so ive been doing single op for years and finally got a second radio set up - K3 on run, IC-7300 as the S&P radio. been messing with the band decode switch and a microHAM setup to handle the antenna switching and i gotta say the interference between the two radios is way more than i expected even with the bandpass filters in line. anyway thats kind of a separate problem.

what i really wanted to ask is whether people actually see a meaningful rate improvement in sprint-style contests with SO2R vs just having a really dialed in run frequency. like in a 4 hour sprint the overhead of managing two radios sometimes feels like it costs me more than i gain, especially if conditions are moving around a lot. im maybe 60 wpm on the key which isnt blazing fast but im not slow either. feel like some of the big scores i see posted are from guys who just had a killer run going and never needed the second radio at all.

curious what other contesters think, especially in shorter events where the clock pressure is real

honestly for sprints specifically i'd argue SO2R is less valuable than in something like SS or a DX contest where you have more time to work the second band while you're waiting for answers on the run freq. in a sprint the exchange is short enough that your dead time between contacts is pretty minimal if youre running well, so the second radio doesnt buy you as much as it does in a slow exchange contest.

that said i do know a few guys who swear by it even in sprints, but they've been doing SO2R for like 15 years and the band switching is completely automatic for them. if you still have to think about which radio you're transmitting on, youre probably right that its costing you rate. muscle memory is everything with that setup and it takes a long time to build. i tried it in the NAQP a few years ago and just made a mess of myself, went back to single radio and had a cleaner log.

the filter situation you mentioned is probably worth sorting out before worrying too much about the strategy side of things. i ran a K3 and an Elecraft KX3 as a listening radio for a while and even that caused noise issues on some band combos. whats your antenna setup, are the two radios sharing any common feedlines or are they on completely separate antennas? that makes a huge difference with the inter-radio stuff, bandpass filters help a lot but if they're on the same physical antenna youre fighting a losing battle regardless of filtering.