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CQ QRS RagChew
Last Tuesday’s Group
Masthead Image
Reports
Submissions close lunch time on Thursday.
Reports & Comments
Comments:
This Week’s Topic of Interest
From Jordan VK3ACU:
From John VK5ET:
Other News
From Simon M0KBJ:
From Mark VK2DI:
From Garry VK2GAZ:
From Rob VK6LD:
SKCC KSyY Straight Key Month – 2025
Ron VK4JE
Audio Filtering
New Year’s Day Portable QSO Party
Contest Logs
Morse Training Net
From Beth VK2AO:
Portable in New Zealand
Brain Teaser
Answers from last week’s Quiz:
1) i-aqan-qai-aan-ait
Next Tuesday’s Net
Post Morsum
Teamwork
The Joy of Daylight Saving
About the CQ QRS Group
Frequencies and Times
QRL?
Speed? Rhythm?
Matching
PSE QRS
Landing Zone
CW Tips

CQ QRS RagChew

Terrific to hear so many of our team on air having fun on our Tuesday evening CQQRS Slow CW Practice QSO net this week.

I was using my tiny plastic (tr)uSDR Arduino-powered transceiver again, this time from the balcony of a tiny AirBnB place, overlooking Port Phillip Bay at Portarlington Victoria.

Despite the simple set-up, I heard just so many folks on, either getting some QSO practice, or enjoying the simple pleasures of QRS. And again, I really enjoyed reading the comments in the reports submitted – thank you one and all.

Our four DXperiment team members in Europe and the UK had taken a break this week, but they’ve come up with a terrific initiative to share the New Year cheer; keep the evening of January 2nd free. Check out next week’s RagChew for details!

Last Tuesday’s Group

Here’s this week’s list of the 58 stations heard this week on the net:

And thanks this week to David VK6KD for the image from Mount Koscuiszko, as the Potts continue their journey around Australia.

Reports

After next Tuesday’s Group, please send me a list of who you worked and / or who you heard using our web form here:

Submissions close lunch time on Thursday. If you hear or work one of our team on a different band on Tuesday, please just use the 80m report area and annotate which bit applies to which band.

And when you enter the list of callsigns worked, heard or missed, please append an ‘@band’ to each callsign without a space (eg VK2KI@20 VK6QI@15 etc).

The superintendent of our software department, Nigel G4RWI has continued to work furiously to produce a simple way of reporting on contacts with our team outside of 40 and 80m; I have a Beta version sitting on my pile of projects waiting to be tested.

Please help attract new and old team members to have a go by submitting your report each week.

Submissions close lunch time on Thursday.

Reports & Comments

The spreadsheets above show the known stations on last Tuesday’s Group. Comments distilled from the reports I’ve received follow:

Comments:

• I did manage my first CW contact on 630 meters (472.50 kHz) today—I’m very happy about that! I’ll be calling CQ every night this week at 0:700UTC until Friday 20TH at least.

As I’m writing this, I realize it’s a bit late for the newsletter, so I’ll also post this in the WhatsApp group. If anyone wants to listen or even try for a contact..

• Ahighlight of our Tuesday nights is supporting new and learning operators. We’re fortunate to have many experienced operators, but remember, not everyone copies at 20 WPM. If you hear someone calling, try to match their sending speed.

And if the QSO gets too fast, don’t hesitate to send PLS QRS..

[80m] + Much fun! Much sweating! For portable operation, QRP CW is in my opinion the ideal way to go.. [There you go Tony! Time on QRS -> less sweating, more fun.]

From GRANT ZL2GD at OXFORD, NORTH CANTERBURY

[40m] + The band was a bit noisy last night, static crashes and radar but good signals all the same.. [Terrific to hear you on again Grant.]

[40m] * Good signal from David VK6KD hiking and camping in the Mt Kosciuszko (w defeated my spelling in cw) national park.. [I think David went there on purpose, for that very reason Greg!]

[40m] + Heard Mark VK2KI/3 on his (tjuSDX QRP rig briefly before he was blotted out by a station calling over the top of him !.

[80m] * The band was quiet to start with but got busy towards the end of the session..

[40m] + There were good signals on 40 when I went on and after about 1000Z the VK6’s started coming through. A bit scratchy at first but they soon blossomed into 599 signals.

But it was getting late after a trying day with temperatures around 40C and I was good only for bed. Murphy’s Law, VK6’s come in at 599 and I’m too tired.. Buaager!]

[40m] * We’ve set up our camp right on the Murray near Corryong and will be here for a few weeks I think.. + I tried replying to Armin’s CQ call but the 3w out of my QCX+ wasn’t enough for him to copy any more than my callsign..

+ I’ve got some QRP Labs 50w amps to build so maybe next week I’ll do a bit better. I should have my QMX+ finished by then as well. [Just over the hill from David at Island Bend John! Eyeball QSO opportunity perhaps?]

[80m] + Near to the end of the night, I tried 5W to Brisbane, but Sava was struggling with the fading, so I increased my output to 25W. Hopefully, I was heard ok, but perhaps the band wasn’t ideal tonight..

[l was copying you ok in Portarlington Victoria Derek… but couldn’t transmit on 80m_]

[40m] +40M seemed a bit noisy and at times with deep QSB at my location. Quite a few weak signals heard but not fully readable..

From Patrick VK2IOW between Bathurst and Orange

[40m] * Conditions on 40metres seemed good. I had 5 QSOs, thanks to George, Armin, David, lan and Phil. West Australian stations I often find a bit hard to copy. Enjoyed having a look at Phil VK6GX‘s amazing station on his QRZ page..

[40m] + Very poor condx, east coast stations very weak, no ZLs heard. Nice to meet Pat, VK2IOW for the 1st time, for a goox rag chew..

[80m] + Low QRN enabled a few pleasant QSOs. I was late getting on 80m and probably missed most of the activity. Called CQ until gone 2100 WST but couldn’t raise anyone else..

[You were romping in to Victoria Phil – unfortunately, Murphy’s Law meant I couldn’ transmit on 80m.] From your editor Mark VK2KI portable at Portarlington Victoria

[40m] + If you read last week’s RagChew down as far as my report, you may recall that I had trouble coupling to my Rybakov inverted-L antenna strapped to the first-floor balcony of a hotel apartment at Lorne, on the Great Ocean Road about 100KM South West of Melbourne.

The antenna had worked nicely in the back yard at home the previous week – 16m radiator on a 3.6m telescopic fishing pole strapped to our fire trailer, with the alternative 7.6m radiator used as an on-ground counterpoise, but refused to work at the hotel.

I ended up using the 7.6m (40m) radiator, feeding against the galvanised steel balcony using clip leads; connecting the 16m piece as a ground made the antenna un-couplable with my tiny two-core current BALUN and my small L-network coupler…

Even with the balcony connection in parallel.. + So on the weekend, Elizabeth and I took the gear on foot up into the Great Otway National Park and set it up at the Little Erskine River Ford – a pretty little spot…

And my small L-network coupler… even with the balcony connection in parallel. * So on the weekend, Elizabeth and I took the gear on foot up into the Great Otway National Park and set it up at the Little Erskine River Ford – a pretty little spot..

• Of course, just like at home, it worked just fine with the 16m radiator and 7.61 counterpoise, and I was able to work a bunch of our team with it on 40m..

* So this week, Elizabeth and I continued our public-transport-only journey (this time via a coach and ferry) and had set ourselves up at an AirBnB spot at Portarlington, 50KM South West of Melbourne near the entrance to

Port Phillip Bay. Once again I tried the 16m radiator with the 7.6m counterpoise, on the fishing pole strapped to a balcony about two metres off the ground…. nope! Swapped the inverted-L radiator and counterpoise around, still no luck.

Tried connecting the end of the long wire ground to buried water pipes, nope. Hmmm!.

• On Tuesday, we met up with some old friends of ours who had previously lived down this way, who took us on a visit around the Bellarine Peninsular….

Including to a hardware shop where the four of us were tasked with finding a suitable unpainted ground stake (there were no camping shops this side of Geelong as it turned out).

I ended up with a 6″ x 5/16″ galv coach bolt which was hammered into the ground when we got home. Connected the three very useful clippie leads to the head of the bolt and voila… 1.4:1 SWR on 40m, and I was on air – hooray!.

Tasked with finding a suitable unpainted ground stake (there were no camping shops this side of Geelong as it turned out). I ended up with a 6″ x 5/16″ galv coach bolt which was hammered into the ground when we got home.

Connected the three very useful clippie leads to the head of the bolt and voila… 1.4:1 SWR on 40m, and I was on air – hooray!

• I heard a number of our team enjoying the simple pleasure QRS QSOs before hooking up with Rob VK2COS transmitting from Nowra, then Kevin VK3KEV from Seymour.

As the evening got darker, the band got fuller – I was really pleased to hear so many QSOs going on once again. I caught lan VK5CZ at Clare who was thundering in to Victoria again this week – like everything on my (t)uSDX plastic transceiver, the AGC is only marginally effective (or pethaps I haven’t set it up correctly), and with the very low front-end noise, lan’s signal was really bursting through..

+ After lan I hooked up with Greg VKSKFG at Willunga but we only just managed to exchange signal reports when he disappeared – I guess my 8 Watts just wasn’t making the hop for a ragchew.

I also heard Richard VK6HRC chatting to Manny VK3DRQ, and tried calling both when they signed. Unfortunately, my signal was too weak for Richard, and Manny’s noise level was too high; time for that noise canceller Manny – Hil.

+ Lalso heard David VK6KD/2 at Island Bend campground near Mount Koscuiszko, but David had also been troubled by a high noise level (possibly from his new Starlink terminal?) lately and couldn’t hear my milliWatts. Probably a good thing….

I would have laughed at David’s efforts to spell the name of Australia’s highest mountain in CW…. and I wouldn’t even have tried :).

[80m] + As 40m quieted down later in the evening around 1200Z, I gave 80m a try, knowing that my antenna wasn’t presenting anything like a non-reactive load.

I was really excited to hear a number of stations on this week – Phil VK6GX was romping in from Gidgegannup (no, I’m not making up that characteristically West Australian name) with his huge loop transmitting antenna and Beverage receive antenna chatting to Jordan VKSACU from Meredith, who was kind of using the opposite…

The loop-on-ground receive antenna (described in a recent RagChew); it’s great to hear our team members experimenting. At great risk, I tried calling Jordan, but he couldn’t hear me over the short hop, confirming that you just can’t feed power into a reactive load.

+ also heard Phil chatting to Stuart VK6MK at Australind, Jordan then Phil chatting to Sava VK4PN near Brisbane, and finally after midnight here, Derek VK4DRK at Toowoomba working Sava…

• So in all, the last week of our travels was successful from a CW perspective – thank you all for being on air, and as Fowler from Chicken Run might say, /’m looking forward to the next week’s Xmas Eve net with great anticipation…

Hello Mark, as you know Gremlins on the AllStar/Echolink and VK6RLM system this morning. Rob VK6LD managed to get it into better shape but we still missed a few calls. Stations that managed to check in : VK6FN Max VK6KD/2 David VK6QI/3_ Mark VK6KRC Bob VK6HRC

VK6MRB Mulligan (SWL ) And others. VKSET John and VK6RR Roy were there as well but network problems did not help ! Max is going through his antenna system so made use of the great Ironstone Range Kiwi SDR to monitor the traffic.

He hopes to be on air next Tuesday, Christmas eve as noted ! David camped in Kosciuszko national park in the Snowy mountains had fun on Forty but still having problems with the Eighty set up.

Mark called in from Portarlington (on Port Phillip Bay) also had a lot of fun with his (tuSDX on forty but not so on eighty. The happy wanderers are on the homeward run, back in beautiful South Bowning by the weekend.

Had fun on forty, called on eighty later on but no takers. Towards the end of the evening eighty came alive and I was treated to some great code from our senior members (in experience not age!) © Thank you to John VKSET and Roy VK6RR as well.

I hope the system behaves next time. Thanks to all on last night and this morning have a great week 73 Richard VKeHRC [Thanks again Richard. I’m sure I heard Bob VK6KRC say that at long last he’s found his long-lost Morse key…

Staring out at him from the shelf in his shack, and “just needs to put the right connector on it”. _Déja vu again perhaps?]

This Week’s Topic of Interest

Did you use some sort of prediction to tell you this was a possibility, and started looking? Or did your equipment tell you it had happened allowing a trawl through the data points? Was it a once-of or has it continued during the solar peak?

For my education, how did you know the backscatter was from the F-layer, rather than E? I’d like to make mention in the RagChew CQQRS Slow CW Practice QSO Group newsletter; for those who aren’t WIA members, do you have a website that I could point to, in case any of our 200 odd members are interested to learn more?

Andrew’s Reply: Hi Mark, Thanks for your interest in the chirp radar. The only prediction that I have is to see what sort of propagation is present on 10m via psk reporter. But maybe you question goes a bit wider.

I originally put together the chirp radar to see if I could replicate the Jindalee OTHR using ordinary ham gear and to see if I could get sea surface reflections that would have sufficient correlation to get a good signal.

The answer is of course YES, but the resolution in amateur bandwidth is limited to around 58KM, nothing like Jindalee. DL4YHF amended his spectrum lab software to include the chirp radar so that any two stations separated by about 50KM can run the radar using amateur radio stations on any amateur band, see https:/Awww.qsl.net/dl4yht/ There are a few tricks to setting it up but there is already a chirp radar config in the spectrum lab file menu.

The ATW signal on 28MHZ can easily be seen any day at the present solar peak, just point your transmitter and receiver NE around OUTC. You only need to transmit about 50 watts, and you should have a good receiver dynamic range.

To determine which layer is which,,, for Es, there is a shorter skip around 1300 to 1500KM for the backscatter return from the earth surface (land or water) while the F layer backscatter signals are from over about 2200KM.

The around the world signal is present at 140 – 141MS from the local direct signal or after travelling 42200KM. as the circumference of the earth is 40075KM, then by subtracting the radius values the average height of the F layer can be confirmed to be about 330KM up, which checks nicely with the BOM ionograms.

Hi Mark, Thanks for your interest in the chirp radar. The only prediction that I have is to see what sort of propagation is present on 10m via psk reporter. But maybe you question goes a bit wider.

Which describes most of the detail of the chirp radar and gives results. https://mcusercontent.com/5b7b2c3e29 eeb9f38c4534657/files/b6ead6aa-7daa- f26e-b5fa- 7fe5623069d1/240406 VK3OE BistaticR adar.pdf

If you have something you think might be of interest to our 200-plus readers, pleass let me know so we can share more thoughts and ideas; email to cqgrsnet@gmail.com

From Jordan VK3ACU:

| made a qrs night kart out of a old computer chair. I feel bad sitting all night Tuesdays in my shack so now I just bring some coax out of the shack to the lounge.

Even operating with headphones on while the other half is watching TV as we sit together is a good thing… So I present the QRS kart @.

This has made it to the bench as we work down the bands. This is a old modulator / PA from a NDB – I’m thinking of modifying it for use on 2200M (135 kHz) but some more probing required first

From John VKSET: G’day Mark. Iread with great interest the article few weeks ago by Jordan, VK3ACU on the receiving loop on ground.. Anything which relates to reducing noise has my attention… I made one up after reading Jordan’s article.

My loop is on the back lawn, orientated NW-SE with the feed line at one corner. Will play around with orientation later to see how signals vary. As Jordan mentioned “ signal levels are lower, the reduced noise floor makes up for it. “., .. sure does!

Heard some beacons which I couldn’t hear on the ZS6BKW. Great to hear more stations coming out of the woodwork, which I couldn’t hear when using the ZS which made for an Interesting Tuesday night.

I was listening & comparing signals on both the antennas from various stations heard in between my fiddling around with another job.. The Loop on Ground requires minimal space & set up time, it did a great job & in some cases had the better signal.

Thanks to all who contribute to the newsletter. Great information supplied with ideas for anyone willing to try . 73 John, VK5ET Response from Jordan: Excellent I’m really glad John had success with the LOG!

I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately at least 3 others who asked me about the loop © Thanks again Mark

From John VK5ET:

Other News

From Simon M0KBJ:

Meanwhile, I’ve been exploring what I can do with 1W https://sjharvey.org.uk/MOKBJ/2024 blo g-html.

From Mark VK2DI:

Hi Mark – are you aware of this initiative to popularise calling frequencies for CW https:/Avww.nodnn.org/qsx/ [Thanks Mark.]

From Garry VK2GAZ:

Greetings all, The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday, 21ST November, 2024 from 00:00 UTC until 11:59 UTC a 12 hour event. If this notification is too late this month, the next one will be on January 18TH, 2025. All are welcome to join in!

All the details for the Oceania QRS Saunter (OQS) can be viewed on the SKCC website at: https://www.skecgroup.com/operating_activities/oas/ Please make use of the SKCC Sked Page and the CW Club RBN Spotter.

Https://sked.skecgroup.com/ look forward to contacting you during the event. Best regards,

Garry VK2GAZ/VK2ZP #5460C Manager – SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter

New Q Signals for Old Timers Only QAR: Is your arthritis acting up today? My arthritis is acting up today. QBP: How many bypasses (or stents) do you have?

Thave__ bypasses (or stents) QDF: Does (or did) your ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) zap you when you key down? My ICD zaps (zapped) me when I key down, Are you wearing dentures? I am wearing dentures, Do you fart often?

I fart often, How many grandchildren do you have (or do you have a new grandchild)? Ihave __ grand children (or I have a new grandchild), Are you operating golf cart mobile? I am operating gol’cart mobile. What kind of incontinent diapers do you use?

Iuse diapers for incontinence. How many joint replacements have you had? T have had __ joint replacements. Do you know what LOL (or IMHO, ROFL, etc.) stands for? Do you watch Lawrence Welk reruns? I watch Lawrence Welk reruns. Who is your geriatric physician?

My geriatric physician is__ Are you an Old Timer and were you licensed before no-code licensing? T am an Old Timer and I was licensed before no-code licensing, ‘What is your PSA level (or have you had your PSA level checked)?

My PSA level is__ Was that QRM or did you just pass gas? No, that was QRM. Do you drink prune juice? I drink prune juice. Did you just pull a muscle? I think I just pulled a muscle. QPP: Do you need to take a bio-break? I need to take a bio-break.

QRX: What medications are you taking? I am taking the following medications __. QSS: Have you gotten your social security check? Ihave received my social security check. QVC: Do you know how to program your VCR? I can program my VCR.

From Rob VK6LD:

Hi All, The Southern Electronics Group’s online KiwiSDR has been reconfigured and the URL to access is now: http://sdr.hamradio.org.au:8073/ Please update if you have the proxy address saved in your bookmarks and enjoy. & PS: Antenna upgrade is still pending.

SKCC KSyY Straight Key Month – 2025

| have attached the SKCC KSY – 2025 Non US Operators Guide for your perusal.

To register for the 2025 K3Y event, please email me at vk4je@vk4je.com The 2025 K8Y Map is now available to view here: I have noted that VK2RU is out of place and requested a fix.

I hope you will find the time and courage to participate to some degree in this annual event. For those that feel they are not ready to take to the Air Waves this will be a fantastic time to practice your receiving skills.

If you have any questions regarding the 2025 K3Y event, please do not hesitate to contact me. And what is K3Y I hear you ask?

Good Question and one I also asked; I understand it is a Historic Call Sign, I will ask again a bit further up the Hierarchy and let you know.

Ron VK4JE SKCC # 24961 SKCC K3Y 2025 OC Coordinator vk4je@vk4je.com 73 Ron VK4JE Maleny. Queensland. Australia.

Ron VK4JE

Audio Filtering

From Andrew VK1DA Mark, I happened to look at the UK SOTA beams website during the week and they are still selling their very nice dual bandwidth audio filter, one bandwidth for CW and one for SSB, switchable.

Not cheap but better use of your wider bandwidth radios would be helpful, I’m sure. They are good at despatching promptly and if you look at their products there are some very handy things there.

I have bought some of their trap kits, a length of light cable with bne plug, some aluminium pegs and a couple of really nice poles. When I saw the filters I knew I should let you know about them. You won’t regret having an audio filter for CW.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Elizabeth 73 Andrew VK1DA [Thanks Andrew. Garry VK2YBX from Tecsun Radio Australia has lent me an active audio filter, but when I tested it (when I had a working narrow receiver) it seemed to get confused by the continuous tones of CW – it treated the tones as a heterodynes, and cleverly notched them out!

I had packed it up ready to post back to Garry, but ! now want to give the unit a try with my wide TS-120S. But the SOTA Beams gear looks good – thank you; I bought one of the SOTA Beams grey traveller squid poles – which has proven to be much more robust than the Australian ones I bought (unfortunately) ]

From Andrew VK1DA This is to remind everyone of the January 1st S2S- fest or QSO party we usually run on New Year’s Day before and after 11AM EDST, ie before and after the rollover of the UTC new year.

How to participate: Nominate your summit early, remember if you activate it and qualify (by making 4 contacts) before and after the new year, you get points for each year. 2 activations for the price of one. Put up an alert on sotawatch.

If your phone app does not post alerts, either use sotawatch.sota.org.uk via your web browser on your home computer, or get a better app. You can use SOTAgoat on IOS, ParksnPeaks on IOS or other apps on android.

Impact of the 10m challenge 2024 Contacts made on 10m in 2024 qualify for the 10m challenge which means they have to be made before 0000 UTC on 1/1/25, or 11AM local time. Contacts after 0000 UTC are valid for your SOTA log but not for the 2024 challenge.

Apart from 10m, which not all activators can use due to equipment or antenna limitations, a lot of operation will occur on 146.5, 146.526 and 146.55 MHz. in the VK! area. We cannot all use one frequency at the same time.

If you don’t have those channels programmed into your radio, set them up today. Let’s not hear people on the day saying oh, I can’t remember how to use VFO mode, or how do I save anew channel, so read the manual for your radio today and get yourself set up for multi channel operation and practice using the extra channels (preferably 3, but at least two for use on 1 January).

My HT is set up for 146.5, 146.525 and 146.550. I don’t know anything about your radio so don’t ask me. Nominate your chosen summit and reserve it by posting an alert (not a spot) on parksnpeaks.org and don’t forget to let the CQQRS Group know (those who use the CQQRS WhatsApp group can post an Alert).

Operate on one band or ten. Make contacts on multiple bands, just to make more noise on the bands, it helps others make contact with you. Get some practice in using your chosen bands by, guess what, activating in the preceding week or two.

On the day, use the sotawatch (Android), iparksnpeaks (Phone) apps or www.parnsnpeaks.org to periodically to check for other activators and spot yourself. Again, if you have forgotten how to self-spot, practice in advance.

New Year’s Day Portable QSO Party

Alerts, either use sotawatch.sota.org.uk via your web browser on your home computer, or get a better app. You can use SOTAgoat on IOS, ParksnPeaks on IOS or other apps on android.

Joint activations with others are another useful practice. If you want to activate but don’t have all of the equipment or experience, just ask. In advance! Often others have all the gear and would appreciate the help in navigating or just the company.

Good luck on New Year’s Day, see you on the air. Remember to operate past 0000 UTC to kick the new year off in your log, claim more chaser, activator and S2S points by making more contacts. The 2026 challenge? We don’t have any details yet…

Andrew VK1DA [Thanks Andrew, if I can, I’ll be watching the parksnpeaks.org CW SMS Spots, and will re-transmit any I notice onto our WhatsApp Group, and Ill listen out for you and other team members.]

Contest Logs

Contest Logs from Bob VK2ADF G’day all, you may have heard by now that most contests here in VK are moving from VKCL to N1MM logging software.

The Club Entertainment Committee is working on some initiatives to bring all those interested in contesting on board with the software. To that end, I have attached a link to a document to get you started.

It is easy to follow (complete with hyperlinks), I was able to set it up so anyone can. https://n mmwp.hamdocs.com/getting-started/ What better opportunity to test it out, this weekend Is the ARRL 10 meter contest, so drag out the gear, dial the VFO up to the 10 meter band and give it a crack.

More info at; https://www.arrl.org/10-meter Regards,

Morse Training Net

Nic VK7WW runs a Slow Morse training net every Wednesday at 7pm EDST on 3580 for 30 mins. He uses the callsign of the Northern Tasmania Amateur Radio Club VK7TAZ on that net.

Many of our team learned Morse code with the support of Nic, and the weekly training session comes highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn the Code, or simply brush up. Everyone’s welcome – 3580KHZ at 7pm Eastern time every Wednesday.

The NTARC also feeds the CW live via the Discord phone / computer audio stream, and previous weeks’ recordings are available. Contact Nic VK7WW for more info nicholaschantler@hotmail.com – or just join in on Wednesdays.

From Beth VK2AO:

Hi Mark, Ihave moved to Lithgow and keen to get an antenna up and Morse going. I am in need of assistance and wondered if you could put the word out and ask if anyone could spare a Saturday or week day to help me put an all band inverted V up and a pole to put it up in the air.

I would be willing to pay for their time and put a lunch on with a beer or two. Cheers, Elizabeth beth.langley@bigpond.com [Can anyone help Beth get back on air? If so, please send her an email; I also have her phone number if you’d prefer to call her direct.

Thanks in advance – I’m really looking forward to hearing Beth back on air on CW. We have three other YL members and it’d be terrific to attract some more to the simple pleasures of QRS cw]

Portable in New Zealand

From David VK3DBD. Hi Mark, Tues is not often a convenient evening for me to spend much time on the radio However I have managed the odd contact either late or early and over a period of time I really do think some of the ops who were struggling with anything other than rs are improving.

Regulate practice of rx and I mean daily or twice daily even 10 mins sessions can make fast progress very quickly. This tues I will do my best to be qrvon 40m and even on 20m.

Iam in Kerikeri, far north of ZL and will be signing VK3DBD/ZL Ihave 100 watts from my K3. and at the moment just a 40m dipole in the air.

But to my surprise it will load up on several other bands using the very effective built in AMU in the K3 leven had a 559 x 2 way with a French stn two days ago on 20m and that is about the worst combination you can have. It just ought not to happen. ……

But it worked! Once again on Tues eve I will be looking on 40 and also 20m for the hardy folk in UK and across the channel who are prepared to forsake their comfortable beds and brave the cool winter wx early mornings.

I will be in this location for approx 8 weeks… during that period the antenna might even get a face lift (or at least an addition Jof another band or two 73 David VK3DBD/G3SCD /ZL.

Member of :- Fists, SKCC, G-QRP, FOC , RAOTA, RAOTC (vk) [Thanks David, Great to hear you on air from Kerikeri on Tuesday]

Brain Teaser

Jules Perrin JP VK3JFP has created a terrific resource to help guide learning for all levels of amateur radio licenses: https:/Awww.julesworkshop.net/Amateur%20Radio.html

Answers from last week’s Quiz:

The Jules Workshop website is being updated with the latest material after introduction of the Class license system; in the mean time, here’s more Foundation License- level example questions.

What should you do, as a licenced amateur operator, if you change your address? Answer:Notify ACMA. What is meant by QRN causing you to QSY? ‘Answer:Lot of radio noise causing you to change frequencies.

Can any amateur transmit any entertainment or advertisements? Answer: No What does the giving of a signal report of 5/9 mean? Answer:Readability is 5 out of § and signal strength is 9 by the meter.

What is the third number in a signal report and when is it used? Answer:Tone for CW You see someone being electrocuted, what should you do? Answer:Don’t touch them, isolate power. If you cannot isolate power, use an insulator to push them away from the danger.

Apply first aid and call for assistance. Why should your amateur station be secured at all times? Answer:To prevent unauthorised use of the amateur equipment. How do you calculate the wavelength of a frequency? ‘Answer: 300 / Freq in MHz Define a wavelength.

Answer:The distance one cycle of the measured wave travels.

1) i-aqan-qai-aan-ait

So back to the Slow CW QSO practice Group.

Next Tuesday’s Net

Our CQ QRS Group will be on as always on Tuesday from around 07002Z until about 1300Z; see below for details. Doesn’t matter whether you’re brand new and want to try just exchanging callsigns and RST reports, or you’re ready for a good old rag chew.

Please let me know via our Reports form bit.ly/CQQRSNET who you work or hear on Tuesday’s Group. The report form closes at lunchtime on Thursday.

Post Morsum

Richard VK6HRC will run our phone Post Morsum on the South West AllStar net (via repeaters and hotspots all over WA) from 0600 WA time, then from 0700 WA time on 80m (8605 LSB).

For the 0600 (22002) net, if you’re in WA all you need is an FM 2m or 70CM transceiver and an AllStar node nearby. If you’re elsewhere in the world, you may be able to connect your local AllStar-enabled repeater to the net via DTMF codes, or you can connect via Echolink.

On Echolink, search for one of the followinc Nodes: « *VK6-HUB* ¢« VK6ZGN-L ¢« VK6RMH-R Let me know (cqqrsnet@gmail.com) if I can help with connecting via AllStar or Echolink.

If you’re in WA and can’t connect, give Richard a call on 3605KHZ SSB from 0700 (23002).

Teamwork

Thank you so much to our team OF35 contributors: MOKBJ, VK1DA, VK2ADF, VK2A0, VK2ASB, VK2DI, VK2DLF, VK2GAS, VK2GAZ VK2IOW, VK2RU, VK3ACU, VK3BWN, VK3CTM, VK3DBD, VK3DRQ, VK3JFP, VKSKEV, VKSOE, VK4DRK, VK4JE, VK5AO, VK5CZ, VK5ET, VK5KFG, VK6BEK, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6IS, VK6KD/2, VK6LD, VK6MK, VK6RR, VK7KPC, ZL2GD.

The Joy of Daylight Saving

There’s usually people around until after 1300Z on the Tuesday Group – so keep calling in the segment of the band designated in the table below until you catch someone.

I should be on as usual from home in NSW or via the Remote at Bedfordale WA, and I’ll also be watching the proceedings using the VK6QS and Tecsun SDRs in WA and NSW respectively. Hope to hear you there.

GU CW on Tuesday, mb Mark Bosma VK2KI / VK6QI Beautiful South Bowning NSW mark.bosma@icloud.com non impediti ratione cogitationis

An Ode to CW – thanks to David VK3RU: In days of old, when ops were bold, And sideband was not invented, Words were passed by pounding brass, And all were quite contented. – Unknown author

About the CQ QRS Group

Frequencies and Times

QRL?

So tune around and call anyone you hear, or find yourself a quiet spot in the designated segment, send “QRL?” and if the frequency is quiet, start calling CQ QRS at about 75% of the speed you’re comfortable receiving at; hopefully responders will match (or send slower to their comfort level).

And if you are already having a QSO and someone sends “QRL?”, respond with “R”, “C”, “Y”, “YES” or QRL to let the caller know that the frequency is in use.

If we’re on 40m and you can hear that the band is open outside Australasia, perhaps consider calling 500HZ above each 1KHZ slot – to minimise the chance of having to copy our team through QRQ QRM that’s often dead-on the kHz markers.

Speed? Rhythm?

If you’re proficient at CW and can race along at 20 or 30WPM – terrific, but please remember, the Group’s aim is to encourage participation and learning, not show how fast you can hammer the key.

Please send slowly where you can and concentrate on rhythm – listen to your side-tone, get that wrist action going and make a special effort to make it sound like perfect CW; the longer we go with our Group, the more I understand just how many non-transmitting listeners we have – and they will most likely appreciate your QRS!

So, if you’re an experienced operator, please try to send nicely balanced slow CW to give them a chance to practice and gain confidence…. they’ll reward you one day by coming up on air to say g’day and thanks – how good is that?

And if you’re new or like me, just rusty…. ignore the above… just have a go – the lather of sweat will be worth it and there’s plenty of time to get the details sorted out as you practice.

Matching

And also for the oldies like me, when you hear someone new, please match their sending speed – or slower. The person you’re replying to may not be as deft on the decoding as you – it may be their first ever CW QSO – remember your first?

Lather of sweat, key that refuses to send that you tell it, brain that refuses to decode those complex letters that were right there half an hour ago, etc!

PSE QRS

And if someone is sending too fast to comfortably copy – “PSE RPT PSE QRS” or “AGN? PSE QRS’ will make life easier for everyone…. and might just encourage other listeners to have a go themselves.

The other thing to remember – most operators are writing down what they hear… so when you put it back to them, expect a delay while they read your words of wisdom, before replying.

The aim is to give everyone a go at contacting others – no-one owns their calling frequency in this Group. So unlike working DX, if you hear someone signing off – jump in and call – doesn’t matter who was first on the frequency – we really are all good mates in this Group….

And besides, at the speed we’re sending, after a QSO most of us will have forgotten who was first!

If you really want to move off frequency (eg because of a spurious switch mode power supply signal that’s just drifted into the conversation), you could try sending an abridged callsign of the person you’re after, followed by “UP 5” or “DN 5” then K; then call that person on the designated frequency and keep your fingers crossed, they may have understood you and followed…

Landing Zone

If the band goes really quiet, call and listen on 7032KHZ (7028KHZ secondary) or 3555KHZ. If you catch someone, there’s no need to QSY – enjoy the frequency.

But don’t forget to tune around if it’s quiet – we have lots of operators with crystal locked transmitters – and they could be anywhere within the segments.

For those who are locked, or can only transmit outside the segments, send a message on our WhatsApp CQ QRS – Alerts group advising of your current frequency.

And of course, put the frequencies in a memory so outside of the Group, if you’re not tuning around, leave your receiver on one of the primary frequencies – you never know who you’ll hear (7032 is used in VK and ZL for SOTA / PARKS during the day so you’ll often hear activity there).

CW Tips

As always, for newbies, operating suggestions are available from the operating hints link here: https://www.parg.org.au/ files/ugd/ebe236 3ca5ca08bb38429db4eee524bda2t97a. pdf. mb VK2KI / VK6QI

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