In thinking about how I can maximize my productivity for the upcoming NEQP, I have come up with a question.
CW contacts are worth twice as much as phone contacts. There will probably be more phone operators in the contest than CW ops. What’s the best strategy to switch between CW and phone and make maximum use of the operating time?
For the multi-single stations, I think this decision is VERY important. Given that there are 6 or 10 band changes per clock hour, does a mode change count as a band change?
I suggest that we spend some time this Saturday discussing these ideas, and others that we’ve already hashed over some. These are the things that will boost the club score, and get us to our goal.
Mike, K1DM
I’m going to operate MS, as I think the spotting will help some. My plan is to apply some simple rules to band changes – keep an eye on the spots to see when I should be moving, make a change near the top of the hour if needed, and watch my rate. As we get nearer to the contest I hope I can spend a little more time on the radio so I’m more familiar with what the bands are doing.
Mode changes are not band changes. The rules don’t specify that, but a band is a band, regardless of phone or CW. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.
73,
Pat, NG1G
Pat,
Thanks for the input. I agree with the MS category. We hopefully will get spots to increase the number of multipliers. For band changes, rate is a good indicator. Also, viewing the spots on other bands helps know when to change. In this contest, I suspect it won’t be hard to hold a frequency whenever you want to, so changing from RUNNING to S&P shouldn’t be a problem either.
Do we have a propagation GURU that can give us some insight as to what we might expect?
It’s starting to sound like the BIG STATIONS – That’s a good thing. K1DM