cq_qrs_newsletter

2025 26 CQ QRS RagChew

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Contents

CQ QRS RagChew

Challenging conditions continued this week for our Tuesday CQQRS Slow CW Practice QSO net. One of our team even went outside to check that his antenna was still up – I was tempted to do the same…. but instead checked the next morning; all good still!

Notwithstanding, at least 43 of our team members were on air and 54 different stations were worked… so actually, perhaps things weren’t quite as bad as I thought. So you may have noticed that this RagChew newsletter was late again….

Not helped by MailChimp (the spam-advertising software that I use to generate the nice-looking newsletters) spitting the dummy late on Friday night for the second week in a row and offsetting all the images to the left – I even went back to an earlier version, updated it with all the added material (| hope), saved and opened….

Sure enough the bad offset had come back. I think when you open the email some of the text might be too wide for the screen as well – sorry about that! However, all’s not bad news.

The Head of our Software Development Department Nigel G4RWI (Ireland one week, Istanbul the next!) has been busy making improvements to the way we manipulate the reports you submit each week for input to the newsletter. And wow!

I’m now able to add images to the reports much more easily than before. No more reformatting with every new image… wonderful – thank you mate!

Despite the smoother processes, the time has come for me to step away from being the RagChew newsletter editor. I started the net four years ago as a weekly single-frequency sked for the Peel (WA) Amateur Radio Group, and it just grew and grew – thanks primarily to you!

Each week I’d send an email to the participants, and before long started using Google Groups to handle the distribution, and eventually settled on the MailChimp advertising-generating software because it produced the eye-appeal that you our contributors deserve.

You’ll know already that the net has continued to be successful primarily because it’s very satisfying for participants – be it new operators or old-hands – it’s a bit like going down the road to a nice country pub and having a chat with old or new mates once a week.

In turn, the newsletter fosters that feeling and is the key thing that has kept the net going – and growing; we now have over 220 subscribers, and as you know, four- to five-dozen stations on each week.

An amazing number for any amateur net, let alone one with participants mainly from our sparsely-populated VK/ZL populations, using CW which many amateurs thought had disappeared from the scene.

And neatly every week we get new people interested in joining in – something’s working! However, I’m not getting much younger, I have small rural property to get cracking on, anew workshop, shack and antennas to build, a huge pile of repair and build projects waiting for action, a 90% completed experimental helicopter to finish and learn to fly, and a loving wife to spend time with; and what’s more, I want to have some fun on Tuesday nights…

And even other times too! So…. it’s time to let go of one aspect of the CQQRS net – our beloved RagChew newsletter; I think it’s time for a team of editors to take over to find ways of effectively communicating with our group, but ina much more efficient way.

Further down in this edition you’ll see a couple of our team members’ suggestions about the newsletter; one from John VK2RU suggesting a weekly skinny edition with just the weekly reports, followed by a monthly bumper edition.

That would certainly be easier to manage – and to read too I suspect. So irrespective of whether we stick with the weekly bumper edition, or the skinny report mailings plus a bigger one each month, we need say four or five team members to put up their hands to take on the once-a-month editor role.

And I reckon there’s probably a way we can have each edition created simply and quickly with a word processor; I’ve been experimenting with using images created that way, which in-turn get sent via MailChimp.

A one-editor-per-week model seems like a good way ahead – everyone wins that way. Perhaps the skinny editions might be produced by one editor each week, and I might look after the bumper ones perhaps? What do you think?

Goes without saying that I will provide assistance and continue to do things like look after report generation and distribution etc for as long as needed to keep things running smoothly.

Or perhaps you might like to take it on holus-bolus, with or without my help? Either way, you’re likely to come up with ways of reducing the time required each week. Even if you’re not a computer wiz, I think together we can make something work.

And if you give it a try for a few editions but decide it’s not your cup of tea, that would be fine too – your efforts will be very much appreciated by our readers.

And unlike most other club newsletters, we’re never short of material, we have people dedicated to providing support and I have a whole library of photos that you’ll be able to use to make the newsletter easily skimmable.

Please let me know if you’re available to join the once-per month editorial team? cqqrsnet@gmail.com

Masthead Image

| really liked the image sent last week by Mike DL3YZ of his double-rabbit-ears antenna on his favourite antenna test range – which for convenience we’ll call Zeckenhiigel; so this week it gets pride of place. Thanks Mike.

| really liked the image sent last week by Mike DL3YZ of his double-rabbit-ears antenna on his favourite antenna test range – which for convenience we’ll call Zeckenhiigel; so this week it gets pride of place. TL Ie OR Ale

Welcome this week to Johnathan VK4SEC who lives at Banyo in Brisbane. This week, Johnno had a CW QSO with Jordan VK3ACU who pointed him in our direction – thanks again Jordan.

Welcome Johnno – we’ll keep an ear out for you on Tuesday, and I see you’ve already started using the CQQRS WhatsApp Alerts group to stir up QRS QSOs.

CQ QRS Net Frequencies

Frequencies and times for Tuesday’s net are always on our CQQRS website: https://sites.google.com/view/cqqrs/home/net-details

Frequencies and times for Tuesday’s net are always on our CQQRS website: https://sites.google.com/view/cqqrs/home/net-details However, as a reminder, here’s the timetable:

Mike and the team have excelled themselves once again – here’s the sked details for Tuesday’s DXperiment, received before the newsletter went out! Dear CQ QRS team, The european DXperiment chapter is on the air again on Tuesday.

Simon – MOKBJ takes it out to the beach this week. He will be operating at the West coast of Lancashire, about 160 km from his home. The salt-water should really help signals to fly.

Make a good catch, Simon 😉 Mike – DL3YZ is expected to be offline on Tuesday, reworking his home antennas. Please check the “Runners Point” website for last minute changes. Chris – G7BED is still in Asia till 15 th of July.

Ross – MONNK is on camping vacation and will not be on air as well. Greetings to all vacationeers, get home safe 🙂

As usual, we will have the “Runners Point” website updated for you, where you can spot the actual frequency on which we are operating on at the very moment on Tuesday. And we will announce all breaking news there as well.

Https://www.sandersinformatik.de/dxperiment Have fun on your radios. 73 de Ross , Simon and Mike

Reports

Help attract new and old team members to have a go by submitting your report each week; submission: close 1300 (Eastern Australian time) on Thursday.

Website

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

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

Leavin The waves were rather noisy up here today, so I struggled to copy anything on my first QSO with Peter, really sorry about that. Mark told me to go one up on 14.049 for Sava VK4PN but there was no signal audible on rr side.

After a call from an UK station, I had a long chat with Wayne – VKG6NW. When we finished, VK6KD – David called CQ on that frequency, and he was having a really strong signal ( S5 ) over here in Stuttgart. But unfortunately I didnt make it over to him.

[40m] Conditions flat with deep QSB, noise N1, much the same as past weeks and the whole weekend when no RandomGram or

Email traffic with Mike DL3YZ: Hello Mark, Thanks for the email during the DXperiment 🙂 I tried one kHz up looking for Sava VK4PN, but unfortunately there was no signal audible down here. But I did catch Wayne VK6NW when back on 14048kHz.

Have a great day Mike. Hi Mike Pity; I did hear you and Wayne using an SDR in Western Australia; I tried the VK6CRO Remote up at Carnarvon (about 800KM N of Perth) – but nothing heard there. Hope you got to work some others. Thanks for being there mate. Dit-it.

Mb Hi Mark, Thats the nice thing with DX: it always stays thrilling. I heard VK6KD but couldn’t reach to him. He must have lots of pwr, he was really loud and crystal clear down here. Today I was only $3 in ironstone.

So the double rabbit ear is the winner so far ( S5 ). second, but close is the full wave loop. But wait for it, I already got another stupid idea.. Have a great day Mike.

David VK6KD will be pleased to hear about his strong signal from his brand new IC-7610 with 100 Watts. He has a high noise level, which is probably why he couldn’t hear you. Standing by for the next ideal Di-dit. mb Oh, yes indeed.

That nice 7610 he got from his wife 🙂 Great stuff. What an honour. 73 Mike.

PIO RGSS VIWNIVININES al CACO! UIN Vid IMOMMel tO Praag

[40m] Signals on 40m seemed weaker than usual with plenty of QSB. Thank you to George VK2DLF for persevering and getting my callsign correct. Due to conditions I only got he of what Stan ZL8TK was sending but we did have a contact across the Tasman Sea.

[40m] Even with some pretty noisy band conditions, it was great to get on the air and make 7 contacts, including 2 on 160M. It’s always good to hear activity from the team during the week.

I’ve been making the most of m lunch breaks, operating mobile or portable when the weather permits. Hope to catch you all on the air again soon!

From your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning via the V VK6SEG KiwiSDR and the VK5PH KiwiSDR

[20m] Mike DL3YZ‘s signal was RSN 431 into both the VK6SEG KiwiSDR at Hoddys Well and the VK5PH KiwiSDR at Ironstone Range.

I tried the VK6CRO Remote station at Carnarvon while Mike was chatting to Wayne VK6NW (about 1200KM South of Carnarvon) – but nothing was heard of either.

The Remote is located at the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum, and has been very popular with the 6m FT-8 users who Ai a ee St A weer el Pt Pa ee

• ee rey ee Ie Fe rE Oe Re eee SUERTE SPENT NEES Fe he VEN have been able to work into Europe and other far-flung places from the sub-tropical location.

However, because it was so popular on 6m, it was often not available for other users; so one of the key 6m users Nigel VK6CPU donated a second FT-991A to the Southern Electronics group for installation at Carnarvon as a 6m-only Remote! How good is that?

That means the existing Remote is now available for general use more often.

| had the VK6CRO remote at Carnarvon still up after trying it on 20m when Mike DL3YZ was on. So after tonight’s morsle (apple and rhubarb crumble) I saw David VK6KD calling CQ on 3555KHZ, so I gave him a call on the Remote.

We enjoyed a really nice rag chew with David’s S9 signal above the S6-7 noise floor (the wore p Res Pan erwates 1) el’ leeebeterure Fecnstesrces baesurrentee tie

MUSCUITIS LEL NQMUNG CallsOs Mavol lO tie remote on the low bands). In an earlier email, Mike DL3YZ had said he had heard David on 20m with really crisp and clear signal; that was funny because David’s CW from his brand new Icom IC-7610 (a 60TH Birthday present from Pauline!) was notably crisp and clear on 80m as well.

How could that be I wonder? Is there some sort of nice waveform shaping going on in that top-of-the-line transceiver I wonder? Listen out for David next week, and see if you agree with Mike and me!

[20m] Mike DL3YZ was only just perceptible in the noise here – I could hear that he was there but no characters were able to be deciphered; RSN 100.

[40m] Tough conditions on 40m this week so it was nice to hook up with Mr Green Chicken Curry VKS5LA again this week. Andy was on his QRP Elecraft K1 kit transceiver, but it took me two goes to actually hear what transmitter he was using – either the QSB got me or my brain went out to lunch when he told me the first time.

| could see on our WhatsApp CQQRS group that others were struggling with the conditions too – Keven VK3KEV even went outside to check that his antenna was still up!

[80m] We were really struggling on 80m tonight – I think I’ll be doing what Kevin VK3KEV did – going outside to check that my antenna is still up!

In summary, I saw and heard lots of comments about the difficult conditions on the bands on Tuesday – so I guess it was another night of geomagnetic storms, although no auroral QRN was noticed on the KiwiSDRs this week.

Anyway, I hope you had fun, despite the challenging conditions.

[40m] Appeared operators went to bed early, hihi.

[80m] Unusually low noise at my QTH tonight on 40m and 80m Have yet to work out why. QRM eliminator has reduced some noise but biggest improvement may have been removal of garden sola lights. Time will tell. New IC7610 rig is magic to play with.

[20m] A great contact with Mike DL8YZ on 20m before he had I go to work, thank you Mike.

[40m] Forty meters suffered from fading to the east coast from VAIA Ait star ood OM

[40m] Back in VK7 and my QTH this week. Advantage is I now have 100W radio, disadvantage, it’s at my QTH with all my QRM issues.

Never noticed myself prior to this week but my son came to tell me the the LED flood light over the back yard was ‘flickering’ in time with my CW sending. Umm, OK. I will do some testing to see whether or not having the flood light

On or off makes any dilference to my RX. Determined that CQ QRS night is much more fun mobile and away from the QRM So this week I am working on a build for é portable 80m EFHW antenna with a link a 40m so that I can chase the CQ QRS gro across two bands.

It’s a work in progress and I am modifying a 40m EFHW that I w not using much so it might work on 80m v

Not using much, so it might work on oUm with the addition of some more wire, or I might fail. I will let you all know how that goes. Enjoyed my 3 QSOs this week, particularly with VK3BSE and we went off script a bit; I got most of it.

John (QTH in Somers) mentioned involvement in Scouts, and I missed a couple of words. Every QSO is fun and is helping me get better.

I could clearly hear Z_L1AGY on 40m; the receive conditions were better than for the VK contacts; however, they were going so fast I had to listen to the call about 5 times to get it, and that alone was enough to shy me away and not respond.

[40m] A frustrating evening on 40m, Static crashes, noise, Auroral flutter (briefly) and poor reception. I even checked my antenna to make sure it was still up. 80m and 160M proved more reliable for VK3 QSOs.

[40m] Some of the stations heard/worked may not have been on the net, some definitely were and some definitely were not, but any CW is good CW!

I could sometimes only hear one half of a QSO, and clearly others were the same as I heard some stations unintentionally on the same frequency.

[80m] It was far too wet and wild to go outside and change the antenna, so I had to give 80m a miss tonight.

Had one dental appointment in the morning and another in later afternoon. Left home with sue the station tuned and ready to call OM Mike DL3YZ on Lenuosotadnatnomimucmenrnccwmmencos arrival but at 08:30Z it was too late.

Eve aye wet : — As you can see, OM Simon is not the only one having to visit ————— a friendly Dentist.

[40m] VK6NW and VK6KRC were working with good signals when I tuned in so I started sending CQ nearby. This was answered by VK6AAV to initiate a QSO but weakening signals forced an early termination. By then the band was quiet and ended the session.

[40m] Through the wide ranging QSB, $5 noise floor and static crashes came a collection of QSOs. I was lucky? To attend QRS as I am dealing with a dose of flu and would otherwice hea the Adult Sinnort at the loral ict

Balnarring Scout troop which meets on Tuesday night. So with sneezing, coughing and various other sounds, the key kept rocking and you’d never know!

[80m] ‘Twas good to hear VK4PN RSN 599 above the noise floor on 80.

[40m] I had a nice long chat with John VK3BSE, until changing propagation curtailed it. Our ist QSO and hopefully the 1st of many. Sorry no time for others tt

[40m] Conditions were noisy (QRN), but still had several QSOs with no problems.

[80m] Seemed to be a number of stations on 80 metres, though it was also noisy. I didn’t try 20 metres. Because of windy conditions I had wound the yagi beam down (over-protective?).

[80m] I wonder whether Manny VK3DRQ can answer my query regarding antennas hi hil!

40m condx were pretty difficult with high QRN. There were strong winds that evening so maybe that is somehow related to all the static crackle that I heard.

It was pretty tough waiting for someone to repeat their CQ call only to hear another faint station calling it. But hey, at least some people were able to make contacts. We will try again next week then. Thanks guys.

POST MORSUM 250625

Mark kept busy from home and the Southern Electronics Group remotes and no doubt listening out on multiple KiwiSDR receivers! Max suffering an energy crisis went into swl mode and enjoyed listening to Manny VK3DRQ and others working away merrily.

Wayne caught up with Mike DL3YZ on 20 Mx, two contacts to the East on 40 Mx and one on 80 Mx with Jordan VK3ACU. I had three contacts on 40 Mx and listened on until the QRN took over.

Thanks to all on Tuesday night and Weddnesday morning, Stay safe Richard VK6HRC

This Week’s Topic of Interest

Phil’s HiLux Ute His Most Useful and Versatile Vehicle Ever by Phil VK6GX

Pnils HILUX UTE His Most Useful and Versatile Vehicle Ever by Phil VK6GX

Last week when explaining how I got my 80m one-wavelength loop 20m up in the trees, I also pointed-out our 1995 2.8ltr Diesel Toyota Hilux Ute – the most useful and versatile vehicle I have ever owned. 1/2 a million km and still going strong!

You asked about fuel consumption; not only am I a hopeless fisherman, I am mechanically inept! I dc know the 2.8L Diesel Hilux isn’t a turbo, as for fuel consumption I wouldn’t know, but I would say it’s pretty reasonable.

We keep it registered as it’s such a useful vehicle, although it rarely leaves the property these days.

My normal vehicle is a Ford Territory turbo diesel and it is extremely economic, but as for figures, I haven’t a clue. It’s my ex company vehicle, which I got at a very reasonable price when I retired in 2015.

It’s a 2011 model with a 2.7L V6 turbo Diesel automatic transmission Landrover engine. As work involved bush trips it was fitted with a sump guard, upgraded suspension, tinting, bull bars, tow bar etc. It has been faultless.

It’s also the quietest vehicle RF noise wise I’ve ever heard. I always have my original IC-706 with me, it’s a delight to go CW mobile. We have a local German mechanical genius, who services our vehicles.

Lynda drives a Honda Civic Sport which would be pretty economic if she wasn’t a lead foot. Boy doe ST 9 ET sO 9 SE

Incidentally the Hilux was an ex mining vehicle I bought before its 3rd birthday, having done about 90k and still in warranty. I took it to Midland Toyota for its warranty service on the day of the Lilac Hill cricket match.

Midland Toyota were a major sponsor with their own marquee. All the bosses departed for a day on the grog and left the apprentices to do their worst. I got the impression they were not amused at being left alone while the management indulged themselves.

Consequently they just about rebuilt my Hilux. I went to pick it up just before 5pm and found one of the supervisors who had come back to

Close up, with his jaw on the ground as he went through several pages of parts consumed. Didn’t cost me a cent! It’s towed double horse floats, been driven on beaches at Esperance for 15 years during annual summer camping holidays, towed fallen trees, yanked tree stumps out of the ground and in recent years been our fire truck and never complained.

That’s all I know about em! 73, Phil VK6GX. (failed fisherman)

From David VK6KD I’m currently fitting stow away fold-down antenna bases to my Landcruiser. Not cheap to buy but remotely controlled from the cab.

Electric Fold-Down Mobile Antenna

And no… the hexagon beam is not attached to car, hihi

Counting Turns

80m End-Fed Half Wave Antenna

From James VK7JZ Attached is the photo of the mod I am doing to a 40m EFHW to try and turn it into a 80m EFHW. N work, might not, but I mention it in my CQ QRS submission. Still needs to be hoisted in the air, checked and trimmed. 73 Jim

Other News

From Mike DL3YZ Hi Mark. LOL, yes I think duct-taping boots and trousers must really be looking quirky from your side, considering all the

Hi Mark. LOL, yes I think duct-taping boots and trousers must really be looking quirky from your side, considering all the

Priel Ill… ‘You never know who’s Bstoning!

Maneater etartearnr ateanaarhnt seimemtnin I hoar tol that Miko DL3YZ had to tape fe bottors of his Sourer lags to his boots when he was opersting portable trom hs favourite OX hil near his home on Tuesday.

Some sort of ailfeting to the Propagation gods I’m guessing!

Venomous snakes, spiders and gators you guys have to encounter during outdoor operations. 🙂 (1 wonder what Mick Dundee would have thought about the new German knife law that limits the blade length to 4 cm / 1,57 inch HI.

) Nevertheless, the ticks here are in fact the most dangerous threat to our lives being outdoor down her (except for wild boar and of course ‘awoken pensioners’ on electrified bicycles).

The ticks here are carrying meningitis and lyme disease in our region, and we have quite some cases around here. However, they are small enuf to stab them even with the new smaller knifes HI! Have a great day, Mike.

[ps Irrespective of knife size, don’t stab ticks – that will squeeze the insect’s saliva into your body – and propagate any diseases carried. Freezing the little buggers with ether-based tick spray (from the pharmacy) is the answer]

The Prosign of the Week Controversy!

Prosign of the Week is Misleading

From Ross MONNK A prosign is a group of dits and dahs that is

Shorthand for a message. For example means “back to you only, nobody else to reply”. “” is not a prosign! It’s simply (as you correctly state) the code for “?”.

Lots of character codes can be made to look like prosigns but that doesn’t make them a prosign.

Where Have all the Standards Gone?

From Stan ZL3TK What will we see next week masquerading as a prosign? , or some other figment of one’s imagination?

Since when have punctuation characters such as a full stop, comma, semicolon, exclamation point, etc., etc., …or as in this case a question mark, remotely resembled prosigns?

Punctuation characters appear only in lists of punctuation characters, never has a punctuation characte! appeared in a list of prosigns. Why? Because they are not prosigns. 73 de Stan

More on Prosigns and Punctuation

From Stan ZL3TK Prosigns and Punctuation, “ne’er the twain shall meet”, from Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘The Ballad of East and West’. Further to the enlightening article by Phil, VK6GX, in response to his being asked about “two and three- letter prosigns”.

The poor guy was backfooted before he could even start. He wisely only superficially addressed the issue of prosigns, after all, despite rarely being entirely correct, online references to the subject are ubiquitous.

Phil’s questioner clearly failed to understand the difference between a prosign and a punctuation point. Phil seems to have recognised there is no such thing as a three-letter prosign, and perhaps to avoid a bullet, decided not to mention it.

It is entirely erroneous to believe there are any three-letter punctuation points either. Each punctuation point consists simply of a ‘sound group’, in the same way each Morse character is a “sound group’.

It would have been some well-meaning, slow-learner who decided to violate training standards by designating three-letter combinations under the guise of making punctuation points easier to remember.

Work it out for yourself: a comma could be any of at least eight combinations, including TTEETT. What we do is crazy considering there’s no need for any three-letter groups if punctuation is treated like any other character and learned properly from the start.

The same unnecessary designation of letters applies to prosigns. Assigning either SK or VA to the same prosign is sheer stupidity. At least SK has some meaning, whereas VA means nothing.

Those who aspire to be competent will forget about the letters and learn to instantly recognise the sound groups. Phil’s practical analysis and five-letter groups show up the potential confusion caused by lousy spacing, another intriguing matter.

The subject of spacing is raised time-and-time again, yet the offenders never seem to learn. Self analysis can be painful, but ever-so necessary if one is to achieve much. Has anyone noticed how the spacing problem rarely occurs with QRS learner-senders?

_It is the older guys, over-confident and somewhat deluded as to their ability, who cause the most trouble. And that is where people like Drew AF2Z come in.

His Randomgram sessions are superb for demanding high- quality sending; you either send the five-character groups 100 % correctly or get no points.

Couldn’t bea more efficient, simpler or more fulfilling way to learn, so why is there only one VK and one ZL, ironically neither of whom need the exercise, participating?

Handling encrypted traffic imposes the same demands on spacing and accuracy, but how many are prepared to put in the effort? It might not be popular to acknowledge them, but Funkers in Die Wehrmacht were prepared to do to job properly. 73 de Stan

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 tha’

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 can now find here:

Https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHsQmZz6fBXO7swAfbTmutrbbEL17fUQL 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.

An Opportunity to Promote our CQ QRS Net

This week I received this nice invitation from the Radio Amateur Society of Australia’s Bob VK6POP: Hi Mark

This week I received this nice invitation from the Rac

I’d be happy to publish a promo for CQQRS in RASA’s QTC magazine, published online monthly. Half or full page, at no cost. In fact, a regular newsletter or occasional news items would be welcome.

We have a monthly segment called “Dits n Dahs” where snippets (images, photos encouraged) can be included, and of course, we’re also open to larger, standalone articles. We need all copy by the 1st of the month cheers, thanks Bob VK6POP

The hours I commit to producing the RagChew newsletter preclude providing a regular feed to the magazine, but this would be good job for one of our team members to take on board.

Pick the eyes o of the the RagChews each month and forward the info (with pictures if possible) to Bob before the first of the month? Who would like to have a go at this for a trial period? 1’ll help where I can to get you started of course.

Please let me know if you’d like to explore this option to help promote our net: cqqrsnet@gmail.com

A few weeks ago I put out a call for anyone who could sell me a light weight and small key to use in my portable kit. I had very nearly heading out for a two-hour each way climb up a SOTA peak with all my gear… except for the key….

Which was still with my FT-817 in our AVan. Richard VK6HRC came up with a light-weight offering, but then with the help

When I grow up, I’m gonna be just like you!

Of Perth’s Northern Corridor Radio Group, came up with this tiny guy! Thank you Richard for chasing this down for me, and thank you to the team at the NCRG.

So now…. can anyone tell me a bit about this little key? The base is about 2” x 1-1/2″ and it sits about 1-1/2” high.

The knob looks the same as it’s WT8AMP grown-ups except that it has a vertical countersunk screw rather than the normal threaded mounting rod. It also has two ‘make’ contacts – one under the main key lever and the second just to the left – which appears

Close just before the main contacts, and open just after. Can you help me identify the key, what it was used in and what the double contacts were for.

It’ll be interesting to have a listen to the keying using either contact – I imaging that if I used the auxillary contact, the dots might come out a bit longer than my usual clumsy fist produces.

And this certainly isn’t a key to use without sidetone – the contact closure is just about silent, whereas the up-stop makes a thunk – so when keying, instead of getting the key-down clunk followed by the ke up click, there’s only a key-up thunk.

There also isn’t a spring tension adjustment – so I reckon it’ll hav an interesting fist. I’d better wire it up and have a go! Thanks Richard and thanks NCRG!

Northern Corridor Radio Groups (INC) is a responsible community organisation following the GAMING AND WAGERING COMMISSION ACT 1987 Where to View Results: – NCRG website: http://nerg.info/WP/raffle – RaffleLink page: http://rafflelink.com.au/hamfest-2025 All ticket packages comply with WA DRGLS regulations and are processed securely via RaffleLink on behalf of The Northern Corridor Radio Group, INC.

Let’s make this raffle our most successful yet! Every ticket sold helps fund NCRG’s ongoing projects, events, and upgrades — all while giving you the chance to walk away with some top-notch gear. Act now and grab your tickets before they’re gone.

The clock is ticking, and the draw is just around the corner on August 31! Best regards, Matthew McDonough VK6ML (Vice President JNCRG 0436022860

QRS International Flight Contest

From Stan ZL3TK The sound file for Flight NR 02, ‘Across Southern Africa’, will become available Wednesday 25 June. With HF propagation still in a deplorable state, no entries for Flight 01, ‘North America to Oceania’, have been received at any of the advertised sked times on 7.0257 MHz, so running the contest using unconventional and super-easy sound files by email is proving a highly practical alternative.

Cold but Quiet

[My wife introduced me to fingerless gloves recently. Before then, I thought only Steptoe wore them (sorry – in-joke for us over-60s!) – but perfect for computer work, phones, R22 flying and CW keying.

So James, I feel the need for another of your excellent articles – this time about clothing suitable for cold- weather SOTA. Or perhaps, one of our other Tasmanian or Kiwi SOTA-philes might consider putting something together?

Should we head down to our local Target Country, is Kathmandu gear worth while or just a popular brand, or should we head to one of the real outdoor shops for some nice Goretex stuff?

Interested in thoughts from our nearby Southern or South-Eastern country neighbours.]

VK6KD’s IC-7610 – Mark Blowing Smoke in David’s Direction

On RagChew Newsletter Production Thoughts from John VK2RU– Hello Mark For whatever it’s worth, here are my thoughts on the newsletter. I think it’s excellent and I read every word.

I’m continually amazed that you put out over forty pages of top-quality content every week. I’m in another radio group that struggles to get something out once a month.

The content of their newsletter doesn’t come close to yours, and it’s padded with ads and stupid jokes. The latest issue had eleven pages in total. It’s barely worth reading. Your newsletter is at the other end of the spectrum.

I doubt that there are many others anywhere that would rival it in terms of both quality and quantity. But this is meant to be enjoyable for all of us – especially you.

I get the feeling that the beast has outgrown itself, and what started out as a weekly passion is now a burden, and has become unsustainable in its current form. Have you thought about scaling it back a little?

Maybe do a shorter version most weeks with just the Reports and Comments, and any key updates, and save the full length version for a monthly ‘bumper’ edition?

Or maybe something like a Groups.io group would make it easier to manage and share content in a more flexible way? There will be other options out there. Please consider putting the question in the next issue and see what others think?

Regards John [Thanks John. As discussed at the start, terrific ideas – thank you.]

On RagChew Newsletter Production

And More on RagChew Newsletter Production

ANG WOTe OM MaAQuNnew NCWSICtler Frogucuol Thoughts from Stan ZL3TK The menu is a great intro, but at the same time fairly useless. I Want to make the entire newsletter more user-friendly?

I How about making each menu item an internal link to the subject it announces? One mouse click would then bring up the subject

Instantly instead of wasting time doing usually several ‘scroll and searches’ trying to find what one wants to reread during (and often after) the lifetime of the newsletter.

RagChew is getting longer and longer, Have there been any responses to your plea for help with production? There’s no point in my offering because I abhor your deliberate editorial policy to knowingly mislead people.

To qualify for my help, all those entirely beneficial but much-hated S| Metric nomenclature standards would have to be used throughout. No, I’m not joking, standards are mandated for a reason, in the same way there are laws to instruct and protect.

We don’t get to pick and choose the laws we want to obey and those to ignore. Can you think of ten words to describe those sort of people? 73 de Stan. [Thanks for your thoughts Stan.

And thank you for the off-line advice about creating internal hyperlinks in MailChimp.]

Shorter DXperiment QSOs

Fallible Memory gets a Helpful Prompt

From Stan ZL3TK To assist my fallible memory, I’ve configured a worksheet listing active QRS Group call signs. When printed, I keep it somewhere close on the operating table.

Call signs have been drawn from the contacts tables in a series of Ragchew issues, so it’s quite curre and cluttered with loads of ‘innocent bystanders’. Being a work in progress, it will never be complete, so any updates would be welcome.

Our RagChew Newsletter

From Ross MONNK I’m sure many people read and thoroughly enjoy the newsletter. The problem is that very few of them think to express their appreciation for the hard work that goes into it (they probably don’t have time to recognise that hard work).

The good news is that the tremendous success of the Net and the associated newsletter speak to the positive effect your efforts have had on the hobby in Australia – that is ‘collective appreciation’ even if there’s not much ‘individual appreciation.

Ross [Thanks Ross; I do get similar comments from readers from time to time – that and the huge turn-outs we get on Tuesdays are very very satisfying. Your support is appreciated mate.]

Readable Five

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

If you’re learning Morse code and want a more natural, enjoyable way to practice, the Wordsworth technique is well worth exploring.

Unlike traditional methods that focus on random letters or character drills, Wordsworth teaches Morse using real words and proper sentences from the very beginning.

The Wordsworth learning technique for Morse code involves sending complete words at a target speed with long spacing between them, and then gradually decreasing the spacing as proficiency increases.

It’s a variation of the Farnsworth method, which sends individual letters at high speed with long spacing. The core idea is to focus on word recognition rather than individual letter recognition from the outset.

One of its clever features is the use of extra spacing between words. This gives your brain time to catch up, process what you’ve just heard, and prepare for what’s next. It makes copying much easier in the early stages.

As your skills improve, the spacing can be gradually reduced until you’re hearing and copying Morse at full speed—without ever having to memorise isolated characters or endure long strings of gibberish.

For best results, set the speed to at least 3 wpm more than you are comfortable with, and if possible, try to get into the 15 to 20 wpm range.

You can find an article about Wordsworth here

‘You Can find an article about Woraswortn here – http://www.oh3ac.fi/QST-Wordsworth.pdf This article refers to using Fldigi. My suggestion is to use the Ditto CW : Morse Player instead. https://dittocw.andro.io/ Either will work, but Ditto CW is much easier.

What better material to practise with than Winnie the Pooh? A.A. Milne’s gentle, thoughtful stories are ideal for this approach. The language is simple and clear, the tone is light, and the pacing suits Morse beautifully.

Whether you’re copying Piglet’s worries or Pooh’s musings about honey, it all adds up to meaningful, memorable practice. Here is Chapter 4 of AA Milne’s (out of copyright) classic. Click on the three images below to downloa the files.

The text file which has been slightly modified from the original to make it more user-friendly if it is used with Ditto CW, and the audio files that can be used on any media player. I think it is helpful to read the text file first.

This will prepare you what you are about to receive. It will als save some confusion when you hear sentences like “ PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID” and “What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean ?” Give Wordsworth a try—with a little help from a small bear and his thoughtful friends in the Hundred Acre Wood.

If you aren’t ready for Wordsworth, then use the Farnsworth option on the Ditto CW app instead. Either way your head copy will improve. Dit-dit from John VK2RU Somewhere East of Mount Isa QLD.

Character of the Month

[Points taken gents! But for the rest of us, a suggestion – no matter what it’s called, perhaps put it on; sticky note near your key as a reminder for Tuesday. And… tell us how you went]

I Hear Tell…

Congratulations to Peter VK7KPC (now known as VK5KDO from his new home at Encounter Bay SA) achieved second place in the Wireless Institute of Australia Peter Brown Contest Championship 2024.

See wia.org.au/members/contests/contestchampion for more information.

When Ricnard VASHRC sent me the tiny Key (see Other News above), he asked at the post office counter for a small box. The smallest one looked like a shoe box ! However, the most helpful lady suggested the padded bag and cardboard tube so I went with that.

Hope you have fun with the key. [But did you get a photo of you un-winding that long toilet roll in the post office mate?]

| hear tell that our team member with his brand-spanking new IC-7610… might have even been a wonderful birthday present from his loving wife…. was wondering why things were so quiet on 80m during the net.

Surely with all those buttons and controls, how could he have missed the volume contr on the headset? @BQ@Gi

[If you have some intel about other team members… or even yourself… that’s worth sharing, please lei 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 |’ll also be watching the proceedings using the VK6QS and Tecsun SDRs in WA and NSW respectively. Hope to hear you there.

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 31 contributors: DL3YZ, G7BED, MONNK, VK2DLF, VK2GAS, VK2IOW, VK2RU, VK3ACU, VK3BSE, VK3BWN, VK38CTM, VK3DRO, VK3ECH, VK3FG, VK3KEV, VK3KLE, VKS3WOW, VK5AO, VK5CZ, VK5KDO, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6IS, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VK6ML, VK6NW, VK6WE, VK7JZ, VK7TA and ZL3TK.

And a special thank you to our editorial team, Nigel G4RWI (Head of Software Development), John VK2RU (WhatsApp Spy and Researcher) and Richard VK6HRC (Post Morsition and Spy). Great work all!

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

About the CQ QRS Net

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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