cq_qrs_newsletter

2025 42 CQ QRS RagChew

Below is a reconstruction of the 2025 42 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

Wowee! What wonderful conditions the propagation gods turned on for us on Tuesday! Wasn’t it brilliant?

‘SUBJ: ASWIFC HF RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WARNING 25193 ISSUED AT 0612UT/13 OCTOBER 2025 BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING CENTRE. Fegion AR4246 recently produood an Ft love are.

Further faring ‘s posslble rom this acive region, as well as AR246, Shorwwave {adoouts are possible, [DEGRADED IHF PROPAGATION CONDITIONS EXPECTED FROM 12-15 OCTOBER 2025 IF COMMS DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED TRY A HIGHER FREQUENCY BAND SOLAR ACTIVITY FORECAST HF COMMS FADEOUTS 13.0ct AO-RY Possible 14 0c RORY Posslbie 15.0ct: AOA Possitle Not!

[An ASWEO MUF depression HF Warring and ASWEC shortwave fadsout HE Warring are both curent. Shortwave fadoou’s degrade lower shortwave radio frequencies first (through increased Tonogphere absorpior) end the usual strategy during shorwave fadoouts sto ty ahighor frequency.

Contrast, during Periods of inospheric MUF depression, the upper requencias fre dograded frst andthe usual svategy Isto use a tower requency. In genera use a lower requency f you are having trouble vith your normal workabo requency.

Ita shortwave fadeout oocuts dung a petod when ionosphere MUFs are daprassed the avalabla HF bandwicth willbe “squoazec’, vith nereesed absorptonrlsing the lowest usable frequency and the ionosphere depression lowering the highost usable {requancy.

Undar euch condone ts euggaeted that he HF communieator operates on tne highest usable frequency, ‘even though his may wellbe infact lower than what is normally ‘supported for that paricular cut ‘Australian Space Weather orecasing Cente ‘Bureau of Meteorology ASWE@bom,gov.au ‘tom gov Iwi sts.b0m,gov.au

So the Aussie Bureau of Meteorology predicted the worst – see the complex warning to the right: So we could have curled up in our burrows and not tried… or in the words of Ross MONNK from a previous RagChew – just get on air and have a go!

43 of our CQQRS family on air for the net – and they reported 62 stations heard or worked. C’est bon, non? Elizabeth and I were down at Mannus Lake near Tumbarumba in Southern NSW with our tiny AVan.

I’d spent way too long over the previous weeks installing a 120AH lithium battery, MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) solar regulator and a lithium- compatible mains charger; it was nice to be able to operate my little FT-817 transceiver, charge our MacBook computers and run the AVan inside LED lights without thinking for a moment about the battery.

The work paid off – I was overjoyed to work Mike DL3YZ in Stuttgart on 20m via the long path with just 5 Watts and my ZS6BKW-design (modified G5RV) doublet; amazing! I could also hear Simon MOKBy, but couldn’t crack a QSO.

You’ll need to look closely at the image above to see the doublet and feeder on the squid pole in the tree… and even closer to the image on the right to see the subject… hidden in plain sight!

Anyway, back to this week’s RagChew; I hope you’ll find another bunch of interesting articles for your reading pleasure.

Not only has Patrick VK2I0W compiled yet another summary of your reports, Richard VK6HRC has done likewise after Wednesday’s Post Morsum, and John VK2RU has compiled both another set

Of head-copy exercises and pointed us at an interesting YouTube channel. Phil VK6GXX talks about remote controlling his beautiful Icom IC-7760 and lubricating the operator, Ketut VKS3BWN describes how he’s feeding his loop antenna with home- brewed balanced feed-line, and Stan ZL3TK has introduced a new fun and curly puzzle.

And there’s so much more from our 33 contributors this week; thank you one and all.

Masthead Image

New Team Members

Welcome this week to Tony VK2VIC who lives at Womboin. Tony came across Jordan VK3ACU last week and discovered that he could copy Jordan’s fist ok; Jordan then introduced Tony to our group.

Tony listened-in to our net this week and was pleased to log Lance VK7TO and VK2TM. Welcome Tony, and I look forward to when you’re ready to have some fun on air on a Tuesday as well.

I’d also like to welcome Peter, VA3PWG from Ballarat; we now have four CQQRS family members in Ballarat. Welcome Peter, and I look forward to hearing of your QRS adventures.

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

To make your report more interesting, please consider sending a photo to be attached. If you have a photo that you’d be happy to include, please email it to: cqarsnet@gmail.com To make it even easier for Patrick and Mark, see if you can compress or reduce the siz of the image (preferably to less than 100KB file size).

No problems if your computer or phone can’t do that – just send it through anyway please. So, please help attract new and old team members to have a go by submitting your report each week. Submissions close 1300 (Eastern Australian Summer time) on Thursdays.

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 cqqrsnet@gmail.com non impsditi ratione cogitationis

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:

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

FIOM) SHNOM NIVINGY al VWWOVEINallplon, UN

[20m] It was an impromptu session but all the nicer for being spontaneous. I monitor the group’s WhatsApp channels and with Mark’s encouragement, turned on the radio as soon as my espresso cup was empty.

I called CQ on 20m and after shuffling down the band a little, Patrick VK2IOW answered. He was RST559 but only jus ronvahblie in the nnice «

Lf Woofferton web-SDR and he was beautifully clear. Woofferton is the UK’s last remaining shortwave transmitting station, about 50 km from my home. My club had a tour a couple of years ago, which was fascinating.

[20m] [his was a really great DX morning up here in Stuttgart. I hink we made use of the DX window to its full extent. fter finishing my first very pleasant QSO with OM Manny – /K3DRQ, I heard some timid signals down the noise.

After ny AGN PSE, I found they belonged to our valued master of eremonies, Mark VK2KI/P! Fearlessly he was sending his tts against the 15,000 miles around the globe, sitting at his

Deeps WIN a Mere o VvallS against ne 1o,UUYU Miles arOuna the giobe, SItINg at Nis camping site. Think that’s the first time I worked VK with a QRP station. Now the DX window had opened completely, and I was able to copy his next over with no problems at all.

Great job Mark 🙂 Now nobody can ever say again there is no chance for DX these days. After letting him go to celebrate his success with some cold beverages, my radio was shaken by the incoming signal of David – VK3DBD, using 250 Watts.

Took me some moments to engage the AGC again and find the volume knob HI. He had witnessed the QRP QSO with Mark, so we just tried to QRP for fun, and I could also copy him

When he turned down to 5 Watts. We really can’t complain about the condx these times! The rest of the shift was very easy for me, copying the great fists and strong signals of Sava – VK4PN and Mark – VK3MUJ.

It was a pleasure guys, thanks for the fun and sending me your beeps 🙂 Greetings from Germany, Mika

[20m] Heard both DL3YZ and VK2KI RSN 211 on 14.048 MHz ~ 0640Z

Band in fine shape especially VK3 propagating consistent $9 signals. Another successful Settle to Carlisle QTC received, just one burst of QRN triggered a repeat request however we were prepared and it went smoothly, as well-planned traffic should.

Near the witching hour worked Jim VK7JZ very successfully with S8 signals in rarely used but highly advantageous estimated training mode 20/6 wpm.

[80m] Had to log into the Ironstone SDR in Adelaide to provide sig report to Mark VK2KI. Sounded like thunderstorms crashing in the background.

[160M] The hour was late – 1020Z – and I had been putting out calls on 1855 kHz when I heard Jordan VK3ACU calling. We had a short contact only but he was 20 dB over S9 with his 10 Watts.

I logged my first QRS contact on ‘top band’ on QRZ.com together with info on Bendigo Amateur Radio and Electronics Club’s newly acquired ‘outstation’ at Gredgwin on

From Rob VK3ECH/MM at Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach, Nth Qld

[20m] Sailed back to Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach today to shelter ahead of a strong south easterly blow for the next couple of days. Had a couple of nice 20m QSOs with VK4PN Sava near Brisbane and VK3DBD David near Yackandandah.

[80m] Didn’t have much luck on the lower bands due to QRN but masern ee FR ET eT eS rs cr RT PA Yi JW and

Think fatigue was getting the better of me by that hour. However was a fun night just the same and good to catch up again. Cheers from the sunny Whitsundays. Rob, VKSECH.

[40m] It’s fairly quiet at first, then the fun starts and there are lots more stations heard.

[40m] I tried the earlier start time but the band was silent and there was no response to my CQ. A couple of hours later I found Ron, VK6KHZ calling and had a brief chat. Immediately afterwards Max, VK6FN called me.

I thought this could lead to several contacts but I didn’t get any more responses to my CQ. I heard a couple of very weak signals but could not copy them.

[40m] The 40 m band was crazy with calls all over the place. I di hear calls like F5, G, and EA all of them on 40m !!!

[40m] Conditions were pretty good on 40. I called with 100W and Peter returned with his QRP QMX from Melbourne. After some discussion about all the merits of the QMX, we ended up using our respective QMXs at each end quite successfully.

At the enc of that contact, dear leader Mark called QRP portable from Murrumbateman (hopefully I got that right – should we agree to stay at places with short, easy to spell names?), again quite successfully.

[20m] As usual first called CQ to check the reverse beacon network report and it looked propagation was ok to EU. Managed to work DL3YZ with half a decent signal both ways around 549. The difference between 600W and Yagi which DL5FCZ was using is 5 S points.

That QSO was 599 both ways! Rob VK3ECH/mm was also crashing in from Airlie Beach, his vertical over salty water is working just fabulous.

[40m] I decided to work QRP on 40m this instance so I Justed off my trusty ” Rat’s Nest ” QRP and spent nours on 40 chasing a contact. Must have heard at east a dozen of stations VK/ZL and numerous DX chasing E51MDW at 7030 generating a major QRM.

Called at least half of VK/ZL stations I heard and luck. Not giving up yet I will try again next Tuesday! if, not too small and plenty of controls but it has built- 1 antenna tuner which stretched the envelope a bit.

| decided to work QRP on 40m this instance so I dusted off my trusty ” Rat’s Nest ” QRP and spent hours on 40 chasing a contact. Must have heard at ) least a dozen of stations VK/ZL and numerous DX = chasing E51MDW at 7030 generating a major QRM.

Called at least half of VK/ZL stations I heard and made numerous CQ calls but no luck. Not giving up yet I will try again next Tuesday!

Attached picture is the beast itself, not too small and plenty of controls but it has built- in AC power supply and balanced antenna tuner which stretched the envelope a bit.

Compared to my main base transceiver it works very good on RX but power of about OVAL malae naAnttanric Aifftins it

Made numerous CQ Calls but no luck. Not giving up yet I will try again next Iuesday! Attached picture is the beast itself, not too small and plenty of controls but it has built- in AC power supply and balanced antenna tuner which stretched the envelope a bit.

Compared to my main base transceiver it works very good on RX but power of about 3W makes contacts difficult.

[80m] Started very late on 80m, I forgot that net now finishes at 22:00 HRS. Ironside SDR had no traces but plenty of QRM. Still I kept calling CQ on 3550.

It paid off at around 21:40 QLD time Rob responded to my CQ and we had a long chat well beyond net finish line. It was crackly and noisy but we kept chipping at it. Rob had QRM from his on-board fridge to top it off.

His 30 foot vertical (| assume hanging off the main mast) is working fine on 80m as well. He seems to be marooned at Airlie waiting for a more favorable wind. Boy he is moving around only about a month ago I worked him at the edge of Simpson desert.

[40m] Spent the evening on 40 metres exclusively, running 5 watts from QMX into base coil loaded whip (to see who could hear me).

A notable highlight of evening was a QSO with Greg VK5KFG, who I was initially running 100 watts but then fired up his home-built (kudos, Greg!) version of a QMX (also 5 watts) so we could conclude in QMX to QMX mode. Is this a first for our group?

I don’t know. Signal quite readable in both directions.

[40m] My operation was a bit delayed, due to trying to get the I IC-7760 remote head setup on the deck balustrade. But _ made it in time for a sundowner and 3 QSOs.

[40m] It was great to get a couple of QSOs in. Big thank you tc Mark and Jim for persisting with my very slow beginner pace. I’m gradually learning to copy more and more eac! time.

[40m] Earlier in the evening there was some dx pileup: and to think, instead of relentlessly sending their call signs they could have joined us for a chat. Oh well, each to their own. Conditions were good enough for a bit of a chat with Brisbane.

Later on I heard weak VK6 signals, but could not get a reply. Maybe they didn’t hear me, or maybe they had had enough after their last QSO.

[40m] Wow so many stations tonight. I was waiting (in line) for a QSO to finish and before I can answer the CQ another station jumped in. This happened a few times 🙂 So as I QSY a bit, I heard a JA calling CQ and I responded.

The ensuing QSO was one of the rare JA contacts I made from VK3 land. That was pretty cool. It is then followed by an epic rag chew with Peter VK3WOW and we talked about his antenna.

[40m] I had another commitment on Tuesday, so was pleased to have a nice 15 minute QSO with Jim, VK7JZ, in the limited time I had.

S meuneuummsnemeneaatamenel From your editor Mark VK2KI/P camping at Mannus Lake near Tumbarumba

[20m] This week, Elizabeth and I were camping in our tiny AVan at a place called Mannus Lake, about 5km South West of Tumbarumba, just this side of the Snowy Mountains fe BIRT Beet)

Lake, about 5km South West of Tumbarumba, just this side of (which were). Boy, was 20m jumping on Tuesday! Mike DL3YZ was the Duty CQQRS Operator from Stuttgart (Ross MONNK, Chris G7BED and Nigel G4RWI were all off doing other things this week) and Mike was on hoping to squeeze a contact in before having to choof-off to work.

I was astounded to work Mike with 5 Watts via the long path from my FT-817 feeding my ZS6BKW-design doublet (a modified G5RV) up only 6m. The band was really rocking, and there was a pile-up of people calling Mike; so much for going to work Mike!

| noticed that Simon MOKBJ was awake already in Wolverhampton and I managed to twist his arm via WhatsApp to come up on-air as well.

Rob VK3ECH/MM at the Whitsunday Islands was on the first frequency Simon chose, chatting to Sava VK4PN; a quick WhatsApp text message saw him slip 3KHZ down.

There was a strong heterodyne near Simon’s new frequency, but he was copiable; funny how the brain goes to lunch just when you need it… I’d switched off the narrow CW filter for tuning around.

I tried calling with my 5000MW – but although I pressed the key as hard as I could, Simon couldn’t hear me. Luckily, his calls were rewarded with a nice chat to Patrick VK2IOW near Orange.

So for me, 20m was worked one, missed one and heard another 8 stations; fantastic! Thanks to Mike and Simon for being there

We stopped for a nice dinner as the sun set over the lake, and started to rug up; how many layers before we both looked like Michelin Man?

This time I was using a tiny 1940S YA-1840 key that had been donated to me by Richard VK6HR – thanks mate – fits perfectly in the bag with my FT-817 and all the gear that goes with it.

I’d virtually just finished attaching a cable and plug t the key when we drove out the driveway on Moni

Though – and quite interesting to listen to my dots and d timed correctly, and I was surprised that I couldn’t easily to do with my normal WT8AMP straight keys). And, when I went to send the error prosign…. which I did frequently…

Well, all that came out was a few random dots each time. What fun! Anyway, I didn’t have the tools to hand to make any adjustments, and anyway, th spring tension (which seemed a bit high) couldn’t be changed on the key.

In chatting to Richard VK6PZT on WhatsApp, he sent me a picture of one of his spare- parts keys, the same as the one I was using – and I noticed that it had an extra adjustment screw that mine didn’t. Nice to chat to the Bunbury Radio Club’s Morse key restorer.

The little YA-1860 key is odd in that it’s pivot is down the far end, then moving forward on the beam is the missing adjustment key which seems to only limit downward movement (which the pair of contacts do anyway), then there’s a fixed spring in tension from above, the gap adjustment screw, a pair of rontarcte and the knonh Sa what cold the miccing

SCTOW GO TWwOnderr a Anyway, back to 40m… I came across Ron VK7ME calling CQ on 7024KHZ. Ron had half a contact (ie two reports weren’t exchanged) with fellow Southern Tasmania AR Club member James VK7JZ who had been encouraging Ron to have a go.

This time, we had a perfect QSO. I need to find out if it was his first-ever complete CW QS0 – if so, it’d be another achievement for our CQQRS net – and one of our coveted First CW QSO Awards will be on its way!

Our QSO was followed quickly by a QSO between Ron and James; – boy your CW sounded good Ron; congratulations Ron, and to James and Lance for gently helping Ron to see the light.

I was pleased to then catch up with Richard VK6PZT at Dalyellup who was one of our founders – not long ago Richard was struggling with noise, yet he was able to copy my 5 Watts from the other side of the country.

After Richard, I had a chat to my complement, Paul VI2IK up at Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands, then came across Max VK6FN (another CQQRS Founder) at Manjimup chatting to David VKG6KD at Ballajura.

I took a punt on having a three-way QSO, and rudely sent DE VK2KV/P between overs… but they wouldn’t talk to me. I heard on the Post Morsum that Max heard something but ignored it because he thought it was someone calling CQ on the frequency.

Lesson for me…. send a BK instead of my callsign! After another quick exchange with Richard, I came across Peter VK8WOW at Blackburn chatting to Greg VK5KFG at Willunga – both QRP, both $9.

When they finished I gave Greg a call and was pleased to have another QRP-to-QRP QSO – both running 5 Watts.

[80m] Around 1200Z, I slid down to 80 for a look. Rob VK3ECH/MM at the Whitsundays was chatting to Sava VK4PN in Brisbane, and I was pleased to hook-up with David VK6KD again. David was a good S8, but there were a barrage of static crashes.

Happening by that time, so he was only Q4 with me. My 5000MW returned an RSN 353 from David; nice to hook up again – this time with me being the portable station rather than David.

[160M] Patrick VK2IOW posted an alert on WhatsApp saying he was calling on 1855KHZ. I tried my ZS6BKW doublet (which was about 30m long) but my little portable antenna coupler couldn’t cut the mustard on 160M.

From Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Portable at Mannus Lake near Tumbarumba, via the VKSPH KiwiSDR network at Ironstone Range

Being away camping, I couldn’t use the VK6S’ Remote at Jandakot (| can’t use my MacBook on the RCForb application needed to operate the Remote, and taking two computers when camping seems to be a bit of overkill!).

And I was having so much fun on our 20m DXperiment that I didn’t think to check the VK6SEG KiwiSDR to see if the Long Path opening to Europe extended to WA.

[160M] I heard the end of a strong QSO on 1855KHZ via the Ironstone Range KiwiSDRs, but didn’t catch the callsigns; I thought it may have been Patrick VK2IOW who had posted an earlier alert on the CQQRS WhatsApp group; however, I see from the reports, that it was in fact our top-band pioneer, Jordan VK3ACU at Meredith and Tony VK3CTM at Bendigo.

So all in all, a fantastic night for me – terrific propagation, and amazing success with my FT-817, ZS6BKW-design doublet and Richard VK6HRC‘s tiny Morse key. Thank you to everyone who was on; what a great net!

Post Morsum 15th October 2025

By Richard VK6HRC. Seven on Echolink and the RLM repeater this morning. The AllStar link to RLM not active at this time unfortunately resulting in a somewhat disjointed net !

We got the job done eventually thanks to the patience of people standing by as I alternated between the repeater and Echolink.

On this morning: VK6QI Mark VK6KD David ZL3TK Stan VK1JT John VK6FN Max VK6HRC

VK6MRB Mulligan sw] and others. Mark called in from the Lake Mannus camp ground not far from Tumbarumba NSW ona well deserved glamping trip. With the ZS6BKW antenna and Yaesu FT817 set up worked Mike DL3YZ on 20m and heard Simon MOKBJ no contact unfortunately.

On 40m worked five with a bonus welcome to Ron VK7ME and heard eight others. Nothing heard on 160M. David worked Max and Mark on 40m and monitored the activity on the Ironstone Range Kiwi sdr.

Stan enjoyed the good conditions into Eastern Australia and enjoyed a contact with Jim VK7IZ, Stan also let us know that the responses to CW Settle to Carlisle Railway Challenge are going well. ‘Max worked VK6WE VK6IS VK3ACU VK6KHZVK6GX VK6KD AND ZL2JU on 40m.

Going to be busy with visitors for the next three weeks so might not be active on the net. John very patiently waited until we could call him in and let us know about the Baofeng SR Mini and Shari Pi hat AllStar node he is putting togther.

L was not on last night but knew it had been a busy night when I checked the activity on WhatsApp this moming. Thank you to all, have great week 73 Richard.

This Week’s Topic of Interest

Use Emergency SOS via Satellite on your iPI

• With iPhone 14 or later (all models), you can use Emergency SOS via satellite to text the emergency services when you’re off the grid.

How Emergency SOS via satellite works © Before you go off the grid @ Text emergency services via satellite Emergency SOS via satellite availability © How Emergency SOS via satellite works Emergency SOS via satellite can help you connect with the emergency services under exceptional circumstances when no other means of reaching the emergency services are available.

If you call or text the emergency services but can’t connect because you’re off the grid — somewhere v no mobile and Wi-Fi coverage — your iPhone will try to connect you via satellite.

To connect to a satellite, you need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and horizon. When you use satellite connection, the experience is different than sending or receiving a message via mobile connection, Find out more about connecting to a satellite with your iPhone > Emergency SOS via satellite is free for two years after the activation of an iPhone 14 or later (all models) If your Phone or Apple Watch detects a severe car crash or a hard fall and you’re unresponsive, an automatic Crash Detectic €or Fall Detection notification to emergency services may be communicated by your iPhone 14 or later (all models) using Emergency SOS via satelite if you’re outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

Click on the text above to read more.

MTIN VIET LI LOCAL GNIS LY Peas PEI [l also noticed that the NSW National Roads and Motorists’ Association roadside assistance can now also be automatically hailed to your GPS location via this satellite system; I guess other States’ and countries’ motoring assistance agencies will offer the same.

I met a fellow when we were out camping last time who told of a tyre being staked on his nicely set-up Land Cruiser recently in the desert somewhere out in the Eucla area on the WA/SA border.

His high-lift jack could not get the vehicle high and stable enough to change the wheel himself, so he used the satellite facility on his phone to message the local police, who were then able to send a rescue to his GPS location.]

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

On My Workbench

IC-7760 On the Deck

From Phil VA6GX Hi Mark, The gear used during this weeks net. The IC-7760 head unit, a post WW2 German Junkers key and sustenance.

[Thanks Phil. How is your IC-7760 working out? Does it key nicely with latency when connected via your network? It would be my transceiver of choice should I win the lottery!

I’m looking for a remote controlled solution to allow my equipment to live in the shed but allow ops in my house when it’s too cold. Dit-dit.]

Hi Mark, Ihad the IC-7760 head unit connected via approx 40m of Cat 5 Ethernet cable, a couple of joiners and a Gigabit Switch.

Icom recommend at the very minimum, Cat Se, but even with that length of sub standard cable, I could not detect any latency effects or buffering.

There are various other methods of connecting remotely via a home network, some involving WiFi adaptors, which may behave differently, I may look into other options in the future.

I stand to be corrected, but I believe the Flex transceivers, with the Maetro control head, would offer the same facilities. Max, VK6FN could confirm this. However, both those options may involve a bank robbery!

Maybe the new Yaesu FTX-1 QRP rig, with the additional 100W amplifier/RF sensing ATU is worth looking into? Or an IC-705, with an external amplifier/RF sensing ATU? Lee, VK6TY has one of those and maybe able to advise.

How about any HF rig, with an adequately rated RF sensing ATU in the shed and the rig in the shack, preferably a tube boat anchor, to help keep you warm! Both MFJ and LDG made such ATU’s and probably numerous cheaper Chinese equivalents are available too.

Maybe some flawed thinking above, I’ve only had 1/2 mug of tea so far! If any other pearls of wisdom come to mind throughout the day, as my brain cell gradually warms-up, I’l sure let you know. 78, Phil VK6GX. [Thanks for your thoughts Phil.

Hmmm, boat-anchor rig inside via about 60m of coax is an interesting thought; I did put in a second run of 50MM irrigation poly pipe when Iran the heavy 240V cables 60CM underground to the shedj.

Feeding the Loop

From Ketut VK3BWN Mark VK2KI inquired the other day about my large loop antenna. So, maybe I can provide a quick update here as well as a brief rehash of a WhatsApp group conversation around ladder line.

Last week when it was setup, the loop antenna was tunable for 40m operation. I ther experimented with some additional ladder line (about 2.2m additional length of 300- ohm) which made it tunable for 80m operation.

This was why I was stuck in 80m band for last week’s CQ QRS NET.

Unhappy with the situation, I concocted a relay system to allow me to insert or remove the 2.2m additional feedline. It is made of 4 small relays (photo included).

It looks rough, but I am able to place it ouside the window right where I want it to be (after the fertite balun). The power is provided from the shack making it a remotely controlled switch.

Basically, the length ladder line transforms the complex impedance at the load side to something more palatable for my tuner.

This can be visualised on a Smith chart where all impedances are normalised to the transmission line (in this case, mine is about 300 chm), ZL (at load) is rotated along a constant SWR line (for the length of the transmission line) to a

New ZO at the transmitter. If ZO can be made to be at the pure resistive line, and if we are lucky it is near 50, the transmitter will be happy. W5DXP explains this principle in his article: “The No-Tuner, All-HF-Band, Horizontal, Center-Fed Antenna”

As for the ladder line, mine is constructed from Bunnings Holman 4mm x 10m Irrigation Drip Flex Tube and small cable ties. I have to do the math first (conductor spacing) with some online calculator to get your

Desired characteristic impedance. The photo I am including is before tightening all the cable ties (inside the drip flex tube cut to the desired length, in my case it is about 22MM).

I can cut the tube easily and accurately using a cutter knife with a simple ad-hoc jig. That is all the update from my workbench. See you all next time on the air!

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.

Head Copy Practice

This week we have the second half of Wind in the Willows Chapter 5 – Dulce Domum. This is recorded at 16 wpm. If you want a slower speed, you can find 12 wpm audio files in previous Newsletters.

Or you can create your own MP3 files from the .txt file at any speed as noted below. Because of MailChimp’s size limits, I’ve split Chapter 5 into 4 parts. Each part is over 1 hour playing time @ 16 wpm. Parts 3 and 4 are attached below.

If you’d like the full chapter in a single file, you can use the complete text of Chapter 5 that was included in last week’s Newsletter, and convert it yourself with the Ebook2CW app — https://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cew.html.

I’ve made a few small adjustments to the text to keep it “Morse friendly”. Uncommon punctuation has been removed (the Ditto CW app doesn’t recognise some of it), and contractions have been simplified (for example, we’ll becomes we will).

This week’s attachments include: * Two MP3 files (second half of Chapter 5) * Two text files matching the MP3 segments

You can either play the MP3 files in any media player, or load the text files into the Ditto CW: Morse Player app — https://dittocw.andro.io/.

Both work well, but Ditto CW gives you complete control over all Morse settings, while a normal media player only allows changes to playback speed, and does that in steps (e.g. +1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x).

Other News

A CW QSO Guide

From Jens VK4PE Jens has sent through this useful guide for a basic CW QSO protocol. Click on the image below to download this useful guide. Thanks Jens.

Updated Call Sign Directory

From Stan ZL3TK A quick aid for ageing memories, keep it for quick reference next to your key.

Since the original directory was released months ago, a few new call signs have been added. The formatting has been adjusted for easier reading and to accommodate long place names.

Download A4 PDF from _hittps://qsl.net/zl3tk/qrsffa_callsign-directory-14o0ct25.pdf Can you think of a viable alternative to email? What better opportunity could there be to apply the principles of ‘Morse with a Purpose’?

Alert ZL3TK to any errors, modifications or additions by CW. Use the sked frequency 7.0257 MHz on FFA

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

SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter

From Garry VK2GAZ Good morning all, The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday, 18TH October, 202 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.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/oqs/ Milinrnnn manlen ismr wf thr COUR M CL awe ewe si. LAT SCI. cL. FOTORL &. – SS ew

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

UW settie to Carlisie Railway Cnallenge, Week o Report

From Stan ZL3TK Last week we visited Garsdale, high in Wensleydale with the town of Hawes, world famous for its cheese of the same name. Wensleydale featured in ‘Wallace and Grommit’, made by Aardman Animations for BBC TV.

This photograph gives a parting nod to the utter loneliness of Garsdale, not a living soul in sight. Only an occasional freight train will pass through before daylight returns.

As author C. S. Lewis wrote, “onward and upward to greater glory”, this week we arrive at Kirkby Stephen, an area bristling with history, much of set in stone, as is the station itself.

Atop the summit of Hartley Fell stand these nine stone cairns, theories abound but they are of unknown origin.

Who’d have thought we’d reach halfway so quickly? It’s mostly downhill through the Eden Valley from here. Congratulations to those who are accompanying us on this epic journey, CW and traffic handling skills are demonstrably on the up.

Looking to the future, I’d rather like to be an entrant in somebody else’s challenge, so anyone with an eye to helping improve CW for the masses, please start creating a contest of your own to follow STC in seven weeks time.

From Stan ZL3TK The ‘Morse with a Purpose Society’ strikes again. This is Number One in a possible series of mind-bending puzzles. It’s open to all- comers. Depending on how you go, it could end up as the one and only puzzle!

Simple question – Who was speaking to whom in the attached Morse sound file? Click below:

Start by writing down the sentence in the sound file. Unless you’re a card carrying idiot savant, head reading is unlikely to be either a short-cut or helpful in finding the answer.

Asingle-letter clue or two can be found by thinking to self, ‘Mmmm, I’ve not seen one of those before’. ‘Symmetry provides more clues. When you have a decode but don’t immediately recognise the protagonists, feed th recovered sentence into a search engine.

Good luck puzzlers! Email your answer to the question ‘Who was speaking to whom! to zi3tk@qs|.net

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

Watchable Channels

Compiled on the track somewhere by John VK2RU

Straight from the Black Hills of South Dakota comes Stan Gibilisco’s YouTube channel which is a remarkable educational archive that reflects his lifelong dedication to science, mathematics, and radio communication.

Known for his clear, methodical teaching style, Stan made complex topics in electronics, physics, algebra, and ham radio approachable for learners of all levels.

His calm voice and patient explanations create a sense of learning from a trusted mentor rather than just watching a tutorial.

Many of his lessons are accompanied by visual aids or whiteboard demonstrations, which help illuminate tricky concepts that might otherwise intimidate newcomers.

The channel stands as a comprehensive library of practical and theoretical knowledge. Although new uploads are no longer appearing, Stan’s legacy continues to educate and inspire hobbyists, students, and self-learners alike.

His content remains timeless – bridging the gap between textbook theory and hands-on understanding. Beyond his YouTube presence, Stan was also an accomplished author, contributing dozens of books that complemented his video lessons.

In a digital world full of quick takes and shallow overviews, Stan Gibilisco’s channel stands out as a thoughtful, enduring resource.

It’s an invaluable destination for anyone eager to explore science and electronics through the eyes of a skilled and generous teacher. Click above to open the YouTube channel.

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

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

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 0600Z until abou 1200Z; 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 1200Z – 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.

Reports & Photos

Please let us know via our Reports form bit.Jy/GQQRSNET who you work or hear on Tuesday’s Group. The report form closes at lunchtime (Eastern Australian time) on Thursday. ‘And how about helping to make the reports even more interesting by sending a photo?

If you have a photo that you’d be happy to include, please email it to: eqqrsnet@gmail.com To make it even easier for our Reports editor Patrick VK2IOW, see if you can reduce the size of the image (to less than 100KB file size by preference).

No problems if your computer or phone can’t do that – just send it through anyway please. And of course, I’m always on the lookout for more photos for the newsletter, so if you have something that might be of interest aside from the reports, please send it through as well – I always enjoy the photos that our readers send – and I’m sure our readers do too.

Email them to cqqrsnet@gmail.com please (reduced size if possible – but whatever you send will be great). Oh and by the way, I recommend that you don’t keep the Reports Form website open between submission of reports from one week to the next.

If you’re unlucky, there’s an undocumented feature in the software that could cause your current week’s report to be combined with your previous report – it’s happened to your editor several times – much to the chagrin of our Reports editor 🙂

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

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 – although our readers will much prefer your own writing, perhaps have a go at using a Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence tool such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini 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. Our website also includes a suitable prompt (the command you feed to the Al to make it do what you want).

Please remember though – you must fact-check anything that an Al tool drafts for you because Als ‘hallucinate’ – ie if an Al can’t find what you’re looking for, it will make up an answer and present it as a fact!

This is one of the dangers of using Als – it’s quite probable that the tool will create a very readable and convincing draft that is 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. And by the way – lam very concerned about our future in a world of Al – but I’m pleased to see that school and university curriculums now focus on understanding the risks – for instance, kids are now learning critical thinking something that used to be taught mostly at post-graduate level.

When the typewriter was invented, people predicted the downfall of handwriting; when the word processor was invented, the art of writing was thought to be on the way out – ditto for the spreadsheet and arithmetic, AM, SSB and FT-8 for amateur radio etc.

We can ignore Al and hope that it just goes away… or we can learn to handle it through experimentation and use. For more guidance on writing for the RagChew newsletter (including help with using an Al), head to our website bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite then click the menu on the top right and then click RagChew Newsletter.

Material

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.

Teamwork

Thank you so much to our team of 33 contributors: DL3YZ, MOKBJ, MONNK, VK2GAS, VK2GAZ, VK2IOW, VK2RU, VK2WP, VK3ALC, VK3BWN, VK3CAL, VK3CTM, VK3DRQ, VK3ECH, VK3KEV, VK3WOW, VK4PE, VK4PN, VK5AO, VK5FD, VK5KFG, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VK6NQL, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7ME, VK7TA, VK7TO, VK7WW and ZL3TK.

And a special thank you to our editorial team, Nigel G4RWI (oursoftware dude), Patrick VK2IOW (report kneader), John VK2RU (head-copies-r-us), Richard VK6HRC (Post Morsition) and Lance VK7TO (our technical editor). Great work all!

Thank you so much to our team of 33 contributors: DL3YZ, MOKBJ, MONNK, VK2GAS, VK2GAZ, VK2IOW, VK2RU, VK2WP, VK3ALC, VK3BWN, VK3CAL, VK3CTM, VK3DRQ, VK3ECH, VK3KEV, VK3WOW, VK4PE, VKAPN, VK5AO, VK5FD, VK5KFG, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VK6NQL, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7ME, VK7TA, VK7TO, VK7WW and ZLSTK.

And a special thank you to our editorial team, Nigel G4RWI (oursoftware dude), Patrick VK2IOW (report kneader), John VK2RU (head-copies-r-us), Richard VK6HRC (Post Morsition) and Lance VK7TO (our technical editor). Great work all!

UY CW on Tuesday, mb Mark Bosna VK2KI/ VKEQI Beautiful South Bowning NSW ‘eqarsnet@gmail.com non impedit ratione cogitationis

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

Back To Top