so ive been running single op for years and finally picked up a second radio setup to try SO2R properly this past field day and honestly it was kind of a disaster but also kind of clicked toward the end so im trying to figure out what im doing wrong and what to prioritize

my main issue is the mental load of it. like i know the theory, run and gun on radio 1, S&P on radio 2, swap when rate drops, but in practice i keep losing my run freq on radio 1 while im working a station on radio 2 and then i come back and someones sitting on it. happened maybe 8 or 9 times in a 4 hour period which is just brutal for rate

im running an IC-7300 as radio 1 and a borrowed FT-991A as radio 2, both into a bandpass filter setup i threw together from dx engineering stuff. the filtering is okay but not great, still getting some bleedover when both are on 40. interlock is handled with a cheap footswitch right now which is obviously not ideal

anyone whos been doing SO2R for a while — what was the thing that actually made it click for you? is it just reps or is there some specific technique or workflow change that made the difference

the run freq thing is just something you learn to manage over time honestly. what helped me was getting into the habit of transmitting a short "QRZ" every 30-45 seconds on radio 1 even if im mid-search on radio 2 — not working anyone, just marking the frequency. it sounds weird but it keeps squatters off and reminds you where youre parked. some guys use the radio's memory function to snap back to the run freq instantly but i never trusted that to be fast enough

the bleedover on 40 is a real problem with that filter setup if both radios are actually transmitting anywhere close in frequency. DXE filters are decent but you really want at least 50-100kHz separation on 40 or youre going to have a bad time no matter what. the footswitch interlock should be fine for now as long as its actually cutting TX on whichever radio isnt active — people run worse setups and do fine in smaller contests

honestly though the mental thing just takes reps. run a few sprints or the state QSO parties where the pace is a little slower and you can practice the workflow without the pressure of a big rate contest. after maybe 3 or 4 full contests it started feeling a lot more natural for me

yeah the lost run frequency thing drove me absolutely crazy when i started SO2R. one thing nobody told me early on — logging software matters a lot here. if youre using N1MM it has the SO2R mode built in and it handles a lot of the radio focus switching automatically so your brain doesnt have to context switch as hard. not sure what youre running but if its not N1MM or at least something with proper SO2R support you might be making it harder on yourself than it needs to be

also the 7300 and 991A combo is a little awkward because the 991A's CAT implementation is kind of slow compared to the icom stuff so if youre relying on software to manage radio switching you might get some lag. not a dealbreaker but worth knowing