> Any hints for SO2R in the CW Sprint? I'm pretty new to SO2R in general,
> and it feels like it would be hard to make much use of a second radio for
> the first 2 hours at least. Is this a situation where it might make sense
> to run the second radio solely in CQ mode on the next higher or lower band,
> while concentrating mostly on trying to work the traditional "couplets" on
> the first radio?
You have touched one of my favorite subjects!! Prepare for a long
response....
First off - I don't really recommend two radios in the CW sprint
unless you meet one of the following two criteria:
1. You are a masochist.
2. You have pretty much run out of "easy" things to do that can
increase your scores.
Having said that - probably the biggest impact the second radio
will have is an increase in your multiplier. Getting two or
three extra mults out of the second radio isn't hard to do.
Using a second radio to actually increase your QSO total is a
little harder to accomplish.
You are correct about focusing on "couplets" on the band you
have the best rate on. TR lends itself to calling a CQ while
you are receiving an exchange in response to a CQ. This lets
you have a presence on another band without much (if any)
sacrafice in rate.
If you imagine someone answering your CQ on the second band,
you can now call CQ on the first band while receiving the
exchange. If you can string several of these sequences
together, you are probably running at a rate faster than
you can just doing couplets. This doens't hapen very often,
but when it does - it is pretty magical.
For me, I typically don't worry about the second radio in
the first hour. I will then start using it some on 40 meters,
and quickly reach the point where I can't really tell you which
band I am "running" on. After awhile, S&Ping on 20 will stop
being very productive, and I will keep CQing on 20 until I
either get an answer, or find someone to call on 40.
I go "single band" again when I first hit 80, and sometimes
during the last 15 minutes of the contest because I start
to go crossed eyed and just need to focus on one radio again.
Tree
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