In Contests, Seconds Count

I attended a Meeting and Food Fest at the NR4M “Goat Farm” today. This is the location of an incredible Multi-Multi Ham Station like nothing I have ever seen before. It is one of the Flagship Stations of the Potomac Valley Radio Club PVRC, which I joined last November. There was a great bunch of Hams there, great weather, lots of food, and drinks. Hard to beat that.

There were a couple SO2R Demonstrations provided. This was very interesting to me, as I have an SO2R station and have been trying to learn how to utilize it to advantage in Contests. One of the presenters started by saying “when you first start using SO2R it will REDUCE your scores”. That was certainly true for me. I think I am at the point where it is helping me, but I still have a long way to go to really benefit.

The presentations were eye-openers. Serious Contesters devote a great deal of effort to shaving seconds off of each QSO. In a contest where you might have 500 – 1000 QSOs (even more in some cases), the seconds add up. Bottom-line, if you want to be competitive in Ham Radio Contests, you have to be obsessed with those wasted seconds.