Friday, and see if
the soft can't be tweaked for this purpose. To all other soft users: too bad the
author of your soft of choice isn't that accessible or eager to include your wishes
;o)  ;o)

Hope to be there in WW CW, probably from home, and maybe for 48 hrs (minus dinner,
and a short sleep).

73 de Franki ON5ZO