so ive been doing single op contesting for a few years now mostly on ssb sweepstakes and the odd cw sprint and my rates have kind of plateaued around 80-90/hr on a good run which i know isnt amazing but its where im at with my current setup. been reading a lot about SO2R lately and trying to figure out if its actually worth getting into or if i should just focus on better antennas and operating skill first.

my current setup is a k3 and an old ft-950 thats mostly been sitting in the corner so technically i have two radios i could use. the problem is i have no idea how to get them talking to each other properly without getting RF in everything or keying the wrong rig at the wrong time. ive heard people say you need good bandpass filters and that the antenna situation gets complicated fast. my antennas are just a tribander at 45ft and a 40m dipole so its not like i have a ton of flexibility there.

basically wondering if people who went SO2R saw a meaningful rate increase or if im better off spending that time learning to squeeze more out of single radio operation. the interlock stuff seems like a rabbit hole i might not want to go down before a big contest.

honest answer — if you already have the second radio sitting there and you can borrow or buy some bandpass filters, yeah its worth experimenting with, but dont expect it to magically fix your rate. SO2R mostly helps you during the dead spots where your run frequency goes quiet and you can S&P on radio 2 while youre waiting. if you're already running well it can add maybe 10-15% but a lot of that depends on conditions and how smooth your workflow is.

the keying interlock issue is real btw. there are a few hardware solutions but a lot of guys just use N1MM with the radio focus stuff set up properly and it handles most of it. you still have to be disciplined about it though, ive def transmitted on the wrong radio more than once in a late night contest moment. the bandpass filters are honestly the bigger deal — running 100w into a tribander on 15 while the other radio is on 20 will destroy your ears and mess with both receivers if you dont have them. Array Solutions or the Dunestar ones are what most people use, not cheap but kinda necessary.

your antenna situation is workable for starting out. 40 and 20 are your main contest bands anyway so having separate antennas already is actually decent separation.

i went through this exact thing maybe 3 years ago. had an extra radio, thought SO2R would be the answer, spent like 3 contest weekends just debugging RF interference and fighting with the software before i actually operated competitively with it. the learning curve is real and it kind of takes your focus away from actual operating for a while.

that said once it clicked it was totally worth it for me. sweepstakes especially — being able to tune around on radio 2 while youre waiting for a pileup to thin out on radio 1 means you almost never have dead time. i went from like 850 QSOs in SS to over 1000 the first year i had it dialed in. but i also have a better antenna situation than you describe so take that with a grain of salt. might be worth just trying it in a smaller contest first, like a state qso party where the pressure is low, and see how it feels before you commit to doing it in sweepstakes.