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Single-Op Contesting with Two Radios
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by ny3a on June 12, 2001
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Nice presentation at Dayton. I had trouble seeing the slides with the large crowd in the room! Glad to see the slides posted here.
Great job.
Steve
NY3A
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RE: Single-Op Contesting with Two Radios
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by k2ua on June 13, 2001
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Dear Anonymous:
Thanks for your witty response. I'm sure many people find value in your comments. They are a great example of where freedom of speech and good taste diverge.
I think if you actually look at the presentation, you'll find that there's some valuable information in it for people who want to migrate from SO1R to SO2R operation--web links and pricing comparisons, especially. And pictures, too. I think it stands pretty well on its own.
It's posted here because a lot of people asked me to post it. It's that simple.
--73, Rus, K2UA
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RE: Single-Op Contesting with Two Radios
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by N2MG on June 13, 2001
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Anonymous wrote:
"The real presentation should include...pictures of the presentation and that would be of use."
Pictures of the presentation? You want an under-exposed photo of some guy standing in front of a room full of contesters? Dang, I just deleted a bunch of them from my digital camera.
"Attach audio or video or written transcript of presentation"
Written text? Are you volunteering to take shorthand?
Video? Audio? Are you volunteering again? You want to supply the hardware ($$$) to serve up the video?
Mike N2MG
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Single-Op Contesting with Two Radios
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by KD5M on June 15, 2001
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I for one would like to thank you for posting the presentation. As a perennial Dayton absentee (for work related reasons) I wish more Dayton (and other major convention) presenters would make their presentations available on the internet for more general perusal (perhaps eHam.com, Contesting.com, or some other enterprising site could help with this). I shall add your presentation to my growing file on SO2R and use the information to improve my station. See you in the contests. KD5M
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Single-Op Contesting with Two Radios
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by WC1M on July 16, 2001
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Rus,
I just noticed the presentation and must say it's the best and most thorough treatment of the subject I've seen. The recommendations align with my own experiences building and using a highly automated SO2R station. Thanks for doing such a professional job.
I have a couple of comments to add:
STUBS
The presentation says bandpass stubs are appropriate only for stations with monoband antennas, but it's quite feasible to use them for multiband antennas as well. That's what I use for my dual-tribander SO2R setup.
All you have to do is parallel the band-select output from each decoder box to a 1-of-6 stub selector switch. For example, the "select 20M" line from a radio's decoder is routed to three sets of switches: 1) an A/B switch that routes the 20M antenna to that radio, 2) a 1-of-6 switch that selects the 20M A/B switch, and 3) a 1-of-6 switch that selects the appropriate stub(s). The feed line for that radio is paralleled to the switch box with a T connector.
A simple setup would use a single stub to pass the desired frequency. I use a setup I found on K1TTT's site for switching in multiple stubs for each band: one that passes the desired frequency and one or more that null the closest harmonic frequencies. All you need is a diode matrix between the decoder and switches to do the more elaborate version.
You'll need another set of diodes to switch the multiband antennas. For example, the 20M, 15M and 10M select lines from the decoder are combined through three diodes that logically "or" the signals to select the tribander.
My homebrew switch matrix box is pretty fancy: it has three rows of LED's that display which antenna is connected to which radio and whether both radios are trying to access the same antenna (there's lockout protection to keep the radio from frying each other, but it's nice to have a blinking red LED to warn that one radio will transmit into an open switch.) The "conflict" feature took a couple of common CMOS IC gates to implement. My box also has on/off switches to enable/disable the stubs, a control switch for routing the beverage, a set of switches to connect a dummy load to either radio, and a 4-position rotary switch that swaps the tribanders between the radios and allows horizontally "stacking" them (they're on two separate towers 200' apart). Lots of possibilities.
The biggest drawback to this method, besides the expense of the 1-of-6 switches, is that you can't use the optimum stub configuration -- two stubs a 1/4 wave apart. Still, I find a single set of stubs just after the amps effective for almost every band configuration (I have a lot of antenna separation, though.)
AUDIO
I've gotten used to having a radio in each ear. I've tried WriteLog's feature that lets you listen to one radio while the other one CQs, but I've never felt comfortable with it. Too often, I'm just coming across something interesting on the S&P radio when the audio switches back to the CQ radio. Writelog let's you revert to stereo in this case, but that sort of defeats the purpose -- you still have to train yourself to distinguish signals in each ear. I found it less distracting to turn down the CW monitor tone to nearly inaudible.
Speaking of stereo, I think it's essential to have it be keyboard-switchable. NA has this feature built-in, but you need keyboard macro software for WriteLog.
TECHNIQUE
When I read the part about "don't be a LID", my face turned red. I agree that no one should be able to tell that you are operating SO2R, but when you use automatic switching, ala Writelog or NA, it's easier said than done. Specifically, the CQ auto-restart capability is a very powerful way to maximize CQ efficiency and keep your run frequency. I try hard to time the calls on the second radio to avoid a stream of interrupted CQs, but the optimum S&P timing doesn't always allow that. One time someone e-mailed me to tell me that something was wrong with my radio -- it kept dropping out in the middle of each CQ! (I'm working on my technique...)
TWO MONITORS IN WRITELOG
I didn't know you could do this, and wonder how it helps, especially if you don't use two keyboards. Have you tried it?
YOUR SHACK
Staion layout is critically important for SO2R and yours is one of the neatest, best-designed SO2R layouts I've seen. I also prefer the monitor in the middle. Instead of a shelf, I use an LCD flat-panel that has a narrow stalk that lets me elevate the screen above the radios and get them within about eight inches of each other. That also leaves the screen at about eye-level, which minimizes stress on the neck muscles.
Again, thanks for the great presentation!
73, Dick WC1M
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