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2025 31 CQ QRS RagChew

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Contents

CQ QRS RagChew

But it didn’t end there! We had yet another first-ever CW QSO on Tuesday night; this was Chris ZL4CTS at Te Anau, waaay down South near Fiordland, who had his very first solo with James VK3JFR at Ararat.

Congratulations Chris – it’s all easy from here on (well… relatively!) and congratulations James – who is also pretty new to CW – no doubt a first for both.

• no doubt a first for both. Artificial Intelligence So this week we’re going to start dabbling in the world of Artificial Intelligence. “Say What” I hear you mumble? What does that have to do with the gentle art of CW?

Well, you’ll read that at least one of our family has been using an Al tool as a work-assistant for some time and has reported a sizeable increase in his own productivity; similarly, the wonderful G4RWI software that processes your report forms and produces the spreadsheet and reports you’ll see below was created in the Python language by an Al tool.

And that tool has continued to be used by Nigel to debug the system and to make ongoing changes in response to my niggles as the user. So?

Well I have come to recognise that many of our family members consider that they’re not particularly good at writing skills (despite their good efforts in the weekly reports that you’ll get to read this week); well, that’s where Al tools excel – the tools can help you convert ideas to good-quality prose, can help you come up with ideas for writing, and a whole bunch of similar things.

But there are many downsides and risks in Al use – but that’s just part of the reason why it’s a good idea to have a go, so you can lear about those things too.

I was pleased to read this week that kids are now being taught how to properly apply critical thinking skills (something that previously was learned at postgraduate university level) to get the most out of Artificial Intelligence developments and become the ‘human-in-the-loop’ to minimise the risks.

Mechanisation was seen to be the beginning of the end of the world, the typewriter was thought to be the end of the art of writing, word processors were going to dumb-down humanity, and SSB was going to spell the end of CW! Well, guess what?

35 years ago I was learning how to create knowledge-based expert systems – and the benefits and risks were evident even back then.

Now, many of the generic applications in my Apple MacBook have Al buttons – where you can ask for assistance to create or refine what’s being written or analysed; I asked it to check my grammar in this editorial.

And we’ve come an awful long way with the relatively recent creation of Generative Al tools driven by Large Language Models – but humans must learn to manage the tools – otherwise the dire predictions are fated to happen.

So rather than shun the thought of Artificial Intelligence, I feel that for most of us, now is the time to learn about them, start to use them, and learn to keep them and us safe.

So we start this week with an article about how to get going with some of the most popular new tools easily and for free – using just your computer (or your phone) and a web browser. And you’ll see a good demonstration of one of the key risks of using Al tools.

And further down in the newsletter, Ill point you to some useful material to help you create or assist with articles for the RagChew. In future weeks’ RagChews, you’ll learn more about these new game-changers. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Artificial Intelligence

RagChew

V0 Dack qown to Earin: Our newsletter is yet another bumper edition – with so many articles and so much interesting material.

You’ll see a number of reports this week where our contributors have gone out of their way to write interesting accounts of their Tuesday night – fantastic work – thank you – more like this please!

Ross MONNK has an interesting perspective on getting out portable but working absolutely no-one on CW, you’ll meet a new member and learn a bit about the CWops organisation, you’ll even get some poetry for the second week in a row, you’ll learn about a CW learning group in New Zealand using Echolink, John has produced more Winnie-the-Pooh head-copy practice audio, and lots more!

And, thank you to our 44 contributors this week (yep – 44! How many newsletters can say that, I wonder?) – and a particular nod to our editorial team of John, Patrick, Nigel, and Richard – I tip my hat to you.

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:

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

This week’s comments from our webform reports have been compiled for us by Patrick VK2IOW; thanks Patrick.

[20m] Wow, what a morning! The waves were very good to us today, and I had a lot of fun working all your calls. I even had sor little pile-ups. So please forgive me if I didn’t hear you amongst all the others. I think I must have missed at least 3 stations.

All your signals were quite stron down here in Germany (considering the ¢ nice and slow. Thats the best way to elim

[40m] My first CW QSO. Thanks to James VK3JFR for putting up with me. Noise levels very variable.

[40m] A healthy-looking waterfall indicated 40m was in the best condition for a long time, and it delivered. [160M] Both stations heard on 160M were RSN 214, hardly surprising from an EFHW cut for 80m fed by a 49:1 unun.

All things considered, not bad but could do a lot better.

[40m] Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to listen on 40m tonight. 80m was going so well.

[80m] 80m was going well with many stations heard from my QTH in Ballajura WA. Surprisingly noise floor was down to S3 without the QRM Eliminator connected. While I did not have nyc QSOs a VK5 stations, 80m Pe Dihe aie Tay Pee BY eae pil Lecce Cee

[40m] reat to work Andy VK5LA/ QRP for the first time.

[40m] Had a nice chat with Pat VK2IOW. RST 579 from him and 589 to him. Antenna behaving better after finding and repairing dodgy crimp connection to 3 band counterpoise. This runs . around the fence line so I don’t trip over it.

Just about to give final 73s etc when PC had a hissy fit and locked up IC-718 radio. PC is normally connected to TCVR for WSPR operation. Finished QSO via WhatsApp.

40m] onditions again were very favourable tonight. Many ns were available to be worked. RM not heard and only a little QSB noticeable.

I DS 4 Northern hemisphere. === At 0600Z, Mike DL3YZ at Stuttgart was “=< “So .==" E coming in nicely to SNSW at RSN 521. eee ===='— When Mike finished with VK4T4, a pile-up followed, with Manny triumphing over the other Oceania callers.

I then managed a QSO with Mike – sent RST421 received 569, with signals slightly down compared to earlier. Mike was battling some QRM – but we made it! His opening “GDAY MARK” made me smile – he’ll go far with that lingo!

Fingers crossed for stable conditions come Geoff’s sked 60 minutes later. At the designated time, I heard the faint QRS call which was just riding the noise floor at 0730Z – ditto for Geoff – he advised by our WhatsApp group that could only just hear me in the noise.

I hoped to find someone with a gain antenna to try to reach Geoff – but most had ducked off for suda makan I think; Paul VK3KLE gave it a go – no dice from Stawell this week.

Followed, with Manny triumphing over the other Oceania callers. I then managed a QSO with Mike – sent RST421 received 569, with signals slightly down compared to earlier. Mike was battling some QRM – but we made it!

His opening “GDAY MARK” made me smile – he’ll go far with that lingo! Fingers crossed for stable conditions come Geoff’s sked 60 minutes later.

At the designated time, I heard the faint QRS call which was just riding the noise floor at 0730Z – ditto for Geoff – he advised by our WhatsApp group that could only just hear me in the noise.

I hoped to find someone with a gain antenna to try to reach Geoff – but most had ducked off for suda makan I think; Paul VK3KLE gave it a go – no dice from Stawell this week.

[40m] Had a nice chat with James VK3JFR about the weather with solid signals – but approaching 0900Z, he suddenly faded right down – Sudden lonospheric Disturbance perhaps? I then heard Stuart VK6MK calling James with a good signal…

But he too suddenly disappeared as well; or perhaps my old TS-120S’s VFO jumped because a while later I noticed it was 1KHZ lower than before – oh well!

[80m] After dinner here. it was reallv nice to see the SDR waterfalls in VK5 and VK6 with

AT A TP Dh NN nl I Nt Nan Aah I Nn nd hI lots of QSOs going on. I had a nice long chat with Peter VK3WOW. He asked a question about our Wednesday morning Post-Morsum call-backs. As it turned out, he had just registered on Echolink but had not used it.

So all via slow CW, we worked through getting his phone to connect to my VK2KI-L Echolink/AllStar node – and fairly quickly, we had it working and I was able to have a cross-band/cross-mode chat from my

Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning via the VKS5PH Ironstone Range and VK6SEG Hoddys Well KiwiSDRs

[20m] Mike DL3YZ was coming through S3 into the VKS5PH KiwiSDR network at Ironstone Range and S2 into the VK6SEG receiver near Northam. Great to hear so many on.

Om] pped down to listen to the VKS5PH and VK6SEG viSDRs after Mike signalled that he was QRT on m, before Geoff’s scheduled turn at the iosphere. iniel VK6WE was chatting away happily to Max ‘6FN and Phil VK6GX was chatting to Roy VK6RR.

[80m] Terrific to see half a dozen QSOs or calls on the 80m waterfall displays in VK5 and VK6. I was working Peter VK3WOW at the time and didn’t get to check who was on – but great to see 80 coming alive again.

Wrap-up: So much fun – thank vou alll Let’s hone the nronaaation aods smile kindly

[20m] Propagation to EU long path seemed very poor, with only a handful of stations heard, but none of the CQ QRS Net participants. I was unable to hang around for eastern states 40m propagation late arvo, or 80m during the evening.

[80m] When I was chatting with Mark VK2KI, Mark offered to introduce me to Echolink, which I had previously added to my iPhone (and registered for) but never used.

What followed was a circus of Echolink incompetence on my part, accompanied by an (actually very effective) tutorial cum discussion led by Mark in how to use the Echolink app CONDUCTED IN MORSE CODE on 80 metres at the same time.

Turns out that, under duress, our mutual CW skills actually held up very well indeed. And yes, I did, eventually, get to have a brief Echolink QSO with Mark in the midst of

——————ee™”™——s—m our 80 metre QSO, once I’d worked out which buttons to press in the app while simultaneously conducting a CW QSO. Is there a Q code for “Let’s switch from Echolink back to 80 metres now”?

As far as I know, there isn’t — but it wouldn’t astonish me if I turn out to be wrong on that one. Also interesting was an attempt initiated by Sava VK4PN to see if unusually good conditions for him into Victoria on the night on 80 metres might translated into a possible 160 metres contact.

We both tuned to that band to give it a go, and while I thought that MAYBE I could just make out a signal, it did occur to me that I might alsc be hallucinating that “signal” out of wishful thinking.

There HAS to be a word for that phenomenon — I just don’t happen to know what it is (and haven’t yet made up my own).

40m] lis week, 30TH July marks 1 year since I made a rvous, sweaty, mistake-ridden first QSO with Jordan <3ACU. He had to give me lots of encouragement to ake that all important first step, from then on each 2ek on this net, combined with constant practice, I st my fear of being on air, making mistakes (still do ough) and very slowly I believe I improved.

Tarted to become comfortable with having more than e standard QSO Protocol.

• PECANS BE RCAWANS FERS EE FE ONE BNAer VUES E VUE ONE EE Stee DOORS WENA UU es 8 RECA NF NPN ENE EN Ne OE NEA with many countries. I have joined LICW and take many of their Zoom classes, focusing on conversational CW up to 20WPM.

I joined SKCC and FDU for their regular QRS “competitions”. It has been quite a journey with many more adventures and new radio friends to make. I wanted to get out and activate POTA and SOTA, alas my health this year has prevented this. This summer hopefully.

Most of all ham radio has brought me excitement, learning and adventure. Special thanks to Jordan, VK3ACU, Mark VK2KI and Rob VKS3ECH. Make the effort, get on the air. It is worth it!!!

From Patrick VK2IOW between Bathurst and Orange

[40m] Had a nice QSO with Peter, VK5KDO. The QSO with Earl, K4UFB in Florida was a bit of a surprise. I don’t think he wa in the QRS net! I was calling CQ at a slow speed and he came back to me. He was using a vertical on 40m.

I was using my large horizontal loop. RST about 549 both ways.

[160M] I wanted to try a few QSOs on 160M, but started feeling sleepy and went QRT. According to WhatsApp messages I saw later, some people did try 160M but it appears conditions were not very good.

[40m] ~ Very good condx for this evening’s QRS, busted out the Elecraft K1, which is beautifully analog and drifty, stations and side tone sound like a steam calliope! Great QRP contact with Richard, VK6HRC.

0 A ihe OO Evening all, so need to give myself a good talking to about expectations. Previous week the 22ND I was operating on 10w from Lakes Entrance in VK3, got : 5 contacts including a couple on 80m on my new beaut 80m EFHW, was a magical night with good reception and |

Magical night with good reception and I was so happy with contacts on 80, a place I previously could not go. Then some clown forgot to submit their log. Thanks Mark for posting my photo by the water as last weeks masthead picture though.

This week operating on 100W from Hobart with only two contacts both on 40m, and I think both were first time QSOs for me. Chatting with VK4PN (Sava) and I think we both were telling each other we both had QSB.

I found that really hard going, sometimes Sava’s signal was strong and sure, then it would fade to nothing and come back to me four characters later – I came up with a really interesting spelling of Brisbane that I wont repeat here.

I know Sava was sending it right, but what I was copying down was not the same. Next was VK1HF (lan). Same issues with QSB.

I got a real kick out of reading lan’s QRZ page with his request for CW people please go slow – its the same thing I put on my page and is probably going to stay there for a while yet.

I am still in need of a pen in my hand for copy but now more of the letters are going ink to page without me having to think about them – and some I still think too long, but it’s progress.

Next I had an eavesdrop on VK3JFR (James) chatting with VK2KI (Mark), almost felt rude to be listening I was waiting for them to finish but lost them in the QSB where the noise floor parts were growing longer than the tone parts of what I could hear.

I hope a little mild sledging is acceptable here – I just want to pass a message from down here in VK7 where a statement as I heard it ‘WX IS COLD TEMP 7.C’, is just not cold in VK7 gentlemen.

40m] ad an early session at 3:00 working VK6HRC and ‘“6FN with clear signals. After attending to other tivities I tuned in again at 4:30 when I worked .6MK with other stations busy with each other.

Ere was a weak signal I read as VK5SG so I dught I should try for a longer range contact. My ll was apparently answered until I realised the I concluded I was not heard and they continued

About 04:50 UIC Dut different approach this time. Had a look at FT8 window first to see what is around. A lot of EU signals at a decent level, good news. Went back to QRS. segment and scanned for a while but nothing heard.

Called CQ at 14.025 MHz for a while ZL3AA and RA1QX came back both feeble, but no sign of our EU friends.

[40m] Moved to 40m at 07:15 rather quiet, checked the date it was Tuesday! Gave up for while but on return at 08:05 UTC there were few QRS stations around all having prolonged QSOs.

Being impatient I called CQ rather than waiting and VK7JZ came back, good signal at times but a lot of QRM. Managed two more contacts before 09:00 UTC both VK6.

VK6NM was under strong local solar power supply noise and I had a lot of trouble coping him but I think I got most of his message after a number of repeats.

QSO with VK6FN was brief as it started just before 09:00 UTC and I had to QSY to 80m for the ZLCW Net at 09:00 UTC. Max did not mind. His signal was in the clear and fairly strong.

[som] Prior to ZLCW net at 3.535 MHz I always log on to Marahau (ZL) KiwiSDR to see how good my signal is. During the net I noticed a lot of activity in the FT8 segment at 3.573 MHz. After net finished at about 09:20 UTC I tuned into FT8 segment.

Pleasant surprise a lot of strong VK5, 3 and 2 signals so QRS Net on 80 should be good. A lot of weak signals as well all DX, JA and USA. Spent about 30 min working DX then my conscience took better of me and I returned to the QRS segment.

Found a trace on NSW Araluen KiwiSDR and waited for the exchange of call-signs. It was VK8WOW just finishing a QSO. How convenient, I called him and he came back. We exchanged reports very strong both way so I suggested a 160M try. Peter agreed.

Upon return from 160M I found Peter, VK3WOW for a postmortem. He said he knew there was something in the noise but he couldn’t copy. A marathon QSO followed with Manny VK3DRQ.

During the ZLCW net I can barely hear him but at 11:00 UTC he was big, easy copy both ways. By the time we finished at was close to 12:00 UTC but I stayed on as there were few traces on the KiwiSDR. One was way out of the

Proposed segment almost in the DX window. I thought it may be JA or USA DX but It was VK4DRK. We had a longish QSO and I pestered poor old Derek with advice regarding choice of frequency and usefulness of KiwiSDR.

By the end of the QSO he probably had enough of me. The night finished with VK2KI QSO a new one for me. [160] Before dropping to top band Peter, VK3WOW, told me he would need few minutes to set up.

While waiting I moved Araluen SDR window to 1.835MHz and observed my signal, it was clearly visible. Good sign so I started calling Peter but was not hearing anything back.

Peter is in Melbourne so I logged on to VK3FSK KiwiSDR and there was no trace of my signal. By the look of the SDR spectrum noise and interference levels in Melbourne must be horrific no wonder Peter couldn’t copy me.

Om] sre has been a lot of activities at home keeping me busy ly but I managed to have just a quick QSO with Tony. re was some QSB but all in all that was a great QSO. anks Tony.

Post Morsum – 30th July 2025

From Richard VK6HRC Six on the Post Morsum callback – most on the VK6RLM repeater and South West Echollink / Allstar hub:

Sin eee ie Got going on time after chatting with Mulligan and the regulars were there brav- ing the cold. Mark was happy with a contact with Mike DL3YZ on 20m but not able to work Geoff PA/VKEHD unfortunately.

Worked one on 40m heard ten, worked one on 80m heard three. As usual monitored traffic on the KiwiSDR network and spotted on WhatApp. David monitored 40m and went on to work Wayne VK6NW back after his stint away and Peter VK6NQL on 80m.

Peter let David know of the call sign change to clear up any confusion; all went well after that. Wayne worked Phil VK6GX and Stan ZL3TK on 40m and David VK6KD on 80m also switching between vertical and horizontal antennas for better reception.

Alate check-in from Max VK6EN, once his too regular power glitches were sort- ed he worked VK6WE, VK6GX, VK4PN, VK6KHZ,VK6HRC, on 40m and really enjoyed the QRQ session with Phil.

I worked five on 40m with a bonus first contact with Andy VKSLA / QRP, condi- tions not good enough to discuss the evening meal unfortunately (highlights in previous newsletters)! Thanks to all on last night and this morning. Have a great week. Richard

This Week’s Topic of Interest

After chatting to Geoff VK6HD about his use of ChatGPT as a Staff Officer for his not-for-profit organisation, and to Nigel G4RWI about his use of Microsoft Copilot to write the fantastic Python software we use to process the weekly reports that readers submit via our webform, and produce the excel spreadsheets and formatted reports you’ve just read, I’ve started putting information about how readers can use Large Language Model Al applications to draft articles for RagChew in both the newsletter and at the end of each RagChew.

So to give an example of what you can do easily using a free Al, I used the instructions on our website (www.bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite then navigate using the menu hidden at the top right to RagChew Newsletter) to task the free web version of ChatGPT to generate the following article on how to get started using Al for the RagChew newsletter.

Imagine you’re floating through space, breathing in the delicious silence of slow Morse, when suddenly someone whispers: “Want to tame an Al?” Fear not—you don’t need a Babel fish.

Here’s how to find and tango with ChatGPT, Google Copilot, and Microsoft Gemini on both web pages and apps—with free versions.

ChatGPT <=

MTTCMMAT OF ‘ey 1. Open your browser and go to chat.openai.com. Sign up—free tier gives ~20 messages/day or so. 2. Or install the ChatGPT mobile app (iOS/Android)—logs in with same account, same free limits.

MAVUYIE VOUVNOL foo 1. On Chrome (or Edge), visit copilot.google.com or open the sidebar in Gmail or Docs. Sign in. A free tier with limited daily uses is included. 2.

The Copilot app is embedded in Google Docs/Sheets; no separate app download—just look for the Copilot icon.

Microsoft Gemini 1. Go to gemini.google.com—this is Google’s Al “Gemini” accessible by signing in; free access includes a monthly token limit. 2. Or launch the Google App on Android, which exposes Gemin chat in a mobile interface. Free-ranked.

1. Go to gemini.google.com—this is Google’s Al “Gemini” accessible by signing in; free access includes a monthly token Y limit. 2. Or launch the Google App on Android, which exposes Gemini Gemini chat in a mobile interface. Free-ranked.

Think of ChatGPT as Marvin the Robot—wry, helpful, slightly resigned. Google Copilot is like a friendly towel—always around in Docs or Gmail. Gemini is like an interstellar travel guide, quietly brilliant, tucked into your Google world.

Why mention this in a slow-CW newsletter? Because these tools can help you write practice messages, decode slang, draft your next RagChew article, or even generate CW QSO simulations.

Keep usage light; use the free tiers to complement—not replace—the joy of head-copy and hand-sending QRS.

Think of ChatGPT as Marvin the Robot—wry, helpful, slightly resigned. Google Copilot is like a friendly towel—always around in Docs or Gmail. Gemini is like an interstellar travel guide, quietly brilliant, tucked into your Google world.

Why mention this in a slow-CW newsletter? Because these tools can help you write practice messages, decode slang, draft your next RagChew article, or even generate CW QSO simulations.

Keep usage light; use the free tiers to complement—not replace—the joy of head-copy and hand-sending QRS.

Not too bad eh? But remember, the LLM Als are enthusiastic and convincing – but often wrong in what they say and stubborn when you tell them they’ve made a mistake – you still need to check what’s generated by the tools.

And here’s a perfect ‘example of the Al trying too hard and “hallucinating” – ie making up an answer that it doesn’t know: the information it’s provided above about how to load Microsoft Copilot is wrong! copilot.

Google.com does not work – instead, you’ll need to use copilot.microsoft.com Al tool produces! This is called ‘being the human in the loop’.

Anyway, despite the error, when I thanked ChatGPT for its work, this is what it said: You’re very welcome—glad you liked it!

@ Ifyou need help drafting a follow-up article, polishing another submission, or even turning that QRS newsletter into a CW simulator, just send a dit or a dah. 73 and pse QRS! —ChatGPT

Interesting that ChatGPT had read the previous RagChew newsletters and knew about the CW simulator we’re using to generate the head-copy exercises!

See RagChew Articles below for more information on how you an use and train a Large Language Model Al tool to help you write articles for RagChew. In next week’s RagChew, I’ll review a book on Al that I’ve found to be very interesting.

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; for guidance on writing for RagChew, see Articles below. Please email material to Mark VK2KI: cqqrsnet@gmail.com

Off My Workbench

LHC > LUU SHUILE IU WAP I think most of us have heard that phrase, but is it true?

From Ross MONNK When I got my Foundation License (for the UK beginners) the power limit was 5 watts (they’ve now upped it to 25 watts). I experienced a great deal of frustration through not making contacts.

I thought it might be my radio but an expert OM checked it for me and pronounced it okay. In fact, I almost gave up the hobby because of that frustration.

But I persevered, got my Intermediate License with a 100 watt power limit, bought a Xiegu G90, and I was on my way. Now that I’m an older and (supposedly) wiser Full License holder, I decided to take another look at QFRP to see if anything had changed.

So this last week I’ve been working (or rather “attempting to work”) QRP on the 20 and 30 metre bands, using my QCX radios.

I’ve called CQ for a total of 2 hours on both bands. That doesn’t sound like much but it is when there are no replies. Actually, I did have one nice QSO with Mike DL3YZ on 20m after arranging a sked.

He gave me an RST of 539 so I certainly was getting the 930 kms to Stuttgart, and the Reverse Beacon Network showed that my signal was getting across the nearby continent. But otherwise I called and called.

I heard other stations and called them, but without reply. And I got stepped on a few times by stations that obviously couldn’t hear me. So was it a waste of time then?

Strangely, the answer is ‘No, it wasn’t a waste of time.’ Far from it – I had a rather enjoyable time of it. I got out into the English countryside in glorious summer weather. I pottered about rigging up my antenna and

Other gear. I sat comfortably in my camp chair, tapping away. And afterwards I packed up and came home feeling quietly satisfied with my morning’s work.

I think the difference between my older and younger selves is that now I can do QRP as a choice rather than as the only way of operating. And I’ve learnt to have very low expectations with regard to making contacts.

For me, QRP is a means to get out portable with some very simple radio gear and enjoy the overall experience. Critics might say that the whole point of radio is communications but I’m not sure that I agree with them – the whole point of any hobby is to enjoy yourself, and QRP is oddly enjoyable despite the lack of ‘success’.

And if you find making contacts stressful, you might want to give QRP a go, as you won’t be troubled by many of them!

[That’s what life should be about – love it – thanks Ross. For those who aren’t as patient and relaxed as our Ross, there’s a couple of leverage opportunities to improve the rate of QSOs.

Our WhatsApp Alerts group is an easy way to let the team know that you’re calling on such-and-such a frequency. Seems to work pretty well here in Oceania – more often than not, someone in our team will have a listen.

The other option of course is VKFF (in VK/ZL) or WWFF in the rest of the world for national and State parks, SOTA (Summits on the Air), Parks on the Air, and a whole raft of similar on-the-air places where you can Spot (notify your frequency or report other portables

You hear) using your phone. And here in Australia the parksnpeaks.org website collects such posts and can be set to send an SMS alert of CW Spots to those who want to receive them (like me).

Not as relaxing and fun as Ross’ model, but at least if you’re out in the sleet in a blizzard, you may be rewarded with a response or 10. Thanks Ross – I’m feeling more relaxed already!]

What’s going on on your workbench? If you have an article or two that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let Mark VK2KI know; email to cqqrsnet@gmail.com For guidance on writing for RagChew, see Articles below.

ORZ?

This week it’s Chris VK3QB who talks about his role as the CW Ops Ambassador for Oceania

Mark has invited me to contribute to the newsletter, and I hope that with your feedback and support, I can provide some hints ‘n tips, guidance, and options for learning and developing skills in the mode we all love.

I’m writing this column from Venus Bay, about 150KR SE of Melbourne. I’ve been having some fun (well, frustrations) on the beach with 2 Watts. Yesterday I worked Pete M3KXZZ, but it only just qualified as a QSO, with us exchanging RST 229 both ways.

I’ve been an amateur for about 40 years and Morse code has been my passion all these years. There’s something magical about HF and the code that keeps me coming back – I’m active at least 4-5 nights a week, sometimes more.

DXpedtions are also a passion, and I’ve operated from YJO, VK9N, VK9L, VK9C and 3D2 18 times over the last 16 years. Working pileups from these locations is a load of fun. About 6 years ago I discovered CW Ops and CW Academy.

The club has a true international footprint with about 3,000 members and its Directors and volunteers can be found all around the world. It’s inclusive and offers education, contests, awards and support for CW operators at all levels.

Progressively, I’l explain each of the offerings and also delve into a few activities in more detail. Most importantly, I’d like to hear your questions. What hurdles have you faced learning the code and developing your skills?

What general questions do you have about the code and how to explore new skills, such as using a straight key, paddle, or bug. Maybe you’d like to know more about boilerplate QSOs, Dxing, contesting, or simply how to further develop your skills.

Please feel very welcome to join my monthly Zoom sessions where we host a relaxed forum to hear from CW operators and their interesting stories. To learn more about these session visit this website and click on the Zoom Sessions menu item.

Morse Code Community

Lastly, I’ll try to offer at least one tip each week, and answer questions you might have. Just drop me an email at vk3qb(at)hotmail.com I look forward to hearing you on air. 73, Chris VK3QB CW Ops OC Ambassador https://cwops.org/

[Fantastic – thank you for your first segment in the RagChew newsletter Chris. Depending on the content, we may put Chris’ contributions here, in Other News, There’s No Such Thing or perhaps Other Topics of Interest in future editions – something exciting to look forward to!]

QRZ? Who’s on the other end?

Other News

QRS Flight to Success from Garry VK2GAZ I read with interest the poem penned by Peter VK3WOW, Bailed, No Parachute. Peter has in my opinion quite a jaundiced take on the QRS International Flight Contest given to us by Stan ZL8TK.

I came across this intriguing contest in week NR 02 and have participated in all the remaining flights, the last one being NR 07.

Now I am not saying that all fell into place with ease for me, I have had many email exchanges with Stan clarifying points of uncertainty, however I persisted, not giving up or throwing in the towel.

Exhausting and tedious it may have been at times, more for Stan than me but he never gave up on me, although he certainly had reason to. I was looking for problems that were not there, I could not see the forest for the trees.

Well the good news is, come Flight NR 06, with a little more nudging from Stan I discovered just where I was going wrong and now what was a conundrum is so very clear. Bring on the rest of the contest.

I encourage others to stay the distance and enjoy the rewards of success. Garry VK2GAZ

QRS Flight to Success

Update from Paul VK2IK from Moss Vale

Hi Mark, Thanks for the newsletter again, there is lots of good information in there and also to see there is still CW training on air. It was great to get on the net again after not having much time for radio over the last few months.

Good Signals heard all round tonight and I could copy strong signals from VK3, VK7 and VK4, as well as reasonable signals from ZL and VK6 on both 80 and 40 and even down to the noise floor.

I found my straight key that George VK2DLF made around 2000/2001 after it had been packed away in storage for many years. It is still going well and I had some great contacts lon Tuesday starting with VK5CZ, VK2ASB, VK4CCW and NF7N on Sunday.

It is a pleasure to use George’s key on air again – thanks George.

| was able to operate QRP portable briefly from Berrima on the weekend with an FT-818 on CW with the tiny Comet HFJ-350 tapped whip antenna that works very well considering it is only around 1m or so in length (+ 4 short radials quickly run out over the ground) .

It was a rather brisk and overcast 5C with a typical Southern Highlands wind cutting through, however I was able to make a contact on CW with VK2SB in Walcha with around 2 W before moving on.

Its certainly a compromise antenna but it always surprises how well it works for such a

Small antenna that is quick and easy to set up and pack down with out much effort or a big tangle of rope and wires (that always get the strange looks at the picnic table). 73 and thanks for running the net, it is great to hear so many stations on CW.

Paul VK2IK [Thanks Paul – good question – fiddle around for an hour putting up a decent antenna and also risk the strange looks and inevitable questions (which actually isn’t a bad thing…

Except mid-way through a QSO with headphones), or go for something that gets you on air with a minimum of effort. Nice looking key from Georg! I like the high-tech connection too.]

New Zealand Morse Learning Group

From Peter ZL1PX in Waiuku, just South of Auckland Hi Mark FB on your efforts to encourage CW newbies to have a go. I have joined the QRS Net for some time now. It’s hard work finding QSOs but I make the attempt every Tuesday night.

The station I most find are Sava VK4PN and Manny VK3DRQ. I also hear these two on the NZ nightly CW net on 80m at 0900Z but resort to using one of the SDRs most nights. We have run a Morse learning group here in NZ for the past eighteen months.

We played around with HF on 80 and 40 but too many people were unable to copy. Now, we run on EchoLink using my call-sign ZL1PX or Node 104996. The audio quality is excellent. We run Mon, Wed and Fri at 0800Z – sessions are around 15 minutes.

Our speed is currently character speed of 18 WPN with Farnsworth spacing to take it down to 7 WPM.

[Thanks Peter – excellent news about the learning group on Echolink – great idea – so easy for folks to use their phones to listen in and chat. Please keep us updated on the group – so!

Can keep reminding our readers; ditto for any of our team who has a go – please let us know how you went.]

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 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.

Progress report on the QRS International Flight Contest

The North Sea has long been known as one of the most dangerous stretches of ocean in the world. A combination of factors including frequent storms, strong and unpredictable currents, shallow waters

Averaging only 95 m depth that amplify wave action, and harsh winter weather have moulded this reputation, however it is no impediment to an aircraft at 10 000 m ASL, you’re guaranteed a pleasant journey!

Seats are unlimited, anyone is welcome to board for the final four flights. All QRS IFC information is available at bit.ly/qrsifc 73 de Stan

CWops Morse Mania – Winter 2025

Fives: This eight-week event has the following objectives: © To promote regular on-air QSOs primarily between VK and ZL operators. Other DX operators and contacts are welcome.

© For CW operators to have as many QSOs as possible whilst meeting the minimur criteria for a QSO. © To provide an event that meets the needs of different types of CW operators. © Touse these sessions to build on existing skills and satisfy your own goals.

© For aperson who normally operates POTA/SOTA, this might mean extending their QSO vocabulary to include a few new words or phrases. © For an operator comfortable at 12WPM and basic QSOs, this might mean aiming to increase speeds by 2-3 WPM once a week.

© For acontester this might mean exchanging station details they don’t normall exchange. Participants are encouraged to notify the Event Administrator of their personal goals prior the event.

When: Start date: Tuesday 17 June 2025 End date: Sunday 10 August 2025 This is an eight-week event aimed at our CQQRS family, with one-hour sessions commencing 17 June 2025 and taking place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 0930-1030z.

And there’s a bonus for QRS operators as well. How about having a go? Read more and review the rules here: https://morsecodesessions. wordpress.com/morse-mania-winter-2025/

In reply to Edition 30 ‘Bailed, No Parachute’

In reply to Edition oJ bailed, No Fi Translated as ‘Suicide-by-Imaginary- Thank you for visiting my parlour Said the spider to the fly But no swat do I harbour And no desire I have to try.

Hard though it may appear Unfair in the extreme Let’s make it crystal clear Only for good exists my scheme Delight comes from achievement Morse Code is such a goal Abandonment means bereavement Proper training brings a stroll Generous hints willingly provided What has revelation ever taught?

The entitled must be clearly guided And conundrums solved by thought Decisions to stay and play my game Rest in entrant’s hands alone Running away brings no fame Ensuring solutions remain unknown The Altruistic Spider

Hats Off

From Chris G7BED from Northamptonshire North of London Mark, Just a quick note to say what a great job you do in putting all of this together. That’s what’s generating the interest and building such a vibrant and active community.

Hats off to you for the time you spend in doing all of this. Cheers. Chris G7BED [Thanks mate – appreciate your appreciation! I’m astounded at our success…

I just wave my arms around – the effort to make it work comes mostly from our terrific family – we have over 220 now! And did I mentioned that we had 76 stations heard this week? 76! Bloody amazing! I hope you enjoy Provence – and why wouldn’t you?]

If you’ve read something that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let me know. For guidance on writing for RagChew, see Articles below. Please email material to Mark VK2KI: cqqrsnet@gmail.com

Head Copy Practice

Compiled on the track somewhere by John VK2RU

Over the last two months, each newsletter has contained a chapter from A.A. Milnes classic, Winnie the Pooh. This week, we have Chapter 9 where Winnie uses some interesting watercraft to rescue Piglet from a flood.

The book, ‘Winnie the Pooh’ was chosen for head copy practise because it contains simple, familiar, and sometimes predictable words that makes learning to head copy a bit easier.

Previous ‘Winnie the Pooh’ chapters and suggestions on how you might use them can be found at the CQ QRS website – https://bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite . Here are this week’s files.

There is one .txt file with the whole chapter, three .mp3 files with about a third of the chapter each, and three text files containing the text for each .mp3 file. We have to split the .mp3 files because of size limitations in Mail Chimp.

The original text contains some punctuation that is not normally used in morse today. This punctuation is not recognised by the Ditto CW app, and it also causes the ebook2cw app some headaches, so I’ve removed it.

Where a word contains an apostrophe such as ‘ won’t‘ I have removed the apostrophe. Some words such as ‘ we’ll‘ , have been changed to ‘ we will‘ to avoid confusion.

I’ve found that sometimes when the text file is added to Ditto CW, some spacing between words is missed, and some sentences are repeated. I’ve checked the text files and they are correct so I don’t know what’s going on there. It’s not a big problem.

If you’ve read something that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let me know so John and I can share more thoughts and ideas. For guidance on writing for RagChew, see Articles below. Please email material to Mark VK2KI: cqqrsnet@gmail.com

Prosign/Character/Signal of the Month

[Suggestion – put it on a sticky note near your key as a reminder for Tuesday. Tell us how you went!]

Di-dah-di-dah-dit

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 us 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.

And by the way, a reminder; if you send me any information by email, our report form or WhatsApp – unless you specifically state that material is not to be published, I’ll assume that you’re happy to see your thoughts in the RagChew newsletter.

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.

Articles for RagChew

The newsletter is interesting to readers because of the material contributed by so many people – be it the reports each week or the various articles. Could you write a short article or articles for RagChew? You bet! Writing not your strong point?

Don’t worry, I’m very happy to help as much or as little as needed. Here’s a thought – perhaps have a go at using a Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence tool such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini to do some research, to check your writing or even to actually draft the whole article in a relaxed easy-to-read manner!

You can find out more about how to do that on the Newsletter page on our website bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite Please remember though – you must fact-check anything that an Al tool drafts for you – it’s quite probable that it will be 100% perfect-looking and be 100% wrong!

You as the submitter are responsible for fact-checking. But it’s a learning experience – please let us know how you went if you had a go with this new generation of tool.

For more guidance on writing for the RagChew newsletter, head to our website bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite then click the menu on the top right and then click RagChew Newsletter.

Teamwork

Thank you so much to our team of 44 contributors: G7BED, DL3YZ, MONNK, VK2GAZ, VI2IK, VK2IOW, VK2KI, VK2KJJ, VK2RU, VK3ACU, VK3AFH, VK3BTV, VK3BWN, VK3CTM, VK3DRQ, VK3ECH/VK4, VKSKEV, VK3KLE, VK3QB, VK3WOW, VK4PN, VK5AO, VK5CZ, VKSKDO, VK5KFG, VK5LA, VK6FN, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VK6MK, VK6NQL, VK6IS, VK6NW, VK6QI, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7JZ, VK7TA, VK7WW, ZLIPX, ZL3TK and ZL4CTS.

And a special thank you to our editorial team, Nigel G4RWI (head of software development), Patrick VK2IOW (reports wrangler), John VK2RU (Winnie-the-Pooh reader) and Richard VKBHRC (Post Morsition). Great work alll UY CW on Tuesday, mb.

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

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

About the CQ QRS 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 from members by the editor or published on the CQQRS WhatsApp groups may be published in this newsletter unless specifically requested otherwise.

The values, doctrine and guidelines for the Group and for the newsletter are published on the Principles page of the group’s website https://bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite

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