Kevin Turner

so ive been running SO2R for a couple years now but sweepstakes always humbles me. i feel like my rate just falls apart compared to guys running single radio. maybe im overthinking the second radio or something. my setup is a K3 and a K3S, both into a 2x2 matrix switch, antennas are a tribander at 50ft and a 40m wire yagi — nothing fancy but it works most of the time. the problem is i feel like i spend so much mental energy babysitting radio 2 that i lose my rhythm on radio 1. like i'll have a good run going on 20 and then i chase some multiplier on 40 and suddenly my CQ cadence falls apart and callers give up. is this just a skill issue that goes away with reps or is there some strategy adjustment that actually helps also curious if anyone has strong opinions on when to break a run for a mult. ive been using a rough rule of anything over 5 kHz away and i wont chase it mid-run, but that feels like it might be too conservative. sweepstakes specific answers appreciated but general SO2R tips welcome too

yeah this trips a lot of people up when they first upgrade. so the actual FCC allocations are what you legally have to follow — the ARRL band plan is more of a suggested gentlemens agreement thing to avoid interference between different modes. for 40m as a general, you have phone privileges from 7.175 up to 7.300 MHz, and then theres also a chunk down lower for CW and digital. the 7.125 to 7.175 part is actually extra class only for phone so thats the bit you want to stay above for SSB unless you have your extra. the band edge thing is a real concern too — your transmitted signal isnt just a single frequency, it has sidebands, so if you tune right to 7.300 and youre running USB your actual signal is spreading above that which is outside the allocation. most people say stay at least 3 or 4 kHz inside the edge to be safe depending on how wide your audio is. some rigs will actually let you transmit outside the band if youre not careful so worth double checking.

same boat as you were like six months ago lol. what i ended up doing was just setting up LoTW for the awards stuff and then i signed up for eQSL too because its free and a lot of the guys in my county net use it and it kind of became a social thing almost. i dont really do paper cards yet, maybe someday. one thing at a time right

so we have a county ARES exercise coming up in about three weeks and im trying to figure out the best way to power everything without lugging a full generator out to the site. the site is a park pavilion with no shore power so were going to need to bring it all ourselves. our typical setup is an IC-7300 running at maybe 50-60w, a laptop for winlink, a small switch for the local net, and then a couple handhelds on the charger. been using a honda eu2200i for the past two years and it works great but its loud and the coordinator is already getting grief from the parks department about noise during events. ive been looking at lifepo4 options, something in the 100-200ah range, but i honestly dont know if thats enough to run through a full 12 hour activation without worrying about it the whole time. the 7300 at 50w is drawing what, maybe 10-12 amps on transmit? and the laptop is pulling another 3-4 maybe. if were doing a lot of traffic handling its not exactly a low duty cycle situation. also the antenna situation — right now we just throw up a resonant dipole for 40 and 80 and a vertical for vhf but getting the feedline run right at a pavilion is always a pain. anyone done something better for quick deploy field comms that doesnt take 45 minutes to set up?