cq_qrs_newsletter

2026 04 CQ QRS RagChew

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Contents

CQ QRS RagChew

Thanks this week to Ross MONNK for the image; Ross has called this work of art ‘A Creepy Hand Sending CQ VK to No Effect’. The blue pad on a non-slip mat is a wrist support to put Ross’ hand in the most comfortable position relative to the key.

See later in the RagChew for how the key looked six months ago.

Well welll. This week we had one of the quietest nets in 4-1/2 years – last week, 43 team members reported hearing or working 72 stations… but this week… we had reports from only 16 members who between them reported hearing only 21 stations.

Live Science said: A severe and record-breaking geomagnetic storm rocked Earth’s magnetic shield last night, shortly after the sun unleashed a powerful X-class solar flare.

The epic event, triggered by a stream of superfast solar particles, painted widespread auroras at unusually low latitudes across. the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in Europe.

‘Some outlets have reported that the storm is the “largest” of its kind since 2003, which is an exaggeration (the “Mother’s Day storm” of May 2024 was much stronger). However, the latest outburst has broken a specific 23-year-old solar radiation record.

_ ‘Space.com said: Earth just experienced a rare S4 solar radiation storm, the most intense since 2003 — powerful for satellites and astronauts, but harmless on the ground.

While a severe G4 geomagnetic storm impressed skywatchers with vivid auroras around the world this week, a far less visible, but historically significant, space weather event was also underway. ‘On Monday (Jan.

19), Earth experienced its strongest solar radiation storm since October 2003, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, surpassing the intensity of the notorious October 2003 space weather storms.

Falloweer The Bureau of Meteorology Space Weather Service had been predicting the geomagnetic storm – and the warnings were not wrong!

Many of our team chose to hide under the blanket, but another more adventurous group squared up to the elements, and boldly went where no QRS fan had been before! And most weren’t disappointed! The peak of the solar cycle produces the best of propagation…

And the worst! When the incoming solar radiation is so strong that the lower D-layer of the ionosphere won’t let even the mid-level frequencies through (ie the Absorption Limiting Frequency is above the frequency in use), things just don’t work as normal.

But our brave experimenters took it in their stride, and gave it their best shot anyway. After all, you don’t learn about such unique situations by watching television.

However, as you’ll see below, many of our excellent team members took the time to send in a report, despite hearing nothing but noises.

Not only does this still make interesting reading (for me anyway!), but it helps everyone realise that it wasn’t just them or their station that missed out – one of the biggest geomagnetic storms in recent history affected us all!

Had we only received reports about successful QSOs, the newsletter wouldn’t have been anywhere near as interesting to read. So thank you everyone for taking a few minutes to assemble some words for us.

We also have lots of interesting articles to read – I hope you find something to get your teeth into – or perhaps relax with a glass of wine with perhaps?

Ross MONNK for example has sone some deep thinking about perhaps the psychology of listening to CW – The Guessing Game as he called it!

So despite the tough conditions, there’s still a huge selection of reading contributed by our team once again this week – thank you to the 38 contributors who’ve made the time to bring you what I trust will be yet another pearler.

New Team Members

Two new members have joined our happy band of over 230 this week. Don ZL1DRS from Hamilton and Scotty VK4BRO at Ormeau are now fully-fledged team members – and have both been enjoying our WhatsApp groups, despite the poor radio conditions.

Don is thinking about buying a paddle to replace the one he’s borrowed, and Scotty has been using CW for POTA, but is looking forward to trying some rag chews; I reckon they’ve both come to the right place!

Website

A reminder – 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.

Cheers, mb Mark Bosma VK2KI / VK6QI Beautiful South Bowning NSW cqqrsnet@gmail.com non impsditi ratione cogitationis

With thanks to John VK2RU’s spreadsheet skills, here’s the 21 stations reported by 16 members of our team on Tuesday (those with no stations heard have written reports only of course).

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

The written reports and the spreadsheet were compiled by the clever software built by our team member Nigel G4RWI, and the report layout work was done again this week by Patrick VK2IOW. Thanks very much again to Nigel, John and Patrick.

From Ross DL/MONNK at Exeter UK via Stuttgart Germany

| was on air, calling “CQ VK” for 35 minutes on 20m. Nothing. Not a sausage. Just the odd snap, crackle and pop amongst the background hiss. Sometimes it’s like that. If it was easy, there’d be no satisfaction in DX.

There’s always next week to look forward to.

[40m] Band conditions didn’t seem great tonight – nothing heard and I didn’t seem to get spotted or heard anywhere! Will try again next week 🙂

[40m] Sorry but all that I heard was noise – not a single QRS call

[80m] Again noise on HF nota signal heard.

[40m] I put a few calls out on 40m tonight and the RBN returned lots of US spots and no VK spots – interesting conditions. Had a go on 15 20 40 80 & 160. I almost didn’t submit m’

Log this week because my starlink dish blew off the roof! Mount stayed, dish did a Mary Poppins

[80m] 80m seemed the best band for tonight (for me anyway) I’d love to see more activity during the week! If you’re looking to get some practice or air, please feel free to reach out on the WhatsApp group or email to organize a QSO I’m happy to go as slow as you like – don’t hesitate to reach out for your very first contact if you’ve been a bit nervous about getting on the air!

From Donald VK6JDM at 20 km west of Esperance W.

[40m] There were very few VK stations that could be copied, however quite a few Indonesian SSB stations were coming in strongly. VA6WE and VK6KHZ were heard but could not hear me. The score last night seems to have been Sol Invictus 1, radio communication nil.

[40m] The CME virtually wiped out 40m. NO VK6 stations heard at all! Late arvo a few weak eastern VK stations heard. Called CQ for 1/2 hour before Mait, VKSAO replied. He was

VKSAO replied. He was only S5 courtesy of my east Beverage. To relieve the boredom, I amused myself by alternating between six straight keys every character or two (Begali Sculpture Arrow, Hi-Mound HK-802, GONVT PB213, RA1AOM Swedish key, 11QOD Swedish key, NATO Swedish key).

It’s manageable at QRS without losing flow and spacing.

[80m] The CW segment of 80m was obliterated by an OTHR.

PP INTATIND BPD I BIOS TNF IN DINE AB) AA IIE Se ITE Le ID II [15m & 20m] This week I snuck my phone under the dinner table and listened for Edi DOZEMR on 15m and Ross DL/MONNK on 20m using the Snowline KiwiSDR at Dry Plain.

I knew from Mike DL3YZ‘s status page that they were both on, calling CQ OC, but not a sausage was heard here, nor were there any ZL or VKs heard.

Ol’ Sol’s display of multiple solar flares produced the severe geomagnetic storm in our ionosphere, and as predicted, propagation was very poor. Bad luck guys, but thank you for trying.

[40m] At the start of the scheduled time for the net, 40m was completely empty of stations; I sent a test call and couldn’t hear my own signal on the Snowline, Ironstone Range or Hoddys Well KiwiSDRs – I wondered whether the geomagnetic storm had made the D-layer of the ionosphere so strong that the Absorption Limit Frequency was above 40m, so nothing was getting to the E and F-layers?

Anyway, after a while I saw a signal from a VK3 and then noticed Tim VKSAV coming through from Mount Gambier calling CQQRS SKCC SKM (Straight Key Century Club – Straight Key Month).

I was pleased to hook up with Tim again and exchange SKCC membership numbers despite the deep QSB. After dinner I heard Phil VK6GX coming through as the ALF dropped and the band started opening across Australia approaching 1000Z.

I had a listen to my own signal from VK2 into the VKGSEG KiwiSDR near Northam – the QSB was deep, but there was distinct rapid auroral flutter that was so strong that my CW was even more unreadable than normal – each dah had become a series of dits!

I kept calling CQ, and there were a few very fast (and hence unreadable to me) DX stations on, but no-one took pity on me…. so I headed down to 80m for a look-see.

[80m] My signal was coming through to the Hoddys Well KiwiSDR, but like 40m it was fluttery. At around 1050 I was called by Wayne VK6NW at Bridgetown.

I sent Wayne RSN 413 and Wayne sent me RSN 418; interesting to see how despite the strong intermittent bursts of noise and the QSB, we still managed a chat. Around 1100Z the distinct auroral buzz patterns suddenly appeared on the KiwiSDRs in WA and NSW.

Vety interesting to see that the noise extended from about 3510KHZ to 3580KHZ – the rest of band was affected by the bursts of noise but not the auroral buzz.

I’ve wondered if the frequency responses of the KiwiSDRs’ antennas caused this effect, but Hoddys Well uses a long-wire antenna, so that’s unlikely.

I might keep an eye on these blobs of auroral buzz in future, to see whether they move or appear in different parts of the spectrum. Anyway, I gave it away around 1125Z and on the way to bed, had a look at the sky to the South.

We have a line of tall trees along the road about 70m away, and usually, the Southern sky is obscured by the bloom of the lights of Canberra, 70KM away to the South-South-East.

However, the whole Southern horizon was illuminated and I could see what looked like wide vertical columns of light-grey coloured illumination that came and went (similar to the very commonly seen spotlighting from the vehicles of fox and rabbit shooters) – but more stable, lasting 10s of minutes and growing in height and brightness.

I dragged Ms Elizabeth out to watch the 3/4 hour spectacle; finally the wide grey illuminated column moved toward the South-West and became quite bright before fading. On the CQQRS WhatsApp group, Warren VK3BYD at Wangaratta reported a similar view.

Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning via the VK6SEG KiwiSDR near Northam.

[40m] Strong auroral flutter noted on my signal from VK2, making the CW almost un-decipherable.

Lots of auroral noise bursts and the auroral flutter was also noti on my signal from VK2 at around 1030Z. At around 1100Z, the Hoddys Well KiwiSDR’s waterfall display was filled with the auroral buzz display that petered o around 3580KHZ.

Opening up the display’s width showed that it extended down t 3510KHZ, then also petered out; I wonder why?

From Manny VK3DR@Q at Backburn [15m & 20m] On 15m, OM Edi was not heard. On 20m, OM Ross was also not there.

[40m] Terrible conditions. Apart from NOISE, not much else was heard. Just as well that OM Peter VK3WOW came in time to the rescue and really made my night with a SUPERB QSO.

[40m] Conditions, VERY noisy, dead as a dormouse as far as stations around.

[80m] VERY noisy, same on 20 & 15 mts. No stations heard. Waterfall (Iron Stone Range SDR) displayed practically ALL noise. Better luck next time???

[40m] 40m Band sounded dead until about 8pm WST. A few stations could be heard but all too fast for me to decode. Very strong QSB as signals popped up strong then faded to nothing. Very challenging. Sorry no QSOs achieved. There is always next week. 73s to all

[80m] 80m sounded dead all night. I thought my antenna must have fallen down. Poor conditions from the West were reported by others on the Post Morsum net Wed morning so I feel a bit better. 73s

CcCNWwortn [40 & 80m] I’m still listening on the SDRs for which I was served up weak signals on 40 and 80 and steady broad noise.

I just managed to hear a call sign from VK3MJ on 40 then QSY’d to 80 for a few weak scratches on the waterfall making the VK2WI CW beacon the best on my men enn th me on oer on ES 4 Re RR OR He

Oner and listened to Ittor ~ 2U minutes. [he evening Tinished off listening to https://morsecode.world/international/trainer/headlines.html on my laptop at 18WPM with Farnsworth set to 15WPM. That little bit of extra time makes a big difference.

I find this arrangement allows for head copy getting the occasional word. So still a good evening, just not yarning with the key. 73

[40m] I had to take my antennas down when a storm came through, and then put them back up a few hours later. There was very litile activity showing on 20m, 40m and 80m bands. I checked a few signals that were on 40m.

All were very weak, and very difficult to copy. They sounded like they were being sent from the deep end of a swimming pool.

[40m] The band was dead and remained so as I sent CQ repeatedly. I bailed out after 15 minutes intending to return later but was overtaken by other duties. Seems like beautiful auroras may cancel AR?

[40m] I didn’t have much luck with QSO’s from down here in Tasmania. Not for lack of trying. The band was just dead. Occasionally, I’d see a very small signal peeping it’s head up in the waterfall but way too weak for me to copy.

Any sending was met with silence. I was hoping to catch someone local but not this time. Being a newbie, my assessment of the situation was that Tasmania, which was hampering any signals coming in or going out.

I did notice on the rag chew that quite a few operators were successful over on the mainland.

From Patrick VK2IOW between Bathurst and Orange

Reports, it was perhaps not a bad day to miss. It may have been interesting trying to listen for the DXperiment stations, though I suspect it would have been a vain attempt.

Reporting

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

Even if you didn’t hear anyone, we’d still like to know that you had a go. And to make your report more interesting, please consider sending a photo to be attached.

If you have a photo (compressed if possible) that you’d be happy to include, please email it to: cqgrsnet@gmail.com 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.

Post Morsum 21st January 2026

Poor turnout! Quite variable level from Richard VK6HRC. Six on the South West repeater and AllStar / Echolink hub this morning.

NPE EE BEEN NEE re EN Br SAE VK5ET ~~ John VK6KD David VK6NW Wayne VK6QI Mark VK6HRG VK6MRB Mulligan swl and others

NTN NEE REN er VK5ET ~~ John VK6KD David VK6NW Wayne VK6QI Mark VK6HRG VK6MRB Mulligan

The depressed conditions from solar storm had a big impact on the QRS net. John heard nothing of the DX crew on 20m and monitored Phil VK6GX and Maity VK5AO on 40m for a while.

David focussed on 40m not hearing anything for a while until some DX was heard but not at QRS speed ! He let us know he will be retiring in a few weeks and hopefully have more time for AR. Wayne had a contact with Mark VK2KI on 80m, nothing on 40m or 20m.

Mark struggling with weak signals managed a contact with Tim VKSAV on 40m exchanged SKCC numers and One on 80m with Wayne VK6NW, nothing on 15m or 20m. I called at regular intervals on 40m, nothing in the log unfortunately.

I caught up with Ron VK6KHZ on UHF and he was not hearing me calling, usually not a problem across town. Keeping an eye on the WhatsApp spots and following the activity only heard occasional weak signals sporadically.

Thank you to all on last night and this morning

This Week’s Topic of Interest

Wabi-sabi?

From Ross MONNK ‘m going to start with a ridiculously general assumption – if the “average” operator on our QRS Net was asked their Morse speed, they might reply “12 words per minute”.

We quantify our performance like that in order to assess our progress and, less usefully, to compare ourselves with other operators. A moment’s thought, however, will reveal how meaningless that number is.

Is there a difference between your sending speed and your copying speed? I bet there is. Does your copying rely on Farnsworth spacing? If so, what is your comfortable character speed?

There are plenty of variables there already, but let me give you yet another way of looking at this… I admire the CW operators who excel at Message Handling (Stan ZL3TK is our resident expert).

They aim, as did the professional operators of old, for 100% accuracy. But in my (albeit, limited) experience, that is not the way Morse is sent and received between most amateur radio operators.

Based purely on a gut feeling, here are a couple of graphs in explanation:

You might disagree with my assertion that very slow Morse is hard to copy, but the important part is that most people don’t copy 100% of what they hear. Morse is, therefore, a Guessing Game.

The other, less important part of the graph is that most operators can copy some Morse sent faster than their comfortable speed; it’s just that at some point they may not be able to copy enough to make sense of the message. Here’s the second graph:

This one is fairly obvious – the other operator’s sending is never going to be error free, and will become rapidly less accurate if he tries to go faster than his optimum speed. Once again, due to the sender’s errors this time, Morse becomes a Guessing Game.

Both operators are making errors on both sending and copying – it’s a miracle that we manage to communicate at all! The fact that we do is, at least partially, down to the fact that humans are used to dealing with complex and incomplete information – we are naturally Good Guessers.

Given the above, I now regard errors (both my own and those of my fellow operators) as all part of the fun and games of Morse code – I’ve learnt to enjoy The Guessing Game.

According to Google, “Wabi-sabi” is ‘the Japanese philosophy and aesthetic centered on finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness’. For example, this bowl…

So, what do you think – should we aim for the same high standards as the old pros, or should we embrace the imperfect? Be sure to let our Ragchew editor, Mark, know your opinion! cagrsnet@gmail.com

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

UNUN for an End-Fed Half-Wave

From John VK3BSE at Beechworth Last week I outlined development of an UNUN for my new end-fed half-wave antenna. The toroid part is a step-up auto transformer of 14 turns tapped at 2 turns for the 50 Ohm side. The Z ratio is (14/2)42 = 49:1.

For a 50 Ohm input, the high Z side is 50 x 49 = 2450 Ohms, hence the load resistors for the Vector Network Analyser test was 2200 + 220 = 2420 Ohms, near enough.

Sen am ars ane An cin Sore tetet FS Jorn VESBSE

These resistors in series were placed across the full 14 turns, high Z to ground. These are 1/4W carbon resistors, plenty for Nano VNA power.

A capacitor was placed across the low Z (2 turns) section to compensate for leakage flux (non ideal transformer where 2 windings are not perfectly magnetically coupled, some magnetic flux of the driven winding doesn’t make it to the core and secondary winding) – the effect is that the Z looking into a transformer winding includes an effective inductance even though the other winding is terminated into a resistive load.

A capacitor in parallel with the 2 turn winding goes some way to compensate for this. The effect is observed by increasing the matched bandwidth from a few MHz at the low end to being useful from 3.5 to 35 MHz.

The little broadcast variable capacitor is for development use only; I adjusted it while watching for the best band width (2420 Ohm load) then measure its capacitance – in my case 125PF which was then replaced with a high Voltage fixed capacitor.

The use of high voltage capacitors is not because I have KV on the line (100W to a 50 Ohm load is only 71V RMS or about 100V peak), it is because their capacitance value is stable wrt applied voltage.

Even different types of ceramic dielectric have different Voltage responses. All good fun. 78 de VK3BSE dit dit [Thanks John. You know, I’d noticed the recent use of a capacitor in such BALUNs and UNUNs, but had not understood why they were there.

“Wouldn’t happen in my day” – Hl! Thank you for the explanation – and using a low-cost Nano VINA for this sort of thing just makes the development work so much better! Terrific article.}

A Vacuum Tube AM Transmitter

From Martin VK6MJ Just for fun, I’ve been working on a valve transmitter for the AM band – to circulate DAB+ sourced radio in my home. It is finished now and working very nicely. The carrier is stable and the modulation is excellent with no distortion.

The large transformer provides the filament voltage (5v) for the 5Z4G rectifier tube and the smaller transformer provides the B+ (HT) for all three valves and the filament voltage (6v) for the other two valves.

The black can on the right is a 50MM pvc tube with pickle jar lid to keep fingers away from the oscillator coil inside which carries 250V plate voltage of the 12AU7. Everything for this project came from the junk box.

It has been fun and has given me a great sense of satisfaction. The article was published in Electronics Australia, May 1989 and can be found at: https://nzvrs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/mate-low-power-am-transmitter.pdf I wanted to transmit in AM using valves to match a valve receiver.

I will start the electrical restoration of the receiver shortly. It is in original condition, and so all those caps have to go! I will check and replace any resistors that need it throughout, and then do an alignment.

I will add this photo and the circuit diagram to the members’ section of the Peel Amateur Radio Group website, but ask mark if you’d like a copy cqqrsnet@gmail.com

The room transmitter will give this 1931 Airzone radio receiver something to listen to as AM broadcast stations in WA disappear from the Medium Wave band. Cheers, Martin VK6MJ

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.

CW Practice

This year I’m using Aesop’s Fables. These are short moral stories, often using talking animals, that illustrate simple truths about human behaviour and character.

‘Aesop’s Fables originated in ancient Greece, traditionally attributed to the storyteller ‘Aesop who is thought to have lived around the 6th century BCE.

The fables are generally smaller files of two to three hundred words that have been recorded at 15 wpm and run for about 15 minutes.

If 15 wpm is a bit quick for you, load it onto your phone and set the playback speed at 0.75 X or even 0.5 X- whatever works for you. 0.75 X will play the MP8 at a bit under 12 wpm. Itis suggested that you read the text file before listening to the audio file.

That will make it easier to follow the audio file and prepare you for any unusual words. Any punctuation that is not usually used with CW has been removed. This week’s fable is ‘The Crab and His Mother’, and the MP3 and TXT files are attached here –

If you prefer a different speed or tone you can create your own MP3 files by converting the text file with the Ebook2CW app — https://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cw.html.

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

Both options work well, however 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

From Patrick VK2IOW I read Peter’s (VKS3WOW) letter in the last RagChew about the newsletter format. That prompted me to compose the following question to the Al Microsoft Copilot.

I should probably also ask ChatGPT, since I think it may be superior to Copilot. Nevertheless, this is the response I got from Copilot.

Question to Copilot: Assmallish group of people (about 200 to 600 people) share a weekly newsletter containing information on their hobby.

There are multiple contributors to the newsletter but it is compiled by a single editor with the help of a small group of about 5 other people. Currently the editor compiles the newsletter in a program called Mailchimp (mainly used for email marketing).

In this form I understand that the newsletter is composed of a series of image files (eg jpg files). The editor likes using Mailchimp, since the members receiving the newsletter by email don’t have to open an attachment.

He thinks that people often won’t open and read email attachments. However there is a downside to creating a newsletter comprised of image files.

The downside is that there is no searchable text, which limits navigation, searching and archiving of the newsletters. Perhaps a different vehicle could be used for the newsletter, one which would allow better searching and archiving – perhaps having the newsletter as a pdf file.

The members of the group may be sufficiently interested to open an email attachment to read the newsletter. In this circumstance the newsletter is coming from a known, trusted source, so I don’t think the members would be overly wortied about acquiring a virus through clicking on an attachment.

However is there a way of further reassuring the members that it would be safe to open such a newsletter attachment? The basic question here is: * What is the best format for the newsletter that would meet two objectives: 1.

Promote and encourage members of the group to read the newsletter; and 2. Use a format that does not limit navigation, searching, indexing and archiving of the newsletter?

Copilot Answer You’ve laid out the situation really clearly, Patrick, and you’re not imagining the tension here: ease of reading versus long-term usability. Many hobby groups run into exactly this problem as they grow.

Let’s break it down in a way that respects the editor’s instincts while also solving the searchability and archiving issue. 5 The Core Question What newsletter format encourages people to read it and preserves searchable, archivable text?

The good news is: you don’t have to choose between the two. There are formats that satisfy both goals without forcing the group into attachments if they don’t want them.

Ff Option 1 — Keep Email-Body Delivery, but Use Real Text (Best of Both Worlds) Instead of sending JPG images inside Mailchimp, the editor could: V Build the newsletter in Mailchimp using text blocks, headings, and images Mailchimp is designed for exactly this.

+ Readers don’t open attachments + The content is fully searchable + It’s accessible (screen readers, zooming, etc.) + It archives well in email clients + It can be indexed by Mailchimp’s own archive pages This preserves the editor’s preferred workflow while solving the searchability problem.

Why this works Most people read newsletters in the email body because it feels frictionless. Ifthe editor is already comfortable with Mailchimp, switching from JPGs to proper text blocks is a small change with a big payoff.

> Option 2 — Send a PDF and a Short Email Summary If the editor insists on a PDF, you can still reduce friction. How to encourage opening the PDF + Puta short, engaging summary in the email body + Include a clear link to the PDF (“Full newsletter here”) + Mention that it’s from a trusted source + Use a consistent file name (e.g., “Newsletter_2026_Week03.pdf”) + Host the PDF on a trusted platform (Mailchimp, Google Drive, OneDrive, club website) Reassurance about safety People trust attachments when: + They come from a known sender + The file type is familiar (PDF is the safest-feeling format) + The email explains what the attachment is + The group has a consistent pattern (“We always send the newsletter as a PDF”) You could even add a line like: “This PDF is created by the editorial team and hosted on our official site.” That kind of transparency goes a long way.

@ Option 3 — Publish the Newsletter on a Website and Email a Link This is increasingly common for clubs and associations.

Benefits + Fully searchable + Easy to archive + No attachments + No email size limits + Members can browse past issues anytime + Contributors can collaborate more easily How it works + The editor publishes each issue as a webpage (WordPress, Wix, Google Sites, Mailchimp’s own “landing pages”) + The email contains a short intro + “Read this week’s issue” link This is the most future-proof option.

© Which Option Best Meets Your Two Objectives? The only format that fails both objectives is JPG-only newsletters. @ My Recommendation If the group wants minimal disruption: Switch from JPG images to real text inside Mailchimp.

It keeps the editor’s workflow, keeps the “no attachment” experience, and solves the

Tension here: ease of reading versus long-term usability. Many hobby groups run into exactly this problem as they grow. Let’s break it down in a way that respects the editor’s instincts while also solving the searchability and archiving issue.

5 The Core Question What newsletter format encourages people to read it and preserves searchable, archivable text? The good news is: you don’t have to choose between the two.

There are formats that satisfy both goals without forcing the group into attachments if they don’t want them. ff Option 1 — Keep Email-Body Delivery, but Use Real Text (Best of Both Worlds) Instead of sending JPG images inside Mailchimp, the editor could: V Build the newsletter in Mailchimp using text blocks, headings, and images Mailchimp is designed for exactly this.

+ Readers don’t open attachments + The content is fully searchable + It’s accessible (screen readers, zooming, etc.) + It archives well in email clients + It can be indexed by Mailchimp’s own archive pages This preserves the editor’s preferred workflow while solving the searchability problem.

Why this works Most people read newsletters in the email body because it feels frictionless. Ifthe editor is already comfortable with Mailchimp, switching from JPGs to proper text blocks is a small change with a big payoff.

> Option 2 — Send a PDF and a Short Email Summary If the editor insists on a PDF, you can still reduce friction. How to encourage opening the PDF + Puta short, engaging summary in the email body + Include a clear link to the PDF (“Full newsletter here”) + Mention that it’s from a trusted source + Use a consistent file name (e.g., “Newsletter_2026_Week03.pdf”) + Host the PDF on a trusted platform (Mailchimp, Google Drive, OneDrive, club website) Reassurance about safety People trust attachments when: + They come from a known sender + The file type is familiar (PDF is the safest-feeling format) + The email explains what the attachment is + The group has a consistent pattern (“We always send the newsletter as a PDF”) You could even add a line like: “This PDF is created by the editorial team and hosted on our official site.” That kind of transparency goes a long way.

@ Option 3 — Publish the Newsletter on a Website and Email a Link This is increasingly common for clubs and associations.

Benefits + Fully searchable + Easy to archive + No attachments + No email size limits + Members can browse past issues anytime + Contributors can collaborate more easily How it works + The editor publishes each issue as a webpage (WordPress, Wix, Google Sites, Mailchimp’s own “landing pages”) + The email contains a short intro + “Read this week’s issue” link This is the most future-proof option.

© Which Option Best Meets Your Two Objectives? The only format that fails both objectives is JPG-only newsletters. @ My Recommendation If the group wants minimal disruption: Switch from JPG images to real text inside Mailchimp.

It keeps the editor’s workflow, keeps the “no attachment” experience, and solves the search/archiving problem instantly.

If the group is open to a small change: Email summary + PDF attachment or link This gives you the best archival quality and still feels trustworthy. If the group wants the most modern, scalable solution: Publish on a website and email a link.

Ifyou want, I can help you: + Draft a message to the editor explaining the benefits + Compare Mailchimp’s text-based workflow to PDF workflows + Suggest tools for easy newsletter creation + Mock up what a text-based Mailchimp layout could look like Just tell me which direction you’re leaning.

Mark and others have probably already considered these types of things, anyway, I thought I would pass it on. The New Zealand Net used to send an emailed newsletter. Now they send a link to the newsletter. I have only been on the NZ Net about once.

I couldn’t be bothered with all the Q-code abbreviations, too lazy. I think Manny may attend regularly. Patrick

I will be in the John Moyle National Field Day as a Single Op Station 6hr operating from Bimberi Nature Reserve (VK2). The location I picked has good elevation to the west of the ACT. This is a good opportunity for me to tie in with a

Parks activation also. Regards Tony VK2VIC

There was an item in the last newsletter about some readers needing to use the web link to read the entire newsletter. It is not an occasional thing for me, I always have to use that link.

Over a certain size I suspect your composition tool automatically generates the link and terminates the email. It may

Depend on how many photos you have included to that point. But does mailchimp not have the ability to let you wrap a paragraph around a photo? Often new paragraphs are seen, which seem to have an enforced paragraph break right in the middle of a sentence.

[Hi Andrew. Re: “..wrap a paragraph around a photo…” – I wish! The html editing tools in MailChimp are very limited. The enforced paragraph breaks might be because in MailChimp: * the system compiles the work to be viewable on computers, tablets and phones (all of which require different formats); * when text is broken up into a text block next to an image, followed by a second text block (like your words above) the software puts a large gap between the text blocks which I can’t change; and/or * to allow different contributors’ work to be entered without the very slow insertion of one block at a time, I use images of word processor-generated work – and where there’s multiple pages, the images have large gaps in between – which again, I can’t change]

A Bit of Friday Afternoon Delight

From Richard VAK6HRC Last week’s Friday afternoon QRS session went well despite the lousy conditions.

Heard Max VK6FN ,Wayne VK6NW and Morgan VK6MTF/ MM. Did post on WhatsApp, hopefully it was noticed ? Thank you Richard Di-dit

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.

Weekly Reminder Emails

Re the inclusion of the previous week’s newsletter in the weekly reminder emails, I think it would be preferable if you include a link to its location on the website rather than embedding the entire previous newsletter.

If someone has not seen the original email, or deleted it before reading, it is sufficient for them to go to the website to read it. That would cut down on duplication in emails. It lets them read the newsletter

Without the additional email volume. I suppose these days most people have unlimited volume on their email accounts and internet access accounts, but I still try to limit the amount of email I save.

My gmail account is almost at the limit of a free account so I delete from email anything that is available on a website once I have read it once.

CW Mates

From John VK2RU For some time now I’ve been thinking of trying to find what our US friends call a ‘code buddy’. Maybe that’s a ‘CW mate’ in Australia – not sure. Someone of roughly similar ability who wants to get better, or a

Very patient experienced operator who is content to just poke along. I’m sure there are quite a few people around who would be happy to get on the air more often just to get more confident, to practice sending, or copying, or trying out a new key/radio/antenna – whatever – at say 12 to 15 wpm.

Overs could be brief, or up to 5 or 8 minutes maximum. What do you discuss? The weather, the view out your window, what’s cooking zal anything, except politics, religion, or things that are highly personal, divisive, or negative.

Something more than the usual ‘TU FER UR RPRT ES FB QSO’ etc. Thoughtful constructive feedback that is specific and objective would be important eg,. ‘UR spacing is a bit tight for me’.

Unless we’re on the move, my radio is good to go most days and not getting enough use. cgarsnet@gmail.com

BOM Propagation Forecasts

From Andrew VK1DA / VK2DA Re the forecasts of poor propagation, I suspect those forecasts are aimed at daytime users. The 40m band in particular has been very poor during the early morning and gradually coming alive later in the day, then being very effective later in the evening from sunset onwards.

See where the conditions may change every 15 minutes and a big red splotch across most of VK in the daytime fades and is replaced by a gradually increasing area of good propagation later in the day and into the evening.

A useful link is https://sws.bom.gov.au/HF_ Systems/6/9.

iPad Remote Control of Transceivers

| am continuing to use the remote control software to use the Icom 7610 at my home in Yass. I have a third option, this one runs on the Ipad and is very impressive. It even runs the dreaded FT8 mode.

But its CW reader is nothing like as good as the human brain, I ran it on the morse practice transmission on 3699 from VK2WI and even a constant speed of plain

Text with no QRM is not particularly impressive with lots of unexpected errors and missing words. I have even used this software connecting to the internet via the phone, which always surprises me how well it works.

Wanted – Used Paddle

From Don ZL1DRS I am interested in where to find a used paddle. I have one that has been loaned to me but I would like to get my own. If I get good at CW then I would love to get a really nice one, but to start with |

Am hoping to have something a little nicer than a 3D printed one (which I can print). Regards Don ZL1DRS [Reply to: cqqrsnet@gmail.com if you can help our new team member Don.]

Jules Workshop Videos

From Jules VK3JFP Jules Workshop is available free for anyone wanting to study and prepare for their Foundation or Advanced amateur licence. Several requests prompted me to develop training videos on the texts already available on the site.

Thanks to Al, these videos are being voiced by a more interesting voice than mine. I hope anyone using the site will get a greater understanding of the study material from the two mediums.

Happy New Year to all. Jules Perrin JP 0457585974 VK3JFP www. julesworkshop.net

Also up for grabs is a fully-functional Morserino-32 Morse trainet/keyer — the classic, compact CW learning and practice device that’s earned its reputation with serious operators.

This unit is complete and ready to use, including a LiPo battery and a custom 3D-printed internal battery cradle, which securely holds the battery in place (no rattling, no movement — a genuine usability upgrade).

Italso includes a 3D-printed protective outer case (as shown in the photos), making it ideal for desk use, portable operation, or tossing into a go-bag.

Full transparency: the external slot alignment isn’t perfectly matched to the Morserino’s connectors — purely cosmetic and does not affect operation. If the buyer wants a corrected case, I’m happy to reprint one for an agreed additional cost.

Note: this is the original Morserino-32 platform and not to be compared with the M32 Pocket — which is a beautiful device in its own right, but a different form factor and use case altogether.

Legend has it that a device remarkably similar to this one was used in a secret room beneath Station X during WWII, where Allied codebreakers practised Morse late into the night while intercepting German U-boat traffic.

Some say this very unit (or one uncannily like it) helped a distant relative — my great-grandfather’s uncle’s brother’s nephew — fall hopelessly in love with CW, setting off a chain of events that may or may not have altered the course of the war.

It’s also been whispered that German submariners feared its rhythmic beeps echoing through the Atlantic. Or… something like that”. This is a complete Morserino-32 package — battery and case included — at well under new-to-Australia pricing.

I’m asking around A$140— ‘A$150, open to sensible offers. Hams local to VK1 can knock $10 off for doorstep pickup, which saves me the pain of a post-office run and gives you a better deal. *Story is not real. Added purely for comedic value.

If the story sounds unbelievable, that’s because it

Aurora Images from This Week’s Geomagnetic Storm

Photos taken near Beechworth by the GLW (good lady wife) Robyn. There was that much going on it was impossible to get it all in one shot. No colour to my naked eye but plenty in the camera. Cheers, Warren VK3BYD

From Jordan VK3ACU – The auroral halo – bumping into the Southern States.

And over there – from Rob VK6LD at Albany at around 10PM.

From James VK7JZ’s back deck…. not bad from Hobart city with all the light pollution. James reported that “it messed with the radios”!

First Straight Key QSO

From James VK7JZ and Jens VK4PE Jim VK7JZ and I had a QSO on Sunday. After calling and interchange of the RST the signal faded. We are both very happy. 2500 km with QRP transceivers on both sides. Jim was on a mountain top.

I ask my friend John Kirk and he recommended 20 m during the day and it worked perfectly.

My next project is to have a QSO with an amateur in New Zealand. Peter Parker wrote you can do it on 40 m with 3 Watts and another amateur told me the best time to do it is early in the morning. What is your experience?

Anyway I am very happy it worked out so well for Jim and me.

Update from David VK3DBD/ZL

As it happened I had a long evening alone and fired up for a session on the QRS net, starting of course with the DX of DL3YZ and G7BED etc and any other takers I might hear. Like the ostrich I might as well have buried my head in the sand.

Actually I would have drowned doing so as rain was falling all day and all night and still doing so now (Wed evening). 20m was dead 40m had one signal KQUIY weak but we had a QSO – much to my surprise – he was only signal heard all evening.

Later I heard about the solar disturbance – worst for 20 years. And it seems itis stil the same, and a local emergency message has just come in from the weather bureau in Northland “prepare for floods and /or evacuation”.

Fortunately we are on the high side of a valley so doubt we will need to take to the boat. Torrential rain on the roof is deafening and temp is quite

Warm – lIKe VK3DBD/ZL Bay of Islands

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

There’s No Such Thing…

Fills WOUR o YUCOLVIlS. I think the first lesson in Teachering 101 is to always tell students “There’s no such…” (I’m sure you know the rest) and “…the only dumb questions are the ones not asked”.

John VK2RU reckons that there’s lots of questions out there among both our new and our experienced operators – about CW, amateur radio operating and about theory.

So John didn’t step backwards quickly enough when asked to volunteer to compile readers’ questions; thanks mate. So here we go…

Arborist Throw Line

In RagChew Edition 03/2026 last week I responded to a question from John VK5ET about portable antennas, and said that I’d bought an Arborist Throw Line to help get portable antennas up trees.

During the week I had the following query from Patrick VK2IOW: I see in the newsletter you bought one of these on eBay. Can you supply some brief, further info, eg cost, what weight works for you etc.

For many years now I have taken part in a small weekend CW net and ! think one of the members is considering putting an antenna in a tree at his QTH. He might find this info useful, though I believe it takes practice to get good at using one of these lines..

My response:

This is what I bought from Amazon: As I said, a 100 foot or 75 foot one would have been smaller and fine for most situations (I can’t throw high enough to need 150’!

For a once-of antenna erection, I’d just go with the builder’s twine from the hardware store – useful for other things then. Finding an oval or boat-shaped 8 ounce sinker is a bit tricky – fishing shops usually.

Alternatively, a smooth rock in a fine mesh bag (eg a small supermarket mesh fruit bag – eg avocardo bag) might work too.

I went for the arborist line because I wanted a solution that didn’t waste too much time when operating portable for PARKS / SOTA / caravanning. Amazing rope – doesn’t tangle.

Wind it around your thumb and little finger, stuff it in the bag and when it comes out – no tangles! And what’s more, unlike builder’s twine, it doesn’t stick to tree bark – so if it goes up, usually it comes down too.

If it gets hung up, pull it back a bit and let it drop, or give the line some little tugs, and amazingly, down it’ll come. And the other thing is the little canvas bag – full of lead shot – so it’s nice and soft if it hits something unexpected.

Have you seen Jordan VK3ACU‘s drone with releasable payload hook? That’s what I’d like one day!

[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 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 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

Areminder; 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 38 contributors: DL/MONNK, VK1DA, VK1HF, VK2I0W, VK2RU, VK2VIC, VK3ACU, VK3BSE, VK3BYD, VK3CLD, VK3DRQ, VK3JFP, VK3WOW, VK4BRO, VK4JM, VK4PE, VK5AO, VKSAV, VK5CZ, VKSET, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6JDM, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VK6LD, VK6MJ, VK6NW, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7JZ, VK7ME and ZL1DRS.

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

Great work alll 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 CQQRS 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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