so ive been doing single op contests for a few years now, mostly SSB sweepstakes and the occasional CW sprint, and my rates have kind of plateaued. like i can run pretty solid 80-100 qsos/hr on a good band but then when propagation shifts or the run frequency dries up i lose a ton of time just wandering around s&p waiting for something to happen. a buddy of mine keeps telling me SO2R is the answer but honestly the whole setup looks like a massive rabbit hole.

right now i have an IC-7300 and an old TS-590SG that i dont really use anymore just sitting in the shack. the antenna situation is workable — a 2el yagi at 45ft for high bands and a 40m dipole. my question is is this actually a viable SO2R setup or do you really need dedicated antennas for each radio to avoid the RFI nightmare i keep reading about. ive seen people talk about bandpass filters like the 4O3A stuff but even one set is like 400-500 bucks and i cant figure out if that ROI makes sense for a guy who does maybe 8-10 contests a year.

also curious what logging software people are using for SO2R — ive been on N1MM+ forever but i know some guys swear by other stuff for the interlocking / SO2R control. any thoughts appreciated, even if its just 'dont bother' which is a valid answer too

the bandpass filters are not optional, full stop. i learned that the hard way when i tried running both radios on 20 and 15 simultaneously with just a basic diplexer and the 7300 was basically deaf the whole time the other rig was transmitting. youre talking S9+20 of garbage across the passband. the 4O3A filters are expensive but they hold up and the insertion loss is minimal, ive also seen guys use the Array Solutions ones or even homebrew the W3NQN design which can cut the cost way down if you have time to build.

your antenna situation is actually more of the problem than the radios. sharing a yagi between two rigs gets complicated fast because you need a way to switch antenna assignments on the fly and keep everything isolated. some guys run a separate wire antenna on the second radio just for mults — like a simple 40m extended double zepp or something — and only use the yagi for the run radio. its not optimal but its a real SO2R setup without needing a second tower.

N1MM+ handles SO2R fine honestly. the SO2R box support is solid and the keyboard shortcuts for toggling between radios become muscle memory pretty quick. give it a shot on a smaller contest first, like a state QSO party where the pressure is lower, before you try it in sweepstakes.

yeah the rate thing you're describing is exactly why SO2R exists, you basically use radio 2 to keep working mults or snipe new stations while radio 1 holds the run frequency. even a mediocre SO2R setup beats just sitting there waiting. that said if your run is dying it might also just be a CQing technique thing — like how often are you calling, whats your exchange pacing, are you tail-ending efficiently. ive seen guys pick up 20-30 qsos/hr just tightening that up before going anywhere near SO2R complexity.

not trying to talk you out of it, just saying there might be easier wins first depending on where the bottleneck actually is