cq_qrs_newsletter

2025 52 CQ QRS RagChew

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Contents

CQ QRS RagChew

Thanks from the team at RagChew Central to every one of our 230+ membership who contributed to our newsletter this year! Fantastic!

The mind was strong, but apparently the body wasn’t. Tuesday’s CQQRS Slow CW Practice QSO Net was relatively quiet – I thought we’d have lots of our team on ait, but as it turned out, that was no to be.

As far as I know there was at least 30 of our team members on air, and 39 different stations were heard…. probably around half of the normal turn-up. Blame the silly season with people away, visitors, social activities etc I reckon.

Oh well – those of us who did manage to get on had a nice time though – conditions seemed ok – nothing special, but nothing untoward either.

So thank you if you did manage to get on air or have a listen, and especially thanks to those who submitted a report – much appreciated all.

As reported last week, for our net and the RagChew newsletter in particular, Lance VK7TO and Nigel G4RWI have been tag-teaming to work on the problem of searching for materials in previous RagChew newsletters.

Over the year I’d had a number of requests to help find articles that people have read – which was very gratifying for me – and hopefully for the many many of our team who have taken time to write for both our reading pleasure and for encouragement.

The indexing work is only partially complete, but we now have the ability to search the last 120 or so RagChews via the search function on our website. There’s much more to be done, but we’re now up and running.

Nigel has described how to do the search in this week’s RagChew below. And thanks to Mal VK8MT, this week we now also have our own AllStar / Echolink node for voice chats; the node connects to the WA AllStar network for our Wednesday morning Post Morsum conducted by Richard VK6HRC; so there’s now another Echolink gateway for that voice get-together, but the rest of the time it’s there for us to use and enjoy.

See further down the newsletter for more. So – please enjoy the read to follow – the reports for Tuesday are excellent (thabk you everyone who contributed), and the articles are great – agaion, thank you to everyone who took the time to entertain us.

I hope we’ll hear you on next Tuesday for the last get-together of 2025 – I’l bring the wine!

New Team Members

Welcome this week to Tim VK5AV from Mount Gambier. It’ll be interesting to have another team member half way between Adelaide and Melbourne.

Reports

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: cqgrsnet@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 So here we go – please enjoy the newsletter.

Dit-dit, 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 outstanding comments from our webform reports have been compilec for us by Patrick VK2IOW; thanks to all contributors and especially to Patrick.

[20m] NOAA reported a minor geomagnetic storm, so the band was more noisy than usual. Maybe the DX signals from and to VK were a little weaker than we were used to during the last weeks, but all contacts went well after all.

Thanks for calling and Merry Christmas to all, Mike.

[40m] A very short visit to 40m, some QRN; but so pleased to get a chance to listen. Seasons Greetings to all!

From Donald VK6JDM at 20KM west of Esperance WA

[40m] Anne and I spent most of the day milling timber out of two trees we felled that had sacrificed themselves in a lightning strike that otherwise may well have hit the nearby tower. I must start disconnecting antennas from radios in summer!

We had also been to the Smiling Assassin’s Pilates class at 6 am. Now the Smiling Assassin is the new class leader hand-picked by Madame Lash who started the classes. When Johanna

PAVVAVGIIT Ilo WINS PEW Vidoo ISQAUET Pann VIVO WY Madame Lash who started the classes. When Johanna came along we hoped she would be gentler than Lash. Be careful what you hope for.

The consequence of Pilates and milling heavy timber was a very tired old bloke sitting listening to you all and being a bit too tired to put my two left fists to work on the key.

Now among the throng of signals was one of those hyphenated ones – it was VK6/ WB2GDZ. I had read his self-introduction in the last Rag Chew, so I sent him an email at his QRZ listed address. It is great seeing the group go even more international.

[40m] Lovely to catch Jeff from Seminole, FL, up early so he could catch a few QRS contacts

[40m] Hoping to make several contacts to spread Christmas cheer I tuned in to a very silent 40 metre band; not a dot on the waterfall. After calling CQ several times a weak signal responded but I could not copy the call and I didn’t hear it again.

On the brink of giving up Ron sent out a call which I answered and we established contact but his signal was mediocre and affected by QSB. I managed ak

[40m] After I was done with my QSO with Wayne VK6NW using the VK6CRO remote (run 25 watts, with 50 watts or more RFI causes disconnect). I switched to the N4GYN high power remotehams remote in Georgia USA after hearing myself on a KiwiSDR in the Perth area.

After a few CQs I noticed that my signal disappeared on the KiwiSDR. I then looked back at the N4GYN remote and notice that another ham had logged in, changed the frequency and started operating.

After having a chuckle, I sent the message “the remote is yours” and logged out. He was 77 and we all get a bit forgetful at that age! By

Was 77 and we all get a bit forgetful at that age! By the way, VK6NW was using Barret 4050 radio which I then looked up and thought was very cool, especially 1 digital voice mode demonstated in this video. https:/Avww.royalcominc.com/bari

40m] ‘s probably safe to say that the Hawaiian station wasn’t articipating in our net (or so he thought!)

[40m] Week 2 at my temporary Brisbane QTH. Conditions seemed down on last week, but I seemed to have a good path to Sth Australia. Nice to work lan VK5CZ again.

Almost 12 months to the day when I previously worked him from Devon, UK on 20m with exactly the same setup. My VK/G4RWI callsign as oo yon et ee YR ee eT BR nr sent eet be,

[15m] 4 I Unfortunately, nothing at all heard from Edi DO2EMR on the , Snowline KiwiSDR this week; thanks for trying Edi. Did anyone else hear anything?

[20m] When I moved to 20m, I heard Mike DL3YZ chatting to Patrick VK2IOW; I managed to hook Mike afterwards. I sent RSN 311AND received RSN 222 – so conditions weren’t ideal – but we both got the important stuff exchanged.

Improved to Q4 toward the end of the QSO. I slipped down to where Chris G7BED was chatting to Patrick. When they signed, Patrick was called by an Italian operator – and he gave the “UP2 UP2” a try to leave Chris to his frequency.

Unfortunately that got lost in translation, so Chris slipped up 2 instead; we had as good a chat as we could with the Q4 and Q2 reports.

Chris reckoned Patrick had a blinder of a signal – which may have had something to do with Patrick’s Yagi; my bit of wire wasn’t anywhere near as good of course.

[40m] Nice to hook up early in the net with Mr Head-Copy John VK2RU, who was down in Canberra visiting family; I’m hoping to be able to catch up with John on his way South if the planets align… I still owe him a sounder to match his classic training key.

I returned after dinner and was pleased to find several QSOs going on. There was a big signal from Georg VK2DLF calling CQ from St Marys, and it was good to chat to him again after nine months.

When we signed, Maity VK5AO called in – also with a really big signal. When we signed, I amused myseff listening to Maity and Nigel VK4/G4RWI; Nigel’s callsign really trips-up even the most experienced operators! Anyway, Nigel and I then had a chat…

And I also had trouble sending it – the old callsign method (CALISIGN/PEEEDOssemad se much ioasiorli However thal’s prograss:

Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning via the Southern Electronics Group’s VK6SEG KiwiSDR at Hoddys Well near Northam WA.

[15m] Nothing heard from Edi this week via the VK6SEG KiwiSDR near Northam WA. TAN)

40m started opening East-to-West around 0900Z as the sun was setting on the ionosphere between. Georg VK2DLF from Sydney was coming through nicely as was Maity in Adelaide and Nigel in Brisbane; capital cities this week – except where was everyone from Melbourne, Hobart and Darwin; busy putting the glass of milk and a carrot under the Xmas tree I expect.

[40m] I’m back Baby! – After a bit of a hiatus on the QRS net I was finally able to come up last night. Condx seemed very good and I took the old Johnson Viking novice rig for a spin with its 30 watts and a straight key.

QSOs with 3XU, 5AO and 4EV – heard many more stations. I will try to

Be on more next year, but Tuesdays are busy here with work, cooking dinner for the family and now running the 80m SSB Boatanchor net since the 9th of September. Seasons Greetings to alll [Great to hear you on again mate.

Hoping you’ll send us some info on the BoatAnchor net for the newsletter regularly Andy.]

[40m] Only time for one QSO before the grandkids arrived, then chaos and only time for periodic listening. Seasons greetings to all and best wishes for 2026. 73, Phil VK6GX.

[40m] Well missed the net completely this time. Grand children minding duties 14:00 to 22:00HRS. By the time I got home the party was over, regardless I had a listen on 80m, maybe some VK6 boys are still around but nothing herd.

Moved up to FT8 slot and VKEG ctatinne and 3 hasn of Acian NY with few LIS ac

Four QSOs tonight on 40m. We’re in Canberra for a few days and I had a bit of noise that made copying difficult at times, but I got a lot of it. It’s the first time I’ve used the vertical in a big town and I expected it to be a bit noisy but it went ok.

This is the setup today — squid pole with 20m and 40m wires

Pino lo HIS O©tuUpy wWuay ™ ou! on the right, and Codan 9350 autotune antenna on the left. When we’re maving

| lower the 9350 down to a bracket on the side of the alum box. And here is the new van shack layout which is much better than before. Now that the radios and cables are all above the table, it has given us mucl more room to live. It’s cosy, but it works.

POST MORSUM 24th December

From Richard VK6HRC. Six on the South West repeater and AllStar / Echolink hub this morning, ies

David focused on 40 m and struggled with some of the faster code being sent so is going to spend more time with the practise Apps when he has time.

Max spent the day on the mower getting the property in order for the festive season, started suffering from an energy crisis later hence no show last night.

Mark called in from the mobile shack via Echolink linked to the new CQQRS AllStar node put together by Mal VK8MT, worked well. Nothing heard from Edi on 15 m, worked Mike DISYZ and Chris G7BED on 20 m. Worked four on 40 m and one on 80 m.

Wayne worked three on 40 m and kept calling but no more contacts in the log even though he was hearing strong signals from the East!

I worked two on 40 m and then into listening mode as conditions were marginal, heard some weak signals on 80 m not strong enough to get call signs unfortunately. Seasons greetings and a belated Happy Christmas wishing you all a Happy and haalthy Naw Voor Eee

This Week’s Topic of Interest

After a number of questions about making the RagChew newsletters searchable, Lance VK7TO and Nigel G4RWI stepped up! Work in progress still, but we now have a method to search for that material you seem to remember reading about somewhere in the dark distant past.

Lance was winding down getting ready to head off on holiday… but still put up his hand to get our MailChimp newsletters (the last 120 or so newsletters) automatically archived onto our CQQRS website. Within an hour he had it up and running!

The project was then handed to Nigel G4RWI (who built the brilliant bespoke system that converts your weekly reports on Google Forms into a Word text file, the Excel spreadsheet and a couple of other goodies that we use to compile the newsletter each week).

Nigel dived in to create a basic search function – which is up and running already! All this in about two weeks – how good is that? Thank you team! So over to Nigel for how to do a search…

We are now trialling a couple of ways of search the Ragchew archive. This is very much “work in progress” but if you would like to play along and give it a try, here’s hau

We are now trialling a couple of ways of search the Ragchew archive. This is very much “work in progress” but if you would like to play along and give it a try, here’s how….

To get to the CQQRS website, use this address in your browser of choice, bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite. The capitals are important. You might see a bit.ly page first but continue to the website. All being well, you should end of here!

—S= > Tucked away in the top right hand corner is a magnifying glass, this is where you enter a search. Click on it, and it will bring up the search bar:

We are using the google search engine, but the results are limited to what it finds on this site, and any files that linked to it (the RagChew archive).

So for example lets search on “Tasmania”. This what I got back. => So it has found one reference to Tasmania, on the website. Hmmm…. But what about the RagChew newssletter archive? Click on “Embedded files”, and that will show every Ragchew archive.

Each of these results are a link to specific RagChew where Tasmania was mentioned. They are pdfs, so if you click on any of them you will open a pdf of that RagChew edition.

At the moment the pdf version doesn’t have much of the formatting of the newsletter, and you will also have to scroll through the pdf to find the reference to Tasmania. On windows computers you can use ctrl fto search the pdf ( or cmd fon a Mac).

I said at the beginning we are working on a couple of approaches. The other (not currently working) should take you directly to the place in the pdf. Watch for further updates

There’s more work to do – for example, the found newsletters aren’t formatted particularly well – but at least you should be able to find the basic information, and you can then use that to find your email version, or ask Mark for a link to the properly formatted web version.

Once we have those things sorted out, we’ll look at using an Artificial Intelligence tool to search, which should allow natural speach questions, rather than requiring exact word matches in the search. Any questions?

Cqgrsnet@gmail.com Regards, Lance & Nigel VK7TO & G4RWI

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

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.

QRZ? Who’s on the other end? From your editor Mark VK2KI / VK6QI Key to the success of our net is helping to make it a get-together that people enjoy returning to each week.

But when you’re on the key, it’s really hard to find out a bit more about the person you’re chatting to. So I’m really keen to share the backgrounds of some of our team members – it’s really nice to know who’s on the other end of the QSO.

How did they come to amateur radio and when, and what on earth was the motivator that got them interested in CW? How’s the journey been so far, and what’s planned? Perhaps, what they get out of the net and the newsletter, and how it can be made better?

So, would you be willing to share some thoughts about yourself? Please let Mark VK2KI know: cqqrsnet@gmail.com For guidance on writing for RagChew, see Articles helow.

Other News

Rekindling

From Jeff WB2DGZ in Seminole FL Hi Mark, Again, thanks for including me in your group and making such a great newsletter.

I may try to contribute more to helping with it some time down the road but with limited time due to obligations, lack of knowledge in writing a newsletter, and health issues with me (| have always been a slow learner, now with aging issues my learning ability has decreased even more) I will have to spread my available time around carefully although I fully intend to join the QRS group each Tuesday morning.

On-Line Software Defined Radios I REALLY like online receivers, especially the KiwiSDRs. They have rekindled my original love for shortwave listening as a young boy and now that I can listen via receivers all around the world this has helped rekindle my love for radio.

Whenever I use a remote on remotehams.com I usually open a KiwiSDR in the same area so that I have access to modern radio things like a nice waterfall plot for looking for stations to contact.

I do feel the remotehams.com is stuck in the past although I do appreciate it being available for CW and SSB (digital does not work correctly).

Other remote techniques seem to work well but are limited to certain software and certain radios like Flex and Elecraft

Which are expensive. I do like the remotehams.com way of seeing if the radio is being used by just logging on and seeing if it is being used (another call sign logged in and using it).

The KiwiSDR I think is great in that it plugs right into your router and no computer is needed to access it. On the other hand it is wide open 0-30mhz (no band filters) to allow multiple users at once.

If a device like that could be made for one user at a time and then the band filters could be built in to prevent overloading from strong signals, I feel that such a device might be a real “hit” in the ham community.

If transmitting would work correctly for all modes and it just had to be plugged into a router I think it would be great fun to pick from available remotes all around the world although the reciprocal licensing has to be factored in.

In fact the software could have a link to a license database and automatically limit the frequencies, power, etc. to whoever was using it at the time.

TOUNYC! VUCHCrativno Young, working people are often very busy and have limited time, money, or real estate to buy radios, put up antennas, or even go to parks for POTA. If sucha young person could unwind after work by just turning

On their computer and picking a Kiwi device (that can transmit) and start operating, I think that might be a draw for getting new people into the hobby.

Of course that young person could also do POTA, buy equipment, set up antennas, etc as well but I have heard over and over again older retired hams saying “I loved ham radio when I was young but had to put it aside when I had to work and had a family.

Now that I am retired, I have fallen in love with it again’. I ‘my opinion, if you have to drop a hobby while in your working years, that hobby is not going to last especially after this generation of retired hams (including myself) become a SK.

Video games are where the action is now and you certainly don’t have to wait until you are retired to enjoy them. You just boot up your computer and go at it.

Mark – maybe you could pass this email on to some smart radio guys you know (maybe you know a lot about this yourself, I do not have this knowledge)…

I don’t even know if this Kiwi transceiver idea is even feasible, but those knowledgeable hams may have an answer right away to that question. Jeff Pohl (WB2GDZ)

[Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. Your thoughts complement the article sent in by Geoff VK6HD last week about attracting young people to CW.

I do the same as you when using RemoteHams – I open a parallel window with the waterfall display of a nearby KiwiSDR; in Western Australia I usually use the Southern Electronics Group’s VK6SEG receiver, and in

The East, either the new Snowline KiwiSDR in Southern NSW belonging to our team mate lan VK1HF or the sensational network of SDRs at Ironstone Range near ‘Adelaide owned by our member Paul VKSPH.

There are of course others that work very well as a parallel monitor. By the way, one of our team members Andrew VK1DA / VK2DA has been experimenting with open source software called wiview which allows remote operation of any modern transceiver with the right IO connections – and includes the waterfall display.

The down-side of this system appears to be internet latency which delays the CW sidetone when transmitting – which makes things very difficult! Andrew’s still working on that problem. RemoteHams generates the sidetone in your own computer, so there’s no delay.

I recall that there’s another system available that allows an external SDR’s waterfall to be integrated with a computer screen display from your local transceiver; that might be interesting to experiment with too!]

More on Dit-Dit

From Patrick VK2IOW Mark, I was interested to read in the newsletter about the use of dit dit. I guess there is quite wide variation in its use.

Mark, I was interested to read in the newsletter about the use of dit dit. I guess there is quite wide variation in its use.

Here is another example. It is from the New Zealand amateur radio callbook of 1998/99. It was written by Gary Bold, ZL1AN, now silent key. For many years Gary wrote the Morseman column in the New Zealand amateur radio magazine.

It was a very popular column on CW matters. In the 1998/99 callbook, Gary wrote an example first QSO, using common CW abbreviations. It ended in this way: ZLIAN DE ZL1XYZ – R FB GARY – TNX FER QSO – NW CUL ES 73 GARY GN OM – ZLIAN DE ZL1XYZ SK

Here is another example. It is from the New Zealand amateur radio callbook of 1998/99. It was written by Gary Bold, ZL1AN, now silent key. For many years Gary wrote the Morseman column in the New Zealand amateur radio magazine.

It was a very popular column on CW matters. In the 1998/99 callbook, Gary wrote an example first QSO, using common CW abbreviations.

It ended in this way: ZL1AN DE ZL1XYZ – R FB GARY – TNX FER QSO – NW CUL ES 73 GARY GN OM – ZLIAN DE ZL1XYZ SK dit dit dit dit In his Points to note he included: * We each ended with a pleasant “dit dit” to say goodbye – not necessary, but you’ll often hear it (sometimes after an interesting conversation several other “git dits” will sound, from phantom listeners who have been following the conversation with interest).

And it looks like sending shave and a haircut in CW would be quite easy: ESE followed by EE. So if we have a QSO and I end with SK ESE, you can follow with EE Hi. Dit-dit Patrick VK2IOW

Old Morse Man

This email was sent to the Hills Amateur Radio Group in WA: GAOM…I am am old Morse man with a long silent key. Can you help me to choose and obtain a morse oscillator with facilities to use headphones and to alter the pitch so that I can get my old keys to speak again.

Am ex Naval and commercial operator and held a GMDSS ticket in the UK. Any guidance would be appreciated. Kind regards Rob Ward Jens VK4PE has stepped-up and offered a Code Practice Oscillator to Rob – and I’ve let him know about our net – so hopefully we might have given Rob something to get his teeth into.

Teamwork

From Kevin VKSKEV Hi Mark, Many thanks for all your hard work in getting the QRS Net organised, going and a thriving venture.

| have certainly enjoyed participating and learning CW through this unique net. Same goes to all your team. Good to see you are sharing the load and hopefully find more time to relax (maybe in the air with a collective in your hand.) Merry Christmas to you and yours and hope 2026 is a happy and healthy one.

73 Kevin & Meredith Epps VK3KEV [Thanks for your comment and wishes Kevin. “…with collective in hand…” – I wish! I’m sitting in the shed compiling the newsletter on Xmas Day… just a few metres away from my 90% completed project!

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.

SKCC K3Y Straight Key Month 2026

From Ron VK4JE oe a The 2026 Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) Annual K3Y month will soon be upon us; SKCC members are invited to join in this yearly event. The K3Y starts on the 2nd of January at 00:00 UTC and runs through until the 31ST of January 23:59 UTC.

Please consider taking part, I am sure that the old hands will enjoy catching up with other SKCC members throughout the month.

For those members who are like me, still trying to get to the fun side of CW, I hope this event helps relieve some of the nervous tension that we all experience mastering this unique skill.

Ihave attached the SKCC_K3Y – 2026 Non US Operators Guide for your perusal. To register for the 2026 K3Y event, please email me at vk4je@vk4je.com If you have any questions regarding the 2026 K3Y event, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ihope you will find the time and courage to participate to some degree and I certainly look forward to working you during the K3Y month. Cheers, Ron VK4JE_ SKCC # 24961 SKCC K3Y OC Coordinator

SOTA Challenge

From Andrew VK1DA The SOTA Management Team has announced that in 2026 there will be a challenge running, focussing on contacts made on the 2m and 70CM

Band on SSB and CW. All the details can be found on the SOTA Reflector in an announcement by MT member Andrew VK3ARR. The SOTA reflector is open for public viewing but to post a comment or question you need to register.

The SOTA activators in VK/ZL welcome calls from anyone especially on CW. Most are sufficiently aware of matching the speed of the caller, so if you find 15+wpm too challenging, try calling at your comfortable speed.

I look forward to receiving calls from new callsigns when I’m activating on CW. On my kx3 the speed control is on the front panel and the speed can be wound down as required, even while sending. Andrew VK1DA And more relating to the SOTA Challenge…

From Andrew VK1AD via the SOTAVK1Area Group Do you know your Maidenhead locator or how to find a Maidenhead locator? Ifyou are unfamiliar with Maidenhead locator there are loads of amateur radio related mobile phone apps to help you.

‘Two excellent examples are: iPhone – DBHamPlus or the EasyQTHLocator app Android – HamGPS To participate in the VK1 SOTA ‘Jan challenge you should be familiar with your fixed station Maidenhead locator and other locations where you may be operating as a portable station, if not on a SOTA summit eg the WIA VHF-UHF contests.

If you need to know the locator of a summit then look at the SOTA summit reference page. Examples: VK1/AC-043 Mt Stromlo is in locator QF44MQ while VK1/AC-037 Mt Taylor is in locator QF44MP.

Just a shoutout to the VHF Dx net which operates in VK1 and surrounds between 0800 and ~0900 hrs (local), each operator will provide you a signal report followed by their Maidenhead locator.

It’s pretty much standard practice to quote your Maidenhead locator when operating on 2m SSB or 70CM SSB. Start practicing… In summary, now is the time to read up on Maidenhead locator. Don’t wait until 1 January! Regards

Maidenhead Locator

Why Do I Do It?

Tuesday evening can be busy for you Aussie / Kiwi chaps… although the RagChew reports suggest that’s not always the case.

But in the Winter months here in the UK, I have weather windows to contend with, a limited propagation slot, and very few stations that can potentially be worked. This can make it a rather

Different experience at this end to that for Ocianiacs. When I send that first “CQ VK” of the day, it seems like a ridiculous thing to attempt a contact over such a vast distance with so little power.

Is all the effort of getting out of bed early and heading out into the cold damp dark of morning going to be worth it? Is anyone even listening? Of course those feelings evaporate with the sound of “MONNK de VK…” coming through my headphones!

But some Tuesdays there’s just the rustle of static to listen to. If] were operating in Paradise (aka Eastern Australia), I could knock that silence down to propagation, but here my insecurities make me wonder if everyone else on the net has lost interest in a few faint beeps from a far distant land and that I’m wasting my time tapping away.

Yes, I know that a quick message on Whatsapp would answer that question but, as I’ve said, that’s not something I want to engage with.

So, knowing that there are some SWLs as well as the small band of active Aussie / Kiwi DXers, is a big encouragement to me to continue with the DXperiment. And yes, there’s always VBand for internet CW QSOs when the weather is too UK-like!

I enjoy chatting to Mike DL38YZ and Ron VK6KHZ

Regularly, and even had a three-way QSO with Mike and Jim VK7JZ on VBand the other day. As we head into Winter here, I hope more of our CQQRS community have a go on VBand – I’d love to have a QSO or two. Best wishes to all for the Season, Ross MONNK

Remote Stations in Germany

BUNCE EEO WZRCERENE ED BEE MANE EE ECOEEY

From Mike DL3YZ Here in Germany, the DARC ( Germany’s radio club ) started a really big campaign this year, setting up 15 remote stations for their members with antenna troubles.

All using FT-991a and sometimes really fine antenna systems, and free to use for all members. As its quite new, they are mostly idle.

Maybe this could be a helpful info for all VK and ZL OPs as well, as they may join the DARC at reduced foreigner fees (40 € – 87 AUD)

| have also thought about a more private solution, and invite interested members of the team to use my radio, if they allow me to occasionally use theirs. So maybe you’d like to get some new DXCCs for your “Master of Europe” QRZ award?

You can use mine on 40 m and get all Europe within 4 evening sessions. This private radio exchange could be a nice thing, and we could make up time slots so both can have fun on Tuesdays. Let me know if you’re interested: cqqrsnet@gmail.com 73 Mike.

From Jeff WB2GDZ I just watched the video about the new IC-7300 MK2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQLfoGFFGOI 1am not very knowledgeable about remote ham radio techniques but if the IC-7300 MK2 can indeed be plugged directly into the ethernet port of the router I wonder if there could eventually be a network of these radios used as an alternative to the RemoteHams technique of remoting for the masses (the RemoteHams interface which seems to be pretty outdated without a waterfall display).

I still think remote radio for new hams might be the way to go because more new, younger, working people could be drawn into the hobby. I honestly don’t want to see ham radio go over a cliff like some people are saying when us older retired guys become SK.

By the way, I have little experience with fixing up vintage ham radio gear but did buy a Drake 2-C receiver that is in pristine condition (looks new inside and out) from an estate sale for $70 a few weeks ago.

IC-7300 MK2 & Drake 2-C

| bought the electrolytic capacitor replacement kit which arrived a few days ago. If it does work ok after installing the caps, that might be something I could post to your newsletter.

I am leery about trying to restore old ham gear because I do not have the test equipment (I only have a Fluke DVM), expertise, access to parts or helpful hams around here for getting into that aspect of the hobby but am willing to at least try getting the Drake 2-C going.

Jeff Pohl (WB2GDZ) [There’s a number of people in our team who enjoy restoring older gear Jeff – so feel free to ask questions that people could either respond to via the newsletter or direct to you by email; our There’s No Such Thing…

Section would be perfect. I think you’ll enjoy the experience of doing the restoration and chatting to our knowledgeable restorers.]

Sree hitps://raffielink.com.au/parg2026 https:/Avwwew.parg.org.au/

Accessing Your License Information via ACMA Assist

ACCESSING TUUT LICCIISS HMOPMTGUOH Vid AUNIA ASSISt John VK2YW via the Wagga Amateur Radio Club Hi All and Merry Xmas. Ross VK2DGY has just got off the phone from ACMA for clarification regarding the recent email from them.

He confirmed that ACMA Assist is dropping the old login using your email address and password and all access to ACMA Assist from the end of January will be via MyGov ID.

If you haven’t already done so you need to upgrade to at least Standard level which, requires documentation for proof of identity. ACMA’s recent email didn’t quite spell that out so if you don’t have a MyGov ID then probably a good time to get one.

They did say though that you can still ring them or send them an email. John VK2YW

[Thanks John. Whatever the email was, I didn’t get it – did anyone else get one about ACMA Assist? And by the way, I have the myID phone app and found that I had only the Basic identification.

To access the ACMA Assist I needed to upgrade to the Standard level – which was easy enough with my Medicare card. And by the way, the ACMA website says that you can also use something called DigitallD if you don’t have a mobile phone with the mylD app.]

QRP Labs Transceiver

Greetings of the season folks. Does anyone have a 40m QRP Labs CW transceiver that’s gathering dust? We’re planning our next public transport-only backpacking trip (perhaps Tassie this time?) and I’d like to pack something smaller than my (tfuSDX this time.

I would prefer to build something like a QCX-mini… but time is against me as usual. Anyone interested in parting with their QRP Labs unit? Dit-dit Mark VK2KI / VK6QI cqgrsnet@gmail.com

Having been a part of the QRS International Flight Challenge earlier this year, I had some idea of what to expect. The format of this challenge was quite different and enticing. Stan gave participants a chance to travel this

Scenic route from a CW Operators point of view, see the beauty of this part of England and learn about its history. I grew up in this part of England and steam train smoke still evokes strong childhood memories.

The questions were varied and stimulating, requiring research in a variety of websites and google Earth. Not overly complex and no rigorous calculations involved. Some questions were quite specific but others could be answered creatively.

On a few questions I was not always sure I was answering what was required, but gave it my best attempt. Results were not given until completion of the challenge. Being quite competitive I would have liked a running score board.

Enjoyed sending the QTC each week. It required discipline to get everything organised to transmit at a precise time. I felt that sending a live transmission of my QTC was a more realistic simulation of what a traffic net is.

It also presented more challenges to face and overcome. Ihave learnt a lot about basic QNC and QTC reports, format, how to handle repeat requests, a few new to me Q codes, a couple of new Morse code punctuation characters and SI nomenclature.

It has fuelled my interest in learning more about CW Traffic nets. I don’t hear very much about them in Aus. J also felt that my CW sending and reception skills have improved.

Stan was very patient and helpful to me in resolving an alignment issue I was having with my QRP rig. I did put Stan under pressure when I could only transmit 5 W across 2000 km of ocean.

He handled it well and we both have more understanding of the vagaries of propagation. enjoyed the whole experience and learnt much.

My thanks to Stan ZL3TK for the time and effort he put in to creating this challenge and to Ruth ZL4KA for assisting Stan and providing rigorous checking of responses.

A pity there were not more participants to experience the challenges presented by this exercise. To Stan and Ruth, thanks again, have a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2026.

Organising a challenge to be as rewarding as this takes more skill than I possess but will certainly participate in any future challenges, no matter who organises them. Overall I would rate my experience as 9 out of 10. Well done, Stan & Ruth.

Kevin Epps VK3KEV [Nicely said – thank you for sharing Kevin – I think Stan and Ruth will also appreciate your thoughts.]

Echolink VK8MT/L. D-Star https://vk8mt.blogspot.com/ vk8mt@hamradi [Thanks Mal, terrific initiative! For a start, I’ve set up my AllStar node to connect to it for the weekly CQQRS Post Morsum on Wednesday mornings – providing an alternative Echolink gateway to VK2KI-L or VK6RMH-L.

When you get back to Darwin, it would be good to set-up your node to connect to the WA network for Richard’s Post Morsum; that way if my node is off air (eg the internet’s off or for whatever reason it’s not connected to WA) your node will be available for the Echolink connection.

And here’s another thought for our team members…. do you have a local repeater that’s also on the AllStar network? Or perhaps someone nearby has a 2m or 70CM AllStar hotspot that you can hear?

I can arrange to automatically connect those nodes to the WA network for the Post Morsum if you’re interested in joining in or listening.

Let me know if so: eqgrsnet@gmail.com Of course, for those not able to access an AllStar node, Echolink (from your computer or phone) works just fine too.

However, I think it’ll also be terrific for the team to have a closed liaison node that’s not connected to anything else the rest of the time. I wonder if there’s a VBand-type opportunity as well?

So Mal’s node is there for us to use for voice chats – via AllStar and via Echolink; readers’ thoughts on opportunities for the team? And by the way – Mal was one of the original architects of the fantastic WA AllStar network]

Barrett 4050

From Jeff WB2GBZ I was on the CQQRS net this morning chatting with Wayne VK6NW on CW – 10WPRR on my end via the VAK6CRO Remotehams remote at Carnarvan.

Wayne mentioned that he was using a Barrett 4050 HF radio. I had never heard of it before so I looked it up. https://www.royalcominc.com/barrett-hf It looks very interesting, especially the digital voice mode.

I don’t know if you have posted about this radio in the newsletter but if not some members might find this demonstration video interesting like I did. Jeff Pohl (WB2GDZ)

Your family and friends. Here is -2 to 3 degrees C and I really think I should spend the winters in VK HI. Have a great Xmas season. 73 Mike DL3YZ

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

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!]

I Hear Tell…

VK8MT

FNOINIT Keep an ear out for Mal VK8MT who will be visiting the South-West of WA and operating his other callsign, VK6MT.

Mal hopes to possibly get down as far as Bremer Bay – boy that’s a long way from Darwin – but after his recent First CW QSO award, has found room in his luggage for his IC-705, QMX, SOTABeams compact heavy-duty 7 m mast, coupler…

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

Di-dah-di-dah-ait

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 about 12002; 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: cgqrsnet@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 cqqsnet@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.

Thank you so much to our team of 15 contributors: DL3YZ, MOKBJ, MONNK, VK/G4RWI, WKIAD, VKIDA, K2DLF, VK2IOW, VK2WP, VK2YW, VK3KEV, VKAEV, VK4JE, VK6JDM, VK6KHZ, VK6NW, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7TA, VK7TO, VK7WW, VK8MT, WB2GDZ and YBINWP.

And a special thank you to our editorial team, Nigel G4RWI (head of software development), Patrick VK2IOW (reports coordinator), John VK2RU (researcher), Richard VK6HRC (Post Morsition) and Lance VK7TO (technical editor, software wrangler and now, holiday-taker).

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

Richard VK6HRC calls-in to the NCRG at Whiteman Park on his annual trek ok

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 RagChew newsletter is considered to be exempt from the Australian Government’s ban on social media for under 16 year olds because it is a service that has the primary purpose of enabling users to share information about products or services, engage in professional networking or professional development services or of supporting the education of users per the Australian Government eSafety Commissioner FAQ webpage “Which platforms have been excluded from the age restrictions” dated 10DEC25.

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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