[LCC] Thanks W5WZ / aggressive SO2R

[Mark Ketchell]

	This club is great for learning and passing along knowledge. First, let me 
thank Scott, W5WZ once again for allowing me to run his fine station last 
month in WPX. While not as good as our 2nd place finish from W5RU in Sweeps 
last year, I'm in an apparent 20th in SO HP, unassisted, in the US, so I'm 
pretty pleased with that.

	With Scott's MK2R (so2r box) I was able to experience a more aggressive 
form of SO2R. Rather than simple stereo, one radio in each ear, this mode 
puts the OPPOSITE radio in BOTH ears when you are transmitting. The first 
evening, it was very distracting and extremely tiring. After sleeping, 
using it on Saturday was somewhat easier and by Sunday, it was more natural.

	I had wanted to do this for a while on my DX Doubler at home, but had not 
been successful. After experiencing it at Scott's, I tried once again. 
Since I had bought the factory DXD to radio cables, I had assumed that the 
computer toggles this feature (it does toggle your RX audio, TX line and 
stereo RX). After re-reading the manual and looking over the schematic, it 
was obvious they do not use the control cable from the computer to 
implement this mode. It actually requires an extra, separate line from each 
radio to the DXD, to allow it to discretely monitor the xmit state of the 
radios. Once these were installed and the jumpers inside the DXD checked 
for correct position, the feature worked great. Now, at the flip of the 
front panel switch, I can toggle from regular stereo to aggressive SO2R.

	As a side note, we had noticed that some radios (particularly 756 Pro 
series) have a slight rf rectification issue when doing SO2R. While it is 
nice to occasionally monitor your  audio in order to keep it clean, hearing 
yourself with rf distortion is VERY annoying. I had tried bypass caps, 
torroids, etc., but nothing seemed to help. I think this might be what made 
my Pro II's somewhat "harsh" and tiring after a while. Previously, the only 
way to overcome this has been to run with "monitor on" with enough volume 
to "drown out" the distortion. This SO2R mode completely eliminates headset 
distortion at my station.

	If you own a DX Doubler, I highly recommend you give it a try. While it 
may not be comfortable for everybody, it is another tool that some can use 
to increase their Q count and fun.

73,
Mark, K5ER