so ive been running single radio for like 12 years of serious contesting and always kind of dismissed SO2R as too complicated or just for the guys who already have the big stations. finally broke down and set it up properly for CQWW SSB last month and man, the rate difference is real. like embarrassingly real.

the thing nobody told me is that the hardest part isnt the hardware or even the SO2R controller, its the mental discipline of actually using the second radio effectively instead of just having it sit there while you panic on radio 1. i kept defaulting back to ignoring radio 2 whenever a run was going well and then scrambling for mults at the end when everyone else already worked them.

what actually helped me was forcing myself to treat S&P on radio 2 as almost automatic — like it should be happening in the background constantly even during a decent run. took me until saturday afternoon of the contest before it started feeling natural. the first few hours i was probably slower than just running one radio because of the mental overhead.

anyway curious if others have tips for the early learning curve. also my interlock setup using the microHAM station master is mostly working but im still getting occasional bleedthrough on 15m when radio 1 is pounding away on 20m. anyone dealt with that with a similar setup?

yeah the mental part is 100% the bottleneck, the hardware people obsess over it but honestly once you have basic interlocking sorted the gains come from operating discipline not better filters or whatever. what worked for me was actually practicing it outside of contests — just running two radios casually on a weekend, not even chasing points, just getting comfortable switching attention back and forth. sounds dumb but it genuinely trained the muscle memory.

on the 15/20 bleedthrough, are you running a bandpass filter set? if youre not using something like the Array Solutions or W3NQN filters between the radios and the antennas that could easily be your problem. the microHAM interlock handles the amp keying and prevents transmitting simultaneously but it doesnt do anything about RF coupling if your antennas are close together or sharing a common feedline. whats your antenna situation look like? if both are on the same tower thats probably your culprit regardless of the radio setup.

the rate thing surprised me too when I finally tried it seriously. I always figured my rate was limited by my antenna and location but turns out I was leaving a lot on the table just from dead air between QSOs. even a modest second radio setup basically eliminates the time you spend tuning around looking for the next mult because you already found it 30 seconds ago while you were finishing the previous contact.

one thing i do now is keep a sticky note on the desk during the contest that just says CHECK R2 — sounds silly but for the first few contests i needed the physical reminder during busy runs. eventually it becomes habit but early on your brain just defaults to tunnel vision on whoever youre talking to on the run frequency.