cq_qrs_newsletter

2025 23 CQ QRS RagChew

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Contents

CQ QRS RagChew

So all’s peachy at the peak of the sunspot cycle? Ha! During this week’s Tuesday net, our intrepid UK stations had plenty of European stations to work… but no luck with long path to VK and ZL…

And many of our VK and ZL team experienced the interesting fade-out and auroral flutter / warble as the geomagnetic storm impacted 40m mid-way through the evening. The flip side was that 80m was working well.

Nevertheless, 37 of our team that we know of were on air, and 56 different stations were worked – we still had fun!

Museum Ship Radio Weekend – June 7th & 8th As discussed in last week’s RagChew newsletter, this weekend June 7th & 8th is the world-wide Museum Ship Radio Weekend and our European desk coordinator Mike DL3YZ will be teaming up with Edgar

DO2EMR to put the German Submariners Association VDU and Technik-Museum Sinsheim’s new U-17 submarine on air using a special event callsign DLOVDU.

Mike will be arranging a couple of scheduled times for CW to VK/ZL, and will also be QRV using SSB / CW / FT-8 / RTTY / DMR and Echolink.

Mike will also be using Echolink and DMR to contact some VK and ZL 2m /70 cm repeaters, including the WA AllStar network via your editor’s VK2KI-L Echolink-to-AllStar node – and hopefully we’ll be able to post Alerts on the CQQRS WhatsApp group as well.

Any contacts or SWL reports with the submarine will be rewarded with a special event QSL card. Mike has a webpage with actual frequencies and talk groups up now: https://www.sandersinformatik,de/U17-on-air So here’s the latest from Mike DL3YZ: It’ll be a great pleasure to have an exclusive frequency and a timeslot during the long path for our CQ CW QRS Net team mates in ZL and VK.

We wont plan anything else on HF during that time, and won’t spot ourselves on the DX Cluster so we have a clear frequency. I’d suggest we take 7:00 – 7:30 UTC on 14.047-14.049 MHz. Thats a time proven to be working.

11 be there on both days, Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th, so we’ll have 2 chances for good conditions.

Thanks Mike – so 20m at 0700 – 0730Z both days, plus hopefully hook-ups via Echolink to the WA AllStar network and other opportunities to work the submarine.

So for those on our WhatsApp Alerts group, if you see an update of frequencies etc on Mike’s website, please let the rest of the team know.

Thank you to Martin VK3FG the President of the Eastern and Mountain Districts ‘Amateur Radio Club for offering support for the CQQRS endeavours.

The Club has got to be one of the most active and well-supported amateur radio groups in Australia – and so many of our most active members are involved (including Martin who is one of our team as well).

Hopefully this could be the start of a long-term and mutually-beneficial association? I do need to find a way of reducing the many days per week that I spend on the RagChew newsletter.

Unlike most similar newsletters, we’re well supported with both a small team compiling information, as well the wonderful articles that our members provide each week.

But despite the willingness of the team, I still spend many many days each week editing (the free MailChimp account only allows a single editor) so the terrific material still needs to be imported and manipulated – one block at atime. Food for thought though.

I’m looking to establish an exit strategy to give myself more time for other things – so I appreciate the offer of assistance.

If EMDRC is unable to take the reigns, I’m hoping that one or more of our team will put up their hands to take the lead (particularly with the RagChew newsletter), and allow me more time for the myriad of other things I need to get done.

Cqqysnet@gmail.com if you have some thoughts.

New Team Members

Welcome this week to another of our Kiwi mates – Aaron ZL1AUN and ZL1BO who lives at Pipiwai, about 150KM North of Auckland; I hope we’ll catch you on air on the net soon Aaron.

Masthead Image

This week we feature the U-17 submarine, pictured on its way by road to the Technik- Museum in Sinsheim, North of Stuttgart in Southern Germany.

Let’s hope that lots of our team get to work Mike or Edgar with the special event callsign DLOVDU during this weekend’s international Museum Ship Radio weekend.

Reports

Please help attract new and old team members to have a go by submitting your repo! each week. Submissions close 1300 (Eastern Australian time) on Thursday.

Website

If you’d like to find out a bit about our net, or would like to pass information to others about our Tuesday get-togethers, here’s the link to our website.

Bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite Cheers, mb Mark Bosma VK2KI / VK6QI Beautiful South Bowning NSW mark.bosma@icloud.com non impsditi ratione cogitationis

The spreadsheets above show the known stations on last Tuesday’s Group; comments from the team members’ reports (via our webform bit.ly/CQQRSNET ) follow:

[40m] * Heard VK3S and VK7S but too fast for me! Better get cracking on rediscovering my morse! Baz.

[80m] * Nothing heard, heavy QRM and dodgy antenna (I think).

[Great to hear from you Baz! Boy as the picture shows, you’re looking 60 years younger these days! There’s a challenge for you…. find that key again and come say g’day again mate; we haven’t had a CW chat for nearly three years would you believe?

You know the drill… start on our net by sending at a speed you’re comfortable receiving at and sure enough, there’ll be short or long QSOs just waiting to happen. Hope to catch up again soon mate.]

[40m] + Interesting aurora condx….VK5s aplenty!.

[40m] * Really enjoyed tonight, I was listening to a QSO that was about my copy speed and I wrote down ‘CURRY IS GOOD ES ?E YUM’ something I missed between the GOOD

And the YUM, but then I looked at my scribble pad and thought what magic, that and the fact ever so incrementally my copy is getting better. Followed by 3 QSOs of my own. Thanks for being there CW QRS team. Great fun!!

[40m] * Very noisy & lots of QSB. Stations fading completely out. Low signal levels tonight..

[80m] * Much quieter band compared to 40 Mts.

[40m] + DX stations were good signals but local VK6 stations suffered from severe QSB and QRN.

[80m] * Some local station QSB as 40m but VK5 and VK4 good signals. Time to call Dana Scully……

[40m] * S8 noise floor proved challenging..

[80m] * Also s8 noise floor but persisted until a strong sig came TU Wayne VK6NW. 73s.

[20m] +I set up in the forest in the drizzle and by the time I started operating from inside the car, the rain really set in and we had a summer downpour. + Propagation was strange.

My first QSO with Tom in central France was at the near limit of today’s skip distance: About 750KM. After that I got QS0S all over eastern Europe, working stations in Ukraine, Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic, Sweden and Hungary.

I seem to be getting the best reports from 1200 to 1700KM away. It was fun to work 84-year-old Janos HA7BU, whose fist is as strong as it ever was.

• Back at home and with my birthday present unwrapped (thank you Jo x) I saw Mark VK2K’s report on the WhatsApp Alerts channel that Peter VK83WOW had been spotted calling CQ on 3545KHZ. I found the KiwiSDR at Tarlee in SA and heard Mark answer.

It was great to hear them ragchew with nicely composed CW. I chipped in comments on WhatsApp and then heard Mark reply tome during his QSO via HF and the internet. Talk about mixed modes!. rd ee

[40m] + Probably VK2SB was not on the net, but a very pleasant sedate chat. Not much else heard tonight..

[80m] +l used a remote tuner with my 10m long vertical with limited success (I will try harder next time!). + Earlier in the evening I replied to VK1CT a couple of times, but he could not hear me. I finally got through.

I heard several ZL stations calling into their net with reasonable signals..

[80m] * Had a reasonable length QSO with lan but it sounds like my antenna system needs a redesign for closer contacts. Maybe NVIS if it can fit in yard. * Shack insulation and heater are welcome additions. Otherwise enjoying living here and

[20m] «Very disappointed with the 20m band. I was tuning the frequencies from 7 to 8Z and NOTHING was heard of them.

[40m] * The band from my QTH was a bit quiet. Not only I didn’t hear many stations but my calls were not successful.

[20m] * But, I am very happy with the nice an interesting QSO with OM Ketut. Thanks OM Ketut. I am looking forward to our next QSO..

[40m] + 40m was devoid of signals in the morning and not much better when I tuned in for the QRS net. A couple of signals showed faintly on the waterfall and hardly produced audio. I called CQ anyway and was delighted by VKAWN reaenondinng after the third call

We had a short QSO but Wayne’s originally good signal soon wavered with QSB then vanished completely. I then heard no more signals.. [Ha! The geomagnetic storm had driven everyone down to 80m I think Daniell]

From Peter Dann VKSWOW at Blackburn, Victoria

[40m] + Usually if I call CQ on this band for 15 minutes or so, someone comes back to me. Did not happen on this occasion.. [Glad you had some fun on 80m though Peter].

[80m] * We had a visitor that evening so I joined the net late. Pretty quickly I made a contact with the 2 stations in 80m band. Condx were decent so I ended up having nice long-winded rag-chews with lan and Manny.

5 wom rag chew was pretty cool and relaxed so things maxed out on the fun scale. Thanks lan and Manny. I look forward

[20m] * Nothing heard from our friends in Europe this week.

[40m] « The vagaries of hf propagation. VK3 was non existent to me but other states were weak but readable..

[80m] * Rob, VK3ECH was portable near Broken Hill using 5 Watts. We managed a short but noisy QSO..

[20m] + Well what a disappointing way for us Aussies to celebrat Simon’s birthday! + We knew that both Simon MOKBJ/P and Chris G7BED were aAallinn haraiicesa tha

Reverse Beacon Network told us so…. but there was no sign of them here. At one stage I did hear a very weak station on Chris’ frequency, but it could have been anyone – including one of the people that Chris worked.

+ I was pleased to see Simon’s comment on the CQQRS WhatsApp group: ” Despite the solar shenanigans, I’ve had the busiest Tuesday morning ever. © Seven QSOs into Europe.

Farthest DX was Kyiv, Ukraine…” ~ hopefully that made the early rise worthwhile on his birthday…

[40m] + Nice to chat to our new member James VK3JFR with a nice signal from Ararat and the other not so new James VK7JZ back in Hobart; I also caught up with Andy VK5LA at Winkie in the Riverlands – all three had nice signals with me..

+ listened to Jordan VK8ACU calling CQ from Meredith – with each repeat his signal was going down the gurgler…. too much of a challenge (reminiscent of the Newcastle Song – never let a chance go by) so I gave him a hoy when he was down to RSN 311 – with lots of auroral flutter and warble.

[80m]. + After dinner 40m looked pretty quiet on the VK1CM, VK5PH and VK6SEG KiwiSDRs (apart from the static crashes in WA), so I went through the antenna coupler and phasing noise canceller adjustment process and eventually replied to Peter VK3WOW with a nice RSN 72 signal from Blackburn.

What fun – Simon MOKBJ was back from his early morning portable operation, had opened his wonderful birthday present from his loving wife Jo, was listening in on a KiwiSDR in Adelaide sending us comments via WhatsApp.

Close to a three-way QSO for the three of us who were monitoring both the airwaves and WhatsApp… + After Peter I had my second chat in two weeks with Carl VK5CT at Port Adelaide before a g’day to John VKSET at Hope Valley.

After saying GE to John I listened to Wayne VK6NW at Bridgetown chatting to David VK6KD at Ballajura beofre calling it quits for the evening.

Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning NSW via the VK1CH VK5PH and VK6SEG KiwiSDRs at Canberra (VK1), Ironstone Ridge (VK5) and Hoddve Well (Ve).

[40m] + I was listening in on the VA6SEG KiwiSDR at Hoddys Well near Northam and was hearing us Easterners from around 0800Z..

* Interesting when I worked Jordan VKS3ACU (see above) although his signal was bing trashed by the aurural / geomagnetic storm over the VK3 to

VK2 path, we were both solid copy RSN 582 in VK6.. + After dinner I did a check of the KiwiSDRs. My signal from Beautiful South Bowning (about 70KM NNW of Canberra) to the VK1CM receiver in Canberra and Paul VK5PH‘s receiver at Ironstone Ridge weren’t visible, but I was still S5 at the VA6SEG SDR..

[80m] * When I came down to 80m at around 1045Z, the band was open nicely from the East to VK6 – with good Q 5 signals all round.. So thanks to everyone who made the effort to get on air on Tuesday under difficult conditions on 20m and 40m.

And a special thank you to everyone who submitted reports for our newsletter this week – excellent!

VK2 path, we were both solid copy RSN 582 in VK6.. + After dinner I did a check of the KiwiSDRs. My signal from Beautiful South Bowning (about 70KM NNW of Canberra) to the VK1CM receiver in Canberra and Paul VK5PH‘s receiver at Ironstone Ridge weren’t visible, but I was still S5 at the VA6SEG SDR..

[80m] * When I came down to 80m at around 1045Z, the band was open nicely from the East to VK6 – with good Q 5 signals all round..

Post Morsum Report from Richard VK6HRC No power outage this time so no scurrying around for batteries and LED lights ! On the VK6RLM repeater AllStar / Echolink South West Hub this morning : VK6KD David VK6NW Wayne VKeQl Mark VK6FN Max VK6HRC VK6MRB Mulligan and the rest of our shortwave listeners David enjoyed a contact with Wayne on 40 Mx but still plagued with high noise levels resorted to listening out on a Kiwi SDR.

The good news is that a lovely IC- 7610 is on the way which is advertised as the next level all you need rig! A big step up from the IC-718 on the desk. Wayne did get an SES call-out but made it back in time to work five on 40 Mx a bonus ZL and three on 80 Mx.

Mark monitored the activity from the Northern Hemisphere then worked four on 40 Myx, three on 80 Mx. Also monitored multiple SDR receivers and even managed to get involved in the traffic on WhatsApp !

& Max was having problems with his power supply having lost a phase due to a blown fuse but managed to get a crew in to sort it out before the net. He enjoyed a contact with Maity VK5AO on 40 Mx but got a lightning alert so went QRT. Never a dull moment Max !

I was away on Tuesday night so missed out, thanks to all. Have a great week. 73 Richard.

Post Morsum Report

Head Copy Practice

For those who would like to start progressing beyond hand-written copy of CW – or for those interested in developing or refreshing their head-copy skills, here’s a really interesting idea from Peter VA8WOW and John VK2RU.

First the discussion started by Peter VASWOW on the CQ QRS WhatsApp Rag

Here’s a link to the software for different operating systems, and an optional graphical user interface: https://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cw.html

There was some discussion in Rag Chew this week re ebook2cw. I use that a bit. But luse books like Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Aesops Fables etc which I have saved as txt files.

There’s no limit to the books available, but how could you not like Winnie the Pooh, particularly when it contains simpler words that are easier to copy.

When I want something new to convert to cw, I go through the txt file and change any strange punctuation to. or, . So the only punctuation is. ?/ If notice any words spelt differently to what I would expect then I’ll change that as well.

Then I put a space before all punctuation so that it doesn’t immediately continue on from the previous letter. The way I use it is to read the txt file, play the MP3, rinse and repeat. I’ve set the mp3 to 20WPM, tone 550. Too fast?

There is a way to use the converted file that makes it a bit more useful for someone trying to increase their cw copy speed. When I play the cw file on my pixel 7 phone, I can choose to play it at 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x or 2.0x the original speed.

Android devices also let you change the playback speed in 0.25 increments. That probably works on ios as well. So that 20 wpm file could have been replayed at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40WPM.

The only problem with that is the 5 wom increments, which I find is too much of a jump up in speed. That’s why I thought I should send the 12 wpm file which allows the playback speed to be changed by 3 wpm each time.

Say I decide to convert the text file to 12 wpm ew. Depending on which playback speed is chosen, I can play the original 12 wpm cw file at either 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 wpm.

So if you find you’re copying easily at one speed, you can move up 3 wom without having multiple files all at different speeds.

I’ve attached Chapter 1 of Winnie the Pooh in my modified txt version, and as an MP3 converted by ebook2cw. Click to download the text ——-> Click to download the audio file ——>

I’ve attached Chapter 1 of Winnie the Pooh in my modified txt version, and as an MP3 converted by ebook2cw. Click to download the text ——->

Using this link if you’d like me to send the file to you: cqqrsnet@gmail.com regards John [Fantastic – thank you Peter and John. Perhaps in future editions, could you guys provide a list of the texts you have converted to CW?

Ditto for anyone else who has done this? That way you might be able to email them out to people who would like a listen? That would save everyone having to load the conversion software to their computers. A CW audio book library!]

VK6KD – Not Portable

| wish to thank the CW QRS HAM operators in making our epic 12 month 2024-2025 trip around Oz that much better. Over 12 months of traveling I regularly setup my portable HF set on a Tuesday night wherever we ended up.

The setup consisted of a combination of different antennas and challenging environments. Given I was always portable, the CW QRS team all around Oz went out of their way to pick up my faint signals which would have been challenging at times.

Mark asked if I also conducted QSOs by voice while travelling around. Did I actually use my microphone on my HF radio? I had to think long and hard to answer this.

I would have to say 99% of all communication around Oz using my HF set was actually using my CW paddle. That leaves 1% for phone QSOs, hihi. I was able to visit some amazing places. Too many photos to post.

Attached is a pdf image showing my cw files which I saved at each location. Note the name of each location in the file name. As I learnt cw typing, thats how I decode.

I type out what I hear into a rich text format (.rtf) file then sum up the statistics manually and post them to the CW report ready for the weekly newsletter.

Whenever possible I would be up early the next morning to have a quick chat on th Post Morsum net (thanks Richard VK6HRE for commanding this space, great job) Here’s a map of the major roads we travelled around Oz towing our 3.5T caravan, and my wife Pauline’s thoughts.

If you have an article or two that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let me know so we can share more thoughts and ideas; email to cqqrsnet@gmail.com

On My Workbench

I’ve had a number of questions about my 80m loop antenna – so here’s a bit about it. It’s a full wavelength loop on 80m, and fed at the bottom with home-brew 600 Ohm feeder.

It’s not equilateral, due to height constraints, available supports and trying to keep the average height above ground as high as possible, thus the flat top configuration.

The top wire is heavy gauge multi strand, hard drawn Cu wire as it has to carry the weight of the whole antenna, including part of the feeder and counterweights; I didn’t want it to sag.

So large diameter rope, pulleys, halyards and counter weights are used at each support, which are trees. The counterweights (each 4 house bricks) are used to keep it taught despite tree movement.

Dimensions are:- Flat top 40.64m, both other sides of the triangle are 23.316m, making a circumference of 87.272m, which makes it resonant at the bottom of the 80m CW allocation and at the CW end of the higher harmonically related bands.

There is no magic reason for these dimensions, except the top wire is 1/2 wave at 3510KHZ.

| recall my original intention was to make an 80m Doublet, hence the length of the top wire, but before I cut it in half, I had a rethink and decided to turn it into a loop and feed it at the bottom.

So I regret to say this non-equilateral concoction is all my own work, but fortunately, it has performed beyond expectations. I have attempted to get some pix on my iPhone 8, but they only show the feeder, I’ll have another go later with a proper camera.

Irecall my original intention was to make an 80m Doublet, hence the length of the top wire, but before I cut it in half, I had a rethink and decided to turn it into a loop and feed it at the bottom.

So I regret to say this non-equilateral concoction is all my own work, but fortunately, it has performed beyond expectations. Ihave attempted to get some pix on my iPhone 8, but they only show the feeder, Ill have another go later with a proper camera.

Hi Mark, Yes it is a full wavelength loop on 80m, and fed at the bottom with homebrew 600 Ohm feeder. It’s not equilateral, due to height constraints, available supports and trying to keep the average height above ground, as high as possible, thus the flat top configuration.

The top wire is heavy gauge multi strand, hard drawn Cu wire, as it has to carry the weight of the whole antenna, including part of the feeder and counterweights, as it does not want to sag.

So large diameter rope, pulleys, halyards and counter weights are used at each support, which are trees, thus the counterweights (each 4 house bricks), to keep it taught despite tree movernent.

Dimensions are:- Flat top 40.64m, both other sides of the triangle are 23.316m, making a circumference of 87.272m, which makes it resonant at the bottom of the 80m CW allocation and at the CW end of the higher harmonically related bands.

There is no magic reason for these dimensions, except the top wire is 1/2 wave at 3510KHZ. It can be matched on all HF bands from 6m to 80m, whether I am using the Palstar HF-Auto ATU, via a 9:1 balun or direct to the open wire feeder via the Palstar BT- 1500A Balanced ATU.

Ihave never attempted to photograph it. Due to it’s size, the wires would be near invisible. The flat top is at 20m above ground and the feed point approx 5m. I hope you can visualise that.

Ithas never been modelled and I hate to think what some of the polar diagrams would look like, but it works a treat, plus it is extremely quiet. Cheers, Phil VK6GX. htty Cheers, Phil VK6GX.

Hi Mark,

My 1940S UK Wireless Set No 19 MK Il was rebuilt in 1958 – which meant that REME removed the VHF Set and replaced all the cloth/fabric wiring with plastic covered wire. The Wireless Set No 19 Mk III was the first transceiver I had aged 15 in 1965.

Unfortunately, it was given away in my absence! But in 2005 I managed to get another out from England. This is the radio I was listening in on 40m on Tuesday night. Fantastic!

Ve been carting it around for 20 years and I’ve spent considerable time getting the Rx part going. Alll the slugs in the IF transformers were stuck or broken; and there was one missing. The BFO slug was rusted in position – a labour of love.

Nearly all paper caps needed to be replaced. Now the interesting thing is that the CW portion of 40m covers about 1.5mm, if that!

Plucking out stations is easy though because the Mk III has an audio CW filter and a BFO (Het Tone) adjustment; that along with the brain, allows you to differentiate between stations. I’m now working on the transmitter section.

A zoom in…

• ine tuning and a good ear…easier on 80m, but didn’t hear anyone on 80m…

73, Nic VK7WW PS THE COMPLETE SLOW MORSE COURSE IS NOW CAPTURED IN TIME AND PRESERVED ON YOUTUBE- Thanks to Jordan VK3ACU https://www. youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHsQmZz6fBXO7swAfbT mutrbbEL17fUQL

Other News

RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park

MOUD NdvOndl Maa@io Ventre at DICtcniey Frdalk

From Simon MOKBJ Fellow CQ QRS ops Nigel G4RWI, Chris G7BED and me MOKBg, all volunteer at the National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park. Here’s why… https://youtu.be/s78XvK7_XBg?si=SQBx06yjPPBYol1 1

And more from Phil VK6ADF: Anyone who visits Bletchley Park, also consider a visit to the ham retailer Moonraker. in a direct line from Bletchley Park, Moonraker is 6.5 kilometers away as as we dont have such retailers in WA, what an eye opener.

I visited in 2018. When I got my ticket for Bletchley Park, it was valid for multiple visits for one year. I was only over there for 6 weeks so before I departed, I visited Bletchley Park again.

If you are an RSGB member you can get free tickets by downloading a voucher from their website. 73 Phil VA6ADF

And more from Phil VK6ADF:

Ideal operating conditions (Hardy’s Tintara) Here’s my Barrett 4050. For VFO tuning of the Barrett 4050, see this youtube video https:/Avww.youtube.com/watch?v=f4BATIJUbdE This video has the detachable head model, which I have in my vehicle.

But in the shack I have the handset model as seen in the pics. To tune the handset I touch the screen and use the up/down buttons to free tune. It is a fantastic radio, and being milspec it is fairly bullet proof as well. Wayne Douglass VK6NW

Morse Training Net

Our team member Nic VK7WW runs an on-air 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; you’ll hear lots of the CQQRS team on that net. Jordan VK3ACU has recorded the complete set of lessons which you’ll find here:

Https://www. youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHsQmZz6fBXO7swAfbT mutrbbEL17fUQL Contact Nic VK7WW for more info nicholaschantler@hotmail.com including how to join the NTARC DISCORD group to follow the action, or just come along and join in on Wednesdays.

Effects of the Geomagnetic Storm and Auroras

Automation!

From Phil VK6ADF I listened to VE6HRC and VK6KHZ

Nave a QoO last week. One day I Will join in. I thought you might like this automated CQ that I videoed at the Friedrichtshafen Ham Show, Germany 2018. ACQ with a difference. 73 Phil VA6ADF

[Thanks Phil – Il’d been wondering how those automated CW machines worked too! Hope we hear you on the net one of these days mate – perhaps an overlap with a SOTA activation as we head back toward Summer?]

Readable Five

What have you been reading lately? Compiled on the track somewhere by John ‘

What have you been reading lately? viled on the track somewhere by John VK2RU

The Loggers Bark

Le Luygyels Dalk from Phil VK6GX I wonder if you have come across The Loggers Bark, the excellent journal of the Radio Club of Tacoma. It is featured monthly on the QRZ.com home page and can be downloaded as a PDF from here: https://w7dk.org/newsletter

NOS5NN.ora

From John VK2RU I saw the link to this site on Jens’ VK4PE QRZ page – https:/Avww.no5nn.org /

If you believe in quality over quantity, the NOSNN.org website is a refreshing corner of the hobby. NOSNN.org is the online home of the QTT (Quality True Telegraphist) movement.

It’s a community-driven initiative that encourages thoughtful, meaningful CW QSOs— moving beyond the rapid-fire “5NN TU” exchanges. Instead, it promotes genuine conversations with honest signal reports, operator names, QTHs, and even equipment details.

The goal is to revive the slower, more personal style of CW operating that many feel is fading in today’s fast-paced digital age.

What You’ll Find

Guide to Quality Telegraphy Time (QTT): A comprehensive manual on how to engage in meaningful CW conversations, including etiquette, recommended frequencies, and tips for newcomers.

Blog: Regular posts discussing various aspects of CW operating, including commentary on modern contesting, the use of CW decoders, and advice for new operators.

Mailing Lists: Discussion lists like QTT Anon offer a platform for CW enthusiasts to share experiences and advice in a supportive environment.

Resources: Information on CW calling frequencies, propagation beacons, and tools to enhance your CW operating experience.

Why It’s Worth a Visit

Whether you’re a seasoned CW operator or just starting out, NOSNN.org offers a welcoming space to deepen your understanding and appreciation of quality CW operating.

It’s a place to connect with like-minded individuals who value the art of CW and wish to keep it thriving. So, if you’re looking to enrich your CW experience with meaningful exchanges and a supportive community, NOSNN.org is definitely worth checking out.

Lots of interesting information there, plus links to other good CW sites. Here’s one of the articles from the NO5NN website:

[Thanks John and Jens – this material epitomises what we’re trying to promote on our net – the enjoyment of human-to-human communications via CW. Great find!]

If you’ve read something that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let me know so we can share more thoughts and ideas; email to cqqrsnet@gmail.com

There’s No Such Thing…

Inis weeks questions. I think the first lesson in Teachering 101 is to always tell students “There’s no such…” (I’m sure you know the rest) and “…the only dumb questions are the ones not asked”.

John VK2RU reckons that there’s lots of questions out there among both our new and our experienced operators – about CW, amateur radio operating and about theory.

So John didn’t step backwards quickly enough when asked to volunteer to compile readers’ questions; thanks mate. So here we go…

Question:In RagChew edition 22/2025, Mark said: “/use the floating elbow technique as opposed to the resting elbow version”. I must be doing it wrong – I rest the heel of my palm on the desk and tap with my index finger. It gives me more precise control.

I don’t know how operators manage with the floating elbow technique even though that has always been one of the principle techniques. Mind you, my paddle technique is weird too – a mixture of Ultimatic and single lever paddle slapping.

It’s a good job no-one’s looking! So to the questions: * What technique to our operators use and why? * Who taught each different technique (different countries’ military, maritime, or amateur license testers, other amateur operators, YouTube, etc?

* Do different styles suit different keys, or different types of operation? * Your thoughts on hand keying. Please send your thoughts to cqarsnet@gmail.com for compilation for future editions. Ross MONNK.

[Do you have a question or two that are worth sharing? How about a discussion- starter? Please let me know cqgrsnet@gmail.com and I’ll pass them to John VK2RU for compilation each week.]

I Hear Tell…

[If you have some intel about other team members… or even yourself… that’s worth sharing, please let me know cqqrsnet@gmail.com J

Di-dah-di-dah-dadit

So back to the CQQRS Slow CW QSO practice net.

Next Tuesday’s Net

Our CQQRS Group will be on as always on Tuesday from around 0700Z until about 1300Z; see https://bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite and navigate to the Net Details page 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. We’ll have fun.

There’s usually people around until after 1300Z – 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.

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 (Eastern Australian time) 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).

See https://bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite and navigate to the Net Details page for details of how you can connect via Echolink or even possibly via your local FM repeater.

Teamwork

Thank you so much to our team of 33 contributors: DL3YZ, MOKBJ, MONNK, VK2RU, VK3ACU, VK3AFH, VK3BWN, VK3DRQ, VK3ECH, VK3FG, VK3JFR, VK3KEV, VK3TBR, VK3WOW, VKSAO, VKSCT, VK5CZ, VKSET, VKSFD, VK6ADF, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6JDM, VK6KD & Pauline, VK6KHZ, VK6MU, VK6NW, VK6WE, VK7JZ, VK7KPC/VK5, VK7TA and VK7WW.

And a special thank you to our editorial team, Nigel G4RWI (head of software development), John VK2RU (WhatsApp spy and research) and Richard VK6HRC (Post Morsition and spy). Great work alll UY CW on Tuesday, mb.

Mark Bosra VK2KI/ VK6QI Beautiful South Bowning NSW mark,bosma@icloud.com non impediti ratione cogitationis

Difference stimulates thinking; thinking stimulates wisdom; wisdom leads us, inevitably, to an understanding of the fact that peace and harmony are impossible without an under-lying commitment to social interaction, driven by compassion (Australia Reimagined, H.McKay, P108)

About the CQ QRS Net

For the current schedule and more information about the CQQRS net, please go the the Net Details page on our website:

The opinions expressed in the RagChew newsletter are those of the individual contributors. The opinions do not necessarily reflect that of the editor or of the CQ QRS Group members.

Any material and images received by the editor or published on the CQQRS WhatsApp groups may be published in this newsletter unless specifically requested otherwise.

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