cq_qrs_newsletter

2024 39 CQ QRS RagChew

Below is a reconstruction of the 2024 39 CQ QRS RagChew newsletter designed to support full text searching. This reconstruction was built using OCR, and will contain errors.

To view the Mailchimp original, click here. To search the entire newsletter archive, click here.

Contents

CQ QRS RagChew

The weekly CQQRS Slow CW Practice QSO Group gets together on Tuesdays between about 0700Z and 13002Z, in designated segments of the 40m then 80m band (see the end of this newsletter for details).

Although originally organised for both new and experienced VK and ZL CW operators, our intrepid team members in Germany, the UK, Argentina and the US also join in the fun.

Without doubt, our little group of around 200 is one of the most active, with good numbers of participants every week. Who’da thought that CW could be so popular, and that we could have so many people learning and building up their experience, or lending a hand to those who are.

Reflecting the Group’s popularity, just look at the list of topics discussed in this week’s RagChew – most written by the 31 contributors this week – fantastic – thank you all for making this such a success, and for helping so many new CW operators cross the threshold and enjoy the bliss.

Last Tuesday’s Group

Here’s this week’s list of the 61 stations heard on Tuesday’s Group:

Masthead Image

And thanks this week to Andy VK5LA for the photo of his Elecraft K1 Kit build – see more mouth-watering images below.

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:

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

As our team outside of Australasia grows, we’ve seen lots of interest in expanding our activities to other bands to catch our overseas members.

The head of our software department, Nigel G4RWI has been working furiously to produce a simple way of reporting on contacts with our team outside of 40 and 80m.

But in the mean time, please just use the 80m report area (Separate out your 80m report from other bands of course), 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).

Getting reports from stations and listeners is important to me – even if you listened and didn’t hear anyone or weren’t able to copy anything – the fact that you had a go needs to get recorded so we know that the Group is working and attracting new and old team members to have a go.

Reports & Comments

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

Comments:

From Michael Welsh VK4CCW at Kawungan (¢

[40m] * Great band conditions on 40 for QRS night. I was running 5 watts and had a great time. Basically non stop from 5:30 till 99m. I also pulled over to work a VK2 mobile on the way home from work.

I worked QRS night from the warm dining room table, a bit of coax draped across the floor in to the shack where it connects to my matching unit and ladder line. Really great to work ZI1PB Phil with his Hermes and 5 watts 599 QRP both ways.

[80m] + Thanks for sticking with the contact Richard. Tricky copy with a report of 229 but we persisted and made it happen. I was also QRP on 80m. Hope to see

You all during the week. I will be calling CQ every day (mostly at night) for the month of September above 7.025 but below 7.040 hope to catch you! I will QRS to any speed please drop your call sign in if you catch me calling. Cheers.

[40m] + Very tired tonight after working on restoring the mobile “shack”; 1978 ex- army Series 3 Land Rover FFR 109” (Fitted For Radio) fell asleep listening ‘on 40m, woken by XYL for tea!

[80m] + Recovered after tea, but still tired… Heard Stuart VK6MK on 3541, gave him a call but no joy. So called CQ QRS on the same fx, which evoked almost an abusive voice call from someone called ‘Captain America’ who tuned down, telling (yelling) the CW station to QSY, having caused severe interference!

Sorry Captain America my apologies; I don’t hear you when I use a narrow CW filter (he runs a net on 3543 LSB, along with some LIDS that have some very strong signals like margarine – spreading everywhere!

– overdriven) ….ho hum anyway at least my 15w was getting out © Hal. + Oh! I also heard VK3CYD’s 10w CW beacon… Never a dull moment ©.

[80m] + I have concluded I have an issue transmitting on 80m. Radio keeps switching off. Currently restricted to 40m and above until the problem has been resolved. [Challenge to fix when on the road David!

Anyone in the Townsville area or further South, interested in offering a hand to David to help him sort out the problem, so hi can get back to putting out a terrific signal from his caravan set-up?)

[40m] « The band started lively, several stations on right from kick-off. Propagation was geographically limited, ZL stations QNP, likely due to solar eruptions. Delighted to report the first ‘traffic intruder’, possibly the most welcome intruder of all time!

OM John VK5ET sent his first QTC consisting of three correct answers to a compound question. Very well executed!.

[80m] + This net is most useful as well as being great fun! It still intrigues me that so little RF power is required to support contacts right across to VK6 from VK – and that, on our huge, ‘dry continent’ is not DX. Long live CW!

[40m] + Strong signals in VK, ZL8TK was RSN 333. Good session with the two ” OMs ” r-)

[80m] + bit quiet tonight. From lan VK7TA at Latrobe

[40m] + One ZL op commented “it must be VK night”. It turned out it was ZL night here. Nil heard from VK6 this week.

[80m] + It was a struggle working the Eastern states conditions marginal, thanks to the operators over there persevering.

[40m] + When I arrived from the Dentist’s appointment it was already 0930Z. I tune on 14047Khz and soon I could heard very faint signals but impossible to know if they were from Mike. + Even, arriving a bit later from the Dentist’s I did enjoy what I could do.

[Manny putting on a brave face after major dental work – thanks for making the eff to get on mate]

• My shift began quite promising. As soon as I got all parts working, I heared Pat’s ( VK2IOW) signal from Orange at a 579 here in Stuttgart, and we had a great chat. Then, the gods of HF propagation must have been busy somewhere else.

So on my next slot on the 15 m I had a hard time even to be heard by the nearby RBN stations here in Europe. Despite no one heard me, my new setup with the second hand 25 A power supply and the LiFePo both worked perfectly.

Using the power supply and the solar powered 220V system of the hut was quite funny. The lights of the hut and the backlight of the rotary controller of the beam blinked in perfect synchronicity with my keying.

But the power supply delivered a perfect 13.8 V for the radio, pumping a constant 100 Watts up to the stars. They made really great devices back in these glory days.

And its great to have something to warm up your fingers for the next round on a cold and foggy German morning. Have anice week 73 Mike. [Well done to Pat and yup, the band must have slammed shut on you Mike.

When listened a bit later, even though you were seen on the European Reverse Beacon Network stations, nothing seen here. Looking forward to the next round.)

[80m] + 5 Watts across Australia. Low noise and great conditions..

[40m] + Had a look on the waterfall on my 7300 and was very happy to see it chock- a-block full of QRS CW stations on the net. I was just listening tonight though – I was busy building an unbuilt Elecraft K1 Kit that was gifted to me…

Heard those stations on it as I was tickling up the RX…Hope to have a QSO next Tuesday with it, should have the TX side of things up and running by then. It’s a dual band 80/40. [Thanks for the K1 build images Andy – they’re further down the RagChew.]

From Mathew Van de Loop VK3AFH at Wantimna

[40m] + Ihave been caught up with work the last few weeks – coincidentally Tuesday night installs seem to be a thing lately, but at least my remote workstation is in front of my radio so I can still listen in where possible! 73.

[40m] + Listening to 40m at around 18.40 AEST, it was refreshing to hear that the band was chock full of CW QSOs.

[40m] + sigs are very few until abt 0800Z and then its an fairly noisy band after 1000Z,. + although some ES stations can still be heard, even then.

[80m] + who is interested in exchanging an eQSL ?. + some OPs have sent me the odd one -. + so who is interested in expanding their idea 2. + Just Do It -.

From Patrick VK2IOW at Near Bathurst NSW

[40m] * A busy evening for me. Apparently my QSO with Paul, VK4PMW, was his firs CW QSO, but with many more to come!

[20m] * Enjoyed a DX QSO with Michael DL3Y on 20 metres. I gave him RST 549 and he gave me 579. We were both using about 100 watts. Both using 3 el yagi antennas.

From the Editor VK2KI in the dining room at a nice resort at Bowral, but listeni the Tecsun KiwiSDR at Araluen NSW.

[80m] + Lady Elizabeth and I were away at Bowral on Tuesday, and had a dinner date… which meant only the occasional quick listen to the Tecsun KiwiSDR at Araluen NSW and the VK6QS KiwiSDR near Brookton was wise using my ph during dinner.

I had no luck hearing Mike or Ross on either SDR. Mike was spotted on the Reverse Beacon Network from Spain on both 15m and 20m, bu had no luck hearing them..

+ I didn’t spend much time on 40m between courses and didn’t listen long enough to note callsigns coming into the NSW SDR. On 80m there were a number that I heard calling CQ or chatting away happily.

From your Editor VK6AI via the VK6QS KiwiSDR near Brookton, using my phone during dinner while overlooking the golf course from the dining room at Peppers Bowral.

[40m] + After listening for Mike and Ross on the VK6QS KiwiSDR, I heard a few on 40m before sliding down to 80m.

[80m] + Pretty quiet on 80m in the East when I listened. Sava VK4PN was coming in to the TecSun KiwiSDR at Araluen NSW nicely.

[40m] + lonly had just over an hour to participate on Tuesday, but despite lingering effects from the X4.5 solar flare on the weekend and the ‘subsequent CME passing Earth at 0730 WST on Tuesday morning, resulting in significant geomagnetic storming, it was good to hear reasonably good signals on 40m, but no ZL QSOs again.

Post Morsum from Richard VK6HRC Hello Mark five on the VK6RLM, AllStar / Echolink net this morning eventually ! VK6NW VK6FN VK6QI VK6HRG and our shortwave listeners VK6MRB Mulligan and others.

Wayne VK6NW had a good evening on 40 Mx and got five stations in the log nil on 80MX before he had to head off. Barret radio and Winkeyer combo working well.

Max VK6FN went on in listening mode as his fairly new Flex radio was not cooperating, but enjoyed some head copy and some pencil and paper recording as the evening progressed.

Mark VK6QI was roughing it in Beautiful Bowral but managed to sneak a look at ‘some KiwiSDR receivers through the evening !

Mark also let us know that Ross M@NNK managed one contact from his portable set up on the coast but that station was not far from where he was set up! Solar activity was probably making life difficult for Ross this time.

Ihad three contacts on 40 Mx and three on 80 Mx, also remembered to listen in on the formal exchange between Stan ZL3TK and Manny VK2DRQ and managed to decode a fair amount of the exchange.

Thank you Stan and Manny for helping us along with our formal traffic experience. Thank you to everyone on the net this morning and last night. 73 Richard VKBHRC

In his usual reliable style, OM Manny was on duty to send his answer to the previous week’s question. He was followed by a big surprise – the first [regular] member to dip his toe in the turbulent traffic waters – truly a major milestone in the history of the CQ QRS Group!

A big welcome to OM John VKSET, as he begins crewing on board the the good ship ‘Cutie Sea’, to give our vessel a true maritime flavor!

The answer to last week’s rhetorical question in the comments section: Does anyone have the sheer British guts and determination to be first? has proven to be a resounding ‘YES’. Hearty congratulations go to the intrepid Adelaidetarian VKS5ET on his NR 1.

Looking forward to a lot more and a bright future, thanks a lot OM John. Here is the answer John sent to the previous week’s question, then printed out formally below.

This week’s QTC (to which everyone is invited to reply) is focused squarely on the sunshine state, which cannot be found on any list of Q-codes.

Traffic is sent by both stations very slowly, averaging 10 wom, making it easily readable, and therefore able to be answered by almost everyone! Here itis, first exactly as sent, then printed out formally below.

Everyone is invited to dip their toes into traffic by answering the question in NR 133, even if the reply sent is only message text, devoid of preamble. Seek help if you need clarification on any point while advancing skills.

Zli3tk@qsl.net The time to call ZL38TK with your answer is immediately after the current week’s question has been confirmed by VK3DRQ on ~ 7.0347 MHz, please note the changed frequency. Sent only one TDIH which was returned with 100 % accuracy.

From listening to that station later, he has polished his skills greatly over the months accounting for his faultless return. You know who you are; expect the next one to be measurably faster.

Everyone is invited to dip their toes into traffic by answering the question in NR 13: even if the reply sent is only message text, devoid of preamble. Seek help if you need clarification on any point while advancing skills.

ZiStk@gslLnet The time to call ZL3TK with your answer is immediately after the current week’s question has been confirmed by VK3DRQ on ~ 7.0347 MHz, please note the changed frequency. Sent only one TDIH which was returned with 100 % accuracy.

From listening to that station later, he has polished his skills greatly over the months accounting for his faultless return. You know who you are; expect the next one to be measurably faster. 73 de Stan. ZL3TK

Other News

From Andy VK5LA:

Hi Mark. Some images of my K1 build…

[Wow – fantastic project Andy – thank you. When will we hear it on air?]

9A5N Morse Paddle

Gosh, this is a hard article to write. Why? Because the best tools are just an extension of your hand – you simply don’t notice them. And that’s how I feel about this paddle.

As you can see, it’s not a “bling” item (the photo shows that I have it connected to a K1EL K-16 keyer for Ultimatic mode, speed control, and connection to VBanq).

It’s just a heavy square black base with a smaller square black box on top and a couple of paddles sticking out. The purple patch on top is just a piece of coloured card covering up the manufacturer’s name ‘cuz I don’t want to look at that every day.

It’s a touch key so there’s no paddle movement – you can adjust the sensitivity through a paddle-driven menu system. If you like your paddle to have small gaps, then this goes one better because it has no gaps at alll No movement means no noise, so I can operate here in the Man Cave without disturbing my wife whilst she’s working in the next room.

It runs off a couple of AA batteries which last for months. It’s so easy and natural to use that my top sending speed jumped from 17 wpm to 25 wpm almost overnight. The Morse just seems to stream out of it without me thinking.

It really is a very strange experience. Can I recommend it? It’s expensive so that counts heavily against it – a Bencher paddle is half the price and they’re highly thought of.

It’s not as good looking as a Begali, unless you particularly like the brutalist/minimalist aesthetic. It’s not as obviously mechanically clever as a Vibroplex bug. And, when you’re sending Morse, it disappears from your consciousness altogether.

So, back to the question, would I recommend it? Yes, Yes, Yes and again Yes. This paddle is not a plaything or a work of art; it’s a tool for sending Morse better than you ever thought yourself capable of. And that is something worth paying extra for.

[Well well! As you said, these things ain’t cheap – and no-doubt the custom wooden hand piece adds a tad more… but if it’s such a pleasure to use, and we all are issued with only a limited number of heartbeats….!

My First POTA Activation at AU-8318

From Jordan VK3ACU It was a day I had been looking forward to—my first Parks on the Air (POTA) activation at park AU-8318. Armed with my gear, my dog, and plenty of enthusiasm, I set up and started calling CQ. At 10:24 local time, I made my first contact.

However, shortly after, things started to take a turn for the worse. Band conditions were far from ideal. A strange noise appeared on the frequency, making things difficult.

Later, VK6HRC, sent me a screenshot of an SDR showing a massive blast of noise right over the frequency I was operating on. Despite the interference, I pressed on and managed to log 11 contacts—3 on voice and the rest on CW.

One of the highlights was a park-to-park contact. I had brought my dog along, and she was riding in the back of the ute, enjoying the fresh air. But then the weather took a sharp turn, and it started hailing. I quickly moved her into the cab to keep her safe.

To add to the chaos, someone nearby started shooting, and my poor dog was petrified. I had to speed up my activation, shifting to voice to hit the 10-contact mark. By noon, the CW contacts dried up completely.

Between the weather, noise on the bands, and the terrified dog, it was an activation full of challenges, but I made it

Through. VK6HRC’s screenshot of the SDR (below) confirmed the massive interference that had plagued me, but in the end, I got the job done and hit the target. Allin all had fun and will do it again. VK3ACU

[Congratulations on your first Park activation Jordan….. and for amassing over 1000 CW QSOs since you started… just over a year ago was it?]

SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter – this weekend From Garry VK2GA7:

Ur LU J Greetings to all, The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday, 21ST September, 2024 from 00:00 UTC until 11:59 UTC a 12 hour event. 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.skeegroup.com/ legraphy.de/ look forward to contacting you during the event. Best regards,

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

From Grant VK5GR, Chair of the WIA Technical Advisory Committee Thanks for your interest in providing input to the WIA Consultation 2024-2 on the 40m Band Plan.

The outcomes paper is now available which sumarises the feedback received and our next steps in this process. CONSULTATION 2024-2: 40m Band Plan Harmonisation – Round 1 Outcomes: This consultation closed on September 6th and has received well over 100 submissions from individuals and clubs from around the world.

The feedback that has been received has now been analysed and a summary of the initial findings has now been prepared. You can download this summary here: https://www.wia.org.au/members/tac/consultation/documents/IARU%20Region%20 3%20-%20HF%2040m%20- %20ROUND% 201% 200utcomes%20Paper%20No1 .paf Given the information provided to us by the community, the WIA is clear that there is.

Little support for many of the original proposals raised for discussion in the first round. As a result, a new paper is being prepared, taking into account the views and information received.

It is intended to have this new paper completed in the next 2-3 weeks in time for circulation prior to the IARU Region 3 Conference in November.

We will be inviting the amateur community to again provide us with feedback on the round 2 paper once it is released.

40m Band Plan Harmonisation – Round 1

Orange Escalation Space Weather Ale Interesting note from Jordan VK3ACU Notification from ambulance last night. ORANGE ESCALATION: Space Weather – Whole of State – 17/09/2024 AV has been advised of a G4 Severe ‘Space Weather alert that is in place currently and until 1000 hrs Wednesday 18/9.

This may include possible loss of GPS. Please check OneAV for navigation information (link below). This may also include a possible loss of power to AV locations , please follow your local BECAP if this occurs.

Orange Escalation Space Weather Alert

A Controversial “Prosign” by Ross MONNK We all know that Prosigns are the sound of two letters run together to make a single sound (we do know that, don’t we?). Examples are standby and end of message.

Most of our ham radio procedures are not carved in stone but are understood by common usage. But one “Prosign” stands out as having a controversial status, and that is .

Is it a Prosign (or or or or , the sound is still the same), or is it two separate letters BK. They sound completely different. I don’t use it much myself but I was taught (by whom, I cannot now remember) that it’s a Prosign.

And I often hear it sent as such. But Wikipedia (for what it’s worth) says it’s two separate letters, and (/ believe) the LICW Club teach it as two separate letters. And I hear that too sometimes.

The reason I don’t use it much is that it seems unnecessarily ornate. I prefer the quicker and simpler K. And that gets around the controversy. But which are you? Are you a or a BK?

A Controversial “Prosign”

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.

Mike DL3YZ and I advertised that we would do another Long Path DXpedition durin¢ this week’s “net”.

For this to work, a number of factors have to come together and one of them is PROPAGATION. Unfortunately, solar flare activity threatened to completely flatten the airwaves for us.

But we said that we’d be there for you, so Mike climbed the “Killer Hill” to his club’s hut and the steerable antenna up there, and I waited for the tide to go out on the foreshore of the Exe estuary.

It’s not easy to see from this photo but I had two cheap Chinese “carbon fibre” 6n masts sat in beach umbrella stands supporting my home-brew “Half Square” antenna. I got it rigged just in time to start on schedule.

Unsurprisingly, I called CQ but without reply. So I called again. And again. For 45 minutes. But, hey, as you can see, it was a bonzer autumn morning and I couldn’t have picked a better spot so it didn’t bother me.

I was just about to pack up when I heard someone responding to my CQ – I was so surprised, I almost fell off my chair! It was Malc GOAVJ operating from his home only 2.3 kms away as the crow flies, so Ground Wave.

But a contact is a contact and I was pleased to have something in the log. I could then pack up with a light heart and head home for a well-earned mug of tea.

It just goes to show that you don’t have to have 20 contacts in the log to have an enjoyable morning with radio. [l assumed that Ross was using a half-wave loop, so asked him for more info: ¢ How and where is the half square fed?

¢ Between you and me, I’d expect an odd high angle of radiation pattern depending on how it’s fed. ¢ I would have thought having two phased verticals would have given you good gain and directivity with a low take-off angle. Well, how wrong I was as usual!

Ross flashed back this terrific article in response – thank you Ross.]

Half Square Antenna My latest home-brew antenna for DX is the “Half Square”, cut for 20m.

The reason why I’m using this antenna is that it has marked low angle directiona gain (at right angles to the horizontal element).

Functionally, it is two vertically-polarised quarter wave antennas joined in a phased array. This vertical polarisation makes it ideal for use with the “saltwater amplifier”.

‘Some of you will have guessed (correctly) that it is also an End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) for 40m. When transmitting on 40m, it radiates substantially vertically and so can be used for Near Vertical Incidence Skywave NVIS to nearby stations.

It can be used on other frequency bands but the radiation pattern changes in non-intuitive ways so it’s not really a multi-bander. You’ll note that I’m feeding it at the end (high impedance, voltage feed so requires a transformer).

I used an online calculator for the element lengths and that gave the rather strange counterpoise length of 0.4m. I tried it with a 5m counterpoise but its resonant frequency range was rather narrow.

Using a 2.5m counterpoise flattened out the bottom of the SWR curve nicely. A 0.4m counterpoise was the same so I stuck with that as it was more convenient for portable ops.

The Half Square antenna can be fed at the top corner into the horizontal element (the coax sheath being connected to the vertical element).

No transformer is required in this case as the impedance is 50 ohms (low impedance, current feed). But the coax should exit horizontally and that’s rather tricky to rig, especially portable.

A current balun should be placed at the feedpoint to stop any stray RF from going back down the coax sheath and into the radio. For those of you with limited space who want an antenna for 80m, this one might be worth considering.

This article has an in-depth discussion of the 80m Half Wave antenna specifically. For myself, I have yet to prove it with a DX contact but I’m excited about its potential for reaching around the globe all the way to the Antipodes.

[Thanks Ross – terrific article. And once explained, it made perfect sense – two quarter wave verticals phased – low angle of radiation and a bit of directivity…

But my brain says the two verticals will be out of phase, making them radiate in line with the poles, rather than tangentially. ‘l have to do a bit more thinking – I know your modelling software will be correct.

Strange about the 40CM counterpoise – doesn’t make intuitive sense; might be interesting to be able to try the narrow band alternative. By the way, down this side of the world, we call this a EWE antenna.

And not because of some East-West or E-field nomenclature (that would have an ‘an’, not an ‘a’… but because these things look like sheep in a paddock! ] Ifyou’d like to have a go at an article or three for the RagChew, email to eqarsnet@gmail.com

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 With thanks to Baz VK6MU for he idea, and Jules for the good learning website, here’s this week’s quiz questions from Jules’ Workshop example test questions:

Exam Questions:

What does ATU stand for and what does it do? The total resistance of four 68 ohm resistors in parallel is: ¢ 272 ohms ¢ 12 ohms ¢« 17 ohms ¢ 34OHMS In this circuit R1 dissipates 10 watts. What power is dissipated in R2?

• 10 watts ¢ 5 watts ¢ 2.5 watts ¢ 20 watts Answers next week.

Answers from last week’s Quiz:

What does SWR stand for and what does it measure? Answer: Standing wave ratio is the ratio of the incident and reflected power which indicates if the antenna is matched to the transmitter.

The active conductor in a 3-core AC power cords is coloured * brown * yellow/green * ted * blue Answer: brown The approximate wavelength of the second harmonic of a 144 MHz transmission is + 1 metre * 2METRES * 3 metres + 4METRES Answer: 1 metre How did you go?

Di-dah-di-dah-dit

So back to the Slow CW QSO practice Group.

Next Tuesday’s Group

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. For stations on other bands, please just use the 80m report area (separate out your 80m report from the other bands), 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).

Post Mortem

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, or you can connect via Echolink.

Let me know (cqqrsnet@gmail.com) if I can help with that. and if you can’t connect that way, give 3605KHZ SSB a try from 0700 (23002).

Teamwork

Thank you so much to our team of 31 contributors for this week’s RagChew: DL3YZ, MONNK, VK2ASB, VK2DLF, VK2GAS, VK2TIG, VK2WF, VK3ACU, VK3BTV, VKSBWN, VK3DRQ, VK3JFP, VKSKEV, VK5AO, VKSET, VKSKFG, VK5LA, VK6BEK, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6JDM, VK6MK, VK6NW, VK6PZT, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7TA, VK7WW, ZL1PB, ZL38TK, ZL4BDG 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

Frequencies and Times

Op-ed

Matching

PSE QRS

Landing Zone

The opinions expressed in the RagChew newsletter are those of the individual contributors. The opinions do nat necessarily reflect that of the editor or of the C@ QAS Group members.

Back To Top