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CQ QRS
Because

Reminder

e Whales
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RagChew

life’s far too short for SSB.

for 310ct23

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CQ QRS

Gales

Phillip takes all the connectors this time

lan holds court

Claude

Matt makes

David the wanderer

competes

with

Richard for monitoring

station status

a late-night appearance
returns

Looks like we had at least 15 stations on or listening on Tuesday night including a couple of new ones;
Falls and Merv VK3ADX

welcome to John VK2WEO

at Wentworth

at Ballarat (Merv was already a reader of the

RagChew - terrific to hear him on the net chatting to lan VK5CZ
and if anyone

in Clare) -

Knows John’s email address (or works him in future nets and

can get his address), please let me know so | can invite him to receive the
weekly newsletter.
David VK6KD,

We had apologies from Terry VK6CK,

Lin VK6NT and Peter VK2EMU;

Richard VK6PZT,

sorry that you missed out on

another fun night guys.
| was operating portable from Bermagui

on the far South coast of NSW,

had lots of fun with just 5 Watts and a super-low noise level (until an
auroral buzz came up around midnight).
Here’s this week’s

list of stations

heard:

and

RSS

‘Calling CO
Cae Lint

O609 | O5010 | 8011)

Listening

(KERER

JE2WEO|)VESDBD|

VETEPC

|VEKIADK | VKGFN

VESBTY

VRGBEK |

VEER

| VKIDBD

Wc Fi

VEGBER | VEGFN |

VESC2

(/KEDEVs)

Reports

& Comments

So here’s this week’s
From

Peter VK7KPC

| VEERIK | VE2KI | WEEKU

reports from the team.

at Evandale:

Hi Mark.
Thanks for the QSO;

| was using my IC-718 tonight.

G20 12 | O01

The PRC64 wasn’t on air tonight - still waiting for some valves.
Peter's restoration project
note | couldn’t get the video to load into MailChimp - so it doesn’t play.
The video can be found on the Google Drive here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/lyZ32HYXhnhT5 Tsofk45WjOmKLQRtCHzC/view?usp=drive_
Email mark.bosma@icloud.com

PLES RS

weal eee oe a

link

if you want access.

Just winding down from JOTA/JOTI weekend

with Scouts. We had various

Morse prac keys set up and Morse keyboard feeding pc with decoder
programme running. Was fairly popular with the Scouts.
Cheers
Peter VK7KPC
[Thanks Peter - interesting to read your scribble notes - | reckon many /
most of the errors were my sending - while writing down callsigns heard on
the SDR, scrabbling around in the dark looking for my head lamp torch etc -

HI!

Looking forward to working you on the restoration project].

From

Phillip VKG6DEV/p

at Dalyellup

Beach:

Hi Mark, a slightly easier evening tonight. Worked
portable/technical issues and got going much

out my

earlier than last week.

Did a

bit of a listen and then jumped

in for 3 QSOs from 6MK, 6IS and 5CZ. Not

sure if we can count our QSO

but | definitely heard you from the other side.

[Glad you brought the coax with both connectors Phillip.

| reckon we would

have made the 2 x QRP contact with persistence, headphones and narrow
filters.

Next time perhaps?]

From John VKS5ET at Hope

Valley:

G'day Mark.
| heard one unidentified station with 5CZ - unreadable & breaking up, 3561
@ 10:05 z. Not quick enough to break in for a QSO with other stations
heard - good practice receiving though.

Band very quiet my way.

ps Hope u enjoyed your trip away.
John, VK5ET
[Thanks John - sorry you didn’t get on, but as you say, nice to get some
receiving practice - | find listening to nicely paced CW quite relaxing].
From

Richard VKG6HRC

at Padbury:

Hi Mark

Trust all is well in downtown
break.

Bermagui, and that you are enjoying the

Only five stations in the log last night with QRM

Conditions improved somewhat

not helping!

after sun-down.

Stations heard:
VK6IS

599

VK6FN

579

VK6BEK 559
VK6MK

559

VK5CZ

449

Cheers
Richard VK6HRC
[Thanks for your report Richard.

Yup - enjoying writing the RagChew from

our AVan, instead of being out in the sunshine at Bermagut - HI.

We did a

walk to find some coffee late this arvo, and on the way back as we passed
the pub,

we joined the balcony patrons enjoying watching a whale

breaching right in the harbour, 50m off the breakwater rocks - nice!]
From

Shaun

VK6BEK

at Quinns

Rocks:

Hi Mark,

| was only a little breezy here on Tuesday evening, so | decided to use two
10m squid poles for the end-fed. They were a little too boingy so | had to
double up the top segments to leave 9m. Even so! was not happy with the
stability and will revert to my 7-8m
| managed

high version for now.

to work Max VK6FN just before 69m.

with Allen VK5FD

Next! had a short QSO

but the QSB caused a few problems.

After that | had a

good chat with Peter VK6IS and ended with lan VK5CZ who was 539 for me
and again QSB ended

it after a few minutes.

| have been wondering for a while about the problem of QSB suddenly
making QSOs worse.
eastern states.

It can happen with VK6 contacts but is worse for the

| don’t really like it when

someone

goes to all the trouble of

a long ragchew and | have to go back and say SRI missed that!
some standard for graciously interrupting to let them

Is there

know | am only

getting the odd couple of letters?
Regards
Shaun - VK6BEK
[Hi Shaun.
boingy!

Thanks for your report.

Hate that when your squid poles are too

No doubt, like me you’ve had them break at the top when things

get too windy.

| now always sacrifice a metre or two and remove the top

few segments.

I’m certain that there’s side benefits of living on the beach;

without the sea breeze, Perth just wouldn't be livable in Summer.
- interesting concern about missing parts due to QSB;,
fault - HI!

Heh heh

it’s not as if it’s your

Most operators use break-in when transmitting - for example,

use the break-in delay to set the pace - send letter (eg at 12-15wpm)
wait for the RX noise to appear,

then send the next letter, etc.

then

You could

use that short period of RX to send a quick BK.... but with the QSB, you may
or may not be heard.
All good practice - and besides, | don’t really expect
the other station to copy everything | send - | certainly don’t on receive! If
there’s something important like an RST

I'll send it several times if there’s

any doubt about QSB... and if there’s a question, I'll send it several times to
reduce embarrassment (eg WHAT PWR ARE YOU RUNNING? PWR? PWR?)
Hopefully if the other station picks up the first question mark, the repeats
will be decoded.

Anyway,

if we didn’t want a challenge....

we could always

use the phone - HI/!]
From

David

VK3DBD

at Yakandandah:

Last night at about 1000z | checked the frequencies around 3540 plus,
expecting to find much activity.

The silence was deafening!

| called a very

QRS CQ a few times and was about to give up when a brave op with ears, in
the shape of John VK2WEO

answered

my call. Thank you, John; | would

emailed you afterwards but no address on ur QRZ.com

page. Anyway,

have
we

had a really nice QSO and initially despite my efforts to send what | thought
was QRS, John in Wentworth
must have managed

Falls replied and asked me to slow down.

to do it, as John turned out some

chosen speed and seemingly managed

nice Morse at his

to copy most of what | sent, making

sensible replies - that is proof of the pudding

indeed. He asked

if | was

running the net, to which | had to say no | was just trying to help folk like
him to improve his CW and he thanked

me. Probably exhausted from his

efforts he signed off - oh yes, | remember the feelings long, long ago.
Further up the band a few mins later | found
VK5CZ

in QSO

with another QRS

station - | think it was VK6FN

they signed, | called the latter, but he replied with 73, etc.

and

when

So instead, | had

a short QSO with lan until |, exhausted with the QRS, decided to QRT as
well.
[Thanks David.

| was really pleased to hear you on so soon after your

return - especially with the COVID;

you were thundering into my portable

station at Bermagui, South coastal NSW. | was also excited to hear John who I’d worked before during the Don Edwards Memorial Slow CW Contest and | was really pleased to hear him ask you to PSE QRS - something I’ve
been trying to encourage our team to do at any time - on the net or in other
QSOs - there’s no fun in struggling above your comfortable speed,
you're specifically trying to improve.

unless

If you or anyone else hears John,

please ask him for an email address so / can invite him to join the RagChew
group.

Thanks for returning to the net David;

great to have you back in

country and thanks for your report].
From

lan VK5CZ

G'day Mark.
VK7KPC

at Clare:

On Tuesday | worked:

Peter

VK3ADX

Merv

VK6FN

Max

VK3DBD

David

VK2KI/p Mark
VK6DEV/p

Phil

VK6BEK Shaun.
Conditions to VK6 were hard work last night both ways but the eastern
state stations were all ok.
Regards,

lan VK5CZ

[Thanks lan - looks like you were holding court on Tuesday - 7 QSOs!]
From

Claude VKI1TE

using the VK6QS

SDR

in Brookton:

Hi Mark,

Starting at 2045, finishing at 2238 as the VK6QS

connection timed out, here

is a glimpse of my QRS CW fishing last Tuesday.

As | tried to catch as

many stations as possible, | did not pay too much

attention on the content

of the QSOs. | had to jump back and forth between
trying to not miss any.

QSOs all over the place,

| started hearing VK6BEK as the only calling station who eventually
connected with VK6FN. Then you appeared, calling CQ under VK2KI/p RST
319 with QSB, ending up with VK6FN
VK6KD

after some confusion with VK6QI and

who were calling very strong on the same frequency, and | guess

they did not hear your weak signal.
Then, as far as | was concerned, the waltz kept going until the VK6QS
told me off (timed out) at 2238!

;-) So, this is just a fraction of what |

perceived through the lens of VK6QS
counted

SDR

SDR during less than 2 hours and |

14 different stations that | managed

to catch,

involved

in the QRS

during that period - | might still have missed some.
Please find the spreadsheet log attached.

Let me know if you'd like it

organised differently or fine-tuned for next time. | realised then how
difficult it can be to keep track of what is going on on such occasions, even
though

it did not seem too busy.

C U next time

Cheers, 73 k
VKI1TE
[Hi Claude;
done!

terrific report thank you - 14 stations takes the cake - well

I’ve transferred your logging spreadsheet to the one shown at the

start of the RagChew.

If you like, I'll give you access to the CQ QRS Google

Drive where you'll be able to put the callsigns into the spreadsheet direct in
future. ]
From

Keiran VK3BTV

in North

Ringwood:

| heard nothing in VK3 until about 2130 local. | was hearing myself $5 in WA

(yes, there was still a slot open on the VK6QS
stations in WA on that SDR,

SDR!). | heard a few strong

but none of them were propagating to Victoria.

| sent about 5 CQ QRS to no avail. About 10 minutes after that | heard Mark
VK2KI/p calling me - he’d seen the spot that | put up on the WhatsApp
channel. We had a good chat from 2145 to 2205

local - albeit with a fair bit

of QSB and QRN.
| did hear lan VK5CZ tapping to David VK3DBD
and out - and David was 559+

after that, but lan was still in

here from Yackandandah

- but way too fast

for me, and it was past my bedtime for Tuesday (10pm).
I’m really starting to appreciate the QRS Net though. You can practice CW
receive till the cows come

home,

but confidence can only come from

regular, even basic QSOs (especially those with bloody /p on the end of
their callsign - HI!

| forced myself to do the /p every over.

Cheers, from VK3 Bad Tempered
[Thanks Keiran.

Victorian

Yes, the VK6QS SDR its a terrific tool for checking

propagation - the noise level is low, and the huge one-paddock sized
horizontal loop works so well.

Interesting that even with stations who are

sending too fast, | can often get the callsign and RST - and perhaps a name
(even those who have the e andi in Morse-challenging order - HI!). It’s also
interesting about receiving and sending... back when | did the AOCP Morse
code test, most people seemed able to send well and receive poorly (like
me) - and (like me) the 10wpm
concentration,

test fails were due to lapses of

trying to catch missing letters, or just generally buggering

up the one-shot per six month receiving test.
learning off the internet, it seems common

Today,

to hear people saying that they

have trouble sending and thinking at the same time.
phenomenon.

with most people
Interesting

Thanks for the report and for being there mate - nice big

signal into Bermagul].

From

me, VK2KI

Watt

FT-817

portable at Bermagui

and ZS6BKW

Holidaying at Bermagui
border), | operated
caravan

NSW

doublet antenna

at Bowning

using

up 9m.

(on the NSW coast down towards the Victorian

portable for the net.

park for three weeks;

Elizabeth and | were staying ina

there’s always a first time - we wanted to

get a feel for the town, and there were no National Parks near enough.
Walking around, we’d found several spots that were suitable for operating
portable - open area, trees spread just far enough apart for the antenna,
not too public, etc.

| settled on the Blue Pools whale watching

which was a pleasant 500m

lookout -

walk up the road from the van park.... and

during the recce we enjoyed watching
just below the cliffs 150 to 500m

many spectacular whale breaches,

off shore.

Turns out that whale season

was happening - mothers and their calves migrating South, following the
coast.

So at around 0600z | drove up to the spot and using my trusty arborer’s
throw-line, put up one of my ZS6BKW

doublets 9 metres up between a

of tall Norfolk Pines which were about 100m

pair

apart.

Two perfect Norfolk Pines.

The antenna went up easily and there were only a couple of cars that
arrived while running ropes, wires etc.

Once it was up, | plugged

817, antenna coupler and current BALUN

in my FT-

and gave it a try - and unlike

Phillip last week, all of the coax lines had connectors at both ends.

The

SWR was low even without the coupler - good start - and the VK2WI

slow

Morse beacon on 3699 was thundering

in from Sydney, 350km

though

Incidence Skywave

it was too early for Near-Vertical

love this antenna!

- even if it’s a bit of a pain to put up.

North, even

propagation.

| had a quick listen on 20m - there was a Spanish station pouring in at RST
599 while giving the world’s longest CW CQ.

But when

listened, my single call with five Watts wasn’t heard;
wandered

locked the car and

down to have a bite to eat instead.
TV ribbon feed

runs

11m

visible in front of the cloud

When

he or she finally

| came

up to the centre

above

and

insulator

to the left of the car.

back around 0900z, | connected an iPad to the VK6QS

Brookton and tried to also connect to the Tecsun SDR at Araluen

SDR in

NSW.

The

Araluen SDR could be accessed three ways - none of which worked for the
whole evening.

| contacted the owner Garry VK2YBX the next day who said

he would re-boot the SDR remotely.

However,

not having the East coast

SDR meant more careful tuning around (turning the narrow CW filter off
when tuning - very easy to miss QRS CW when tuning with the filter in),
which in turn meant less time to listen to the West coast SDR.
First up | was called by Peter VK7KPC
Watts was thumping

at Evandale - Peter’s matching

in here RST 599 and we had a nice long chat.... in

between trying to find my headlamp...

pretty hard to fill in the log when

it’s

dark.
Next, | heard David VK3DBD

in Yakandandah

John VK2WEO

Falls;

Southern

at Wentworth

Land, and to hear John

with a huge signal working

great to hear David back in the Great
on the net for the first time.

address isn’t in qrz.com so if anyone

John’s email

knows his email (or works him in the

coming weeks and gets it), please let me know so | can invite him to join in
the distribution of the weekly RagChew.
A while later | heard Max VK6FN

coming through to NSW

RST 589 -

however,

Max couldn’t hear (or perhaps chose to ignore) my 5000mW.

However,

Keiran VK3BTV at North Ringwood was pouring in RST 599 and

was able to copy me.
Motivated

Later | heard Keiran chatting to lan VK5CZ at Clare.

by last week’s fun, Phillip VK6DEV/p

to Dalyellup Beach again;

deployed

his portable gear

his 10 Watts was readable Q3 here, but he

wasn’t able to make out enough

of my signal to exchange

RSTs.

Peter

VK6IS at Wundowie was RST 589, but he also couldn’t make a go of a QSO.
However,

| did manage to get through to lan VK5IS, who was romping-in

RST 599.

lan went on to work Merv VK3ADX

newsletter,

Merv gets our

but | don’t recall hearing him on the net - welcome

40 minutes after our first attempt,
even though

at Ballarat;

Merv.

Peter and | did manage to have a QSO,

| was only RST 339 to him.

Similarly, Stuart VEK6MK was RST

589 with me but struggled with my QRP.

By midnight here, an auroral buzz

was becoming quite strong here (I hadn’t seen it on the WA SDR) and | fired
up the VK6SR

Remote at Bedfordale WA using a laptop computer;

RST 589

this way

100Watts

(the S-

with

meter on the Remote
sampling

rate).

and

about

579 the other way

with

is quite hard to use on QRS CW

5 Watts

because of the slow

My Vees from the Remote stirred Matt VK6XU

back into

action - and it was terrific to work him for the first time for yonks.

Matt was

RST 589 over here, but with his noise level, he couldn’t hear me well
enough to make a go of it from VK2.
The FT-817 on the left of the dashboard and my tiny home brew antenna coupler
just to the left of the GPS on top of the centre console.
| didn’t notice that the car radio was on, and | was really confused - | was sure that could hear music
occasionally from the near-by bush when

| was having QSOs with the window open - turned out that

ABC ClassicFM from Black Mountain Tower in Canberra was fading in and out.

By half past midnight | decided that I’d probably had enough
bucket and should head home.

in my catch

The wind had sprung up a gale, but the

antenna came down easily in the dark, and by about 1:30 am | was back in
our AVan, wondering whether the canvas awning was going to lift us off the
ground

in the wind.

Also

from

Remote

VK6QI

via the

at Bedfordale

and

VK6QS

SDR

the VK6CRO

at Brookton,
Remote

the

VK6SR

at Carnarvon:

While looking for my signal coming through to the VK6QS

SDR in WA,

noticed Claude VK1TE our monitor at Pearce and our Padbury Monitoring
Station Richard VK6HRC

also listening in;

no doubt Claude would have had

the same trouble as me connecting to the Tecsun SDR on the night.
Shaun VK6BEK at Quinns Rocks chatting to Max VK6FN
lan VK5CZ working Phillip VK6DEV/p;

| heard

at Manjimup, then

congratulations Phillip - 10 Watts

across the Bight makes the portable set-up worthwhile I’m guessing.

lan

also worked Shaun VK6BEK at Quinns Rocks - another milestone for our
noise-plagued Shaun.
Rounding out my SDR listening pleasure, | heard Peter VK6IS at Wundowie
working

Phillip then Stuart VK6MK at Australind.

As mentioned
when

above, | was pleased to hear Matt VK6XU

he responded to my test calls on the Southern

Remote;

a QSO with Matt rounded out the evening

Other
Other things

I’ve received

back on the net

Electronics Group
nicely for me.

News
from

our 100-odd

readers.

From

David VK6KD

Hi Mark.
QRN

Sorry for my absence

& QRM.

miss.

at Ballajura:
last Tue night.

| was struggling to concentrate on receiving CW so gave ita

Great emails and RagChew

so please keep the good work up.

| suspect my lack of concentration
Mon

There were high levels of

last Tue was due to receiving sad news

night that my father had passed away unexpectedly while at home

Perth.

He was a registered HAM

last 40 years. He kept is license and memberships
he had donated

operator but not active on the air for the
up to date even though

his HF radio gear to me some time prior to him passing.

RIP Leland

Potts, silent key VKGKLE

1940-2023

| am scheduled for knee surgery on Tuesday afternoon so I’m sending

apologies in advance as it will be unlikely that | will be in the shack
between

5pm-12

midnight WST.

Please don’t let me drop off the leader

board as | intend getting back on track with more CW contacts in the near
future.
Best regards
David Potts, Ballajura WA.
VK6KD
[Hi David.

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad;

your family no doubt.

a tough time for you and

Anyone else in the group likely to have known him?

returned to WA for three years around when he was first licensed, but don't
recall speaking to him.
Best of luck with your knee.... and we'll try not to forget you after two
weeks away HI/!]
From

David VK3DBD

ay Yakandandah:

Well, my trip to the UK did not go to plan. Virtually everything went wrong,
and without boring you with too many details, | changed

my return flight to

an earlier date and arrived at Melbourne Tullamarine about 0630am

October 19th. My son Steve had offered to transport me back to ‘Yack City’.
A few days before this, my brother-in-law in the UK had seemingly caught a
heavy cold and spent a couple of days in bed trying to moderate the
effects. After he came

back in circulation, | developed similar symptoms,

which came as a surprise as it must be well over 20 years since | had any
form of malady of that type. The thoughts of COVID

never entered our

heads.
A few days later | was departing the UK from my usual most convenient
airport, Birmingham, feeling perhaps not quite in top form but with high
hopes that the new flight would

be a reasonably comfortable one - around 7

hours in a 777 to Dubai, then a mere 2 hours after, on to Melbourne

in the

now popular A380 for some

12 hours. In my experience,

long in one seat for comfort,

but better than some of the 15- and 16-hour

stints | have experienced

in the past.

me and | just could not get enough

But Murphys

12 hours is just too

law did as usual follow

comfort even for a few short naps. Add

up the various hours from the start of the first day, the 100-mile drive,
waiting times plus fights etc, | had been approx 40 hours without sleep
when we landed in Melbourne.

The three hours ‘chauffeur’ drive to Yack

was relative luxury, but the persistence of the small but irritating symptoms
were still there. A day or two later Steven felt very crook on the Saturday or
Sunday morning and felt he could not go to his workplace that day. Another

one who

is seldom

ill.

| went out to get in some

provisions on Monday. When

| returned, Steven

had done a COVID test and was waving the device and pointing at yours
truly.... Positive!
100%

Of course!

| was then tested too and although not quite a,

result it did show up a rather faint positive result - Ugh. Conclusion

was that the disease had about passed the peak.
Anyway...

back to things radio!

Whilst in the UK, | had with me two radios

transported from VK.
One was my little Elecraft KX3 and accessories like cables, a simple dipole
and my latest home

brew key - the very near copy of a Marconi

PS 213 -

slightly bigger and certainly heavier than the radio itself.
Nice job - a very large home-brewed

key, or a bloody small transceiver!

The only good reason apart from my own usage, of taking such a heavy key
was to show it to Eddie G3WNQ.

Eddie is an old friend, FISTS member,

ship radio man and Humber Radio GKZ op who has a rare original 213 and
went to much

effort to send me photos and measurements

of his key - thus

enabling me to make the copy. There are about three versions of the
Marconi

key with slight changes over the years,

and | made very minor changes for practical purposes... one was to add the
longer base plate - an advantage
many were in commercial

if the key is not screwed to a bench as

use.

Also in my luggage was a relatively heavy (3.5 kgs) TS-50 which had a fault
that | could not find anyone to fix in VK land... despite a couple of years
making enquiries.

The radio was fixed in the UK without great difficulties

and indeed what |
thought was a u/s PA or driver problem, turned out to be the low pass filter.
No doubt a less expensive solution, but time spent is money these days.
The TS-50, despite its age of circa 25 Years, is a compact radio built in PCB
layers, virtually impossible to access without special test gear. It
revolutionised my 100W

mobile set-up in the 1990s like nothing previously

could have done. So | am delighted to have it QRV again.
During my /p ops in the UK this trip, using my original (1963) G3SCD

call of

course, |
made approximately

175 QSOs from a garden shed, where only power was

from a rather old car battery which just managed
Amp

to supply 12v and an

or three for the KX3 to output its max of 10 watt (in theory anyway).

My dipole resonant on 40m would quickly be matched

by the amazing

auto

ATU built in the KX3. But all was not well, and | found a problem all too
soon;

an apparently dead

band on the CW

life if | switched to SSB - most odd.
a few emails exchanged

(well what else?) came to

And no, it was not operator trouble and

with the wonderful and helpful Elecraft tech folk

eventually reached the conclusion
would

mode

it was likely a DSP problem... which

necessitate a return to the factory. All Elecraft radios will emit a CW

signal on key-down

in SSB setting (an option) so | was able to use it, albeit

with the wider filter. | much

prefer the 400 Hz filter for CW; even with the

2.8kHz SSB filter ‘closed’ to max the receiver comes

nowhere

near the

listening comfort of the quietness of the narrow one.
Now if readers are paying attention and not fallen asleep looking at my
rambling,s they might think "What about the TS 50??”. Quite right.. but....
the Kenwood

needs a few more Amps than the battery would supply for

100w and, to reduce the power of the TS-50 needs access to the menu
which | could not get at as | did not have that thing called a Mic - which has
4 special buttons on for that purpose.... AARRGGH
abandoned

and the KX3 dispatched to USA.

- So that idea was

G3SCD

went QRT and changed

the return flight in the hope of losing Murphy en-route, preferably whilst
wearing a concrete waistcoat over a deep Ocean trench.
[Wow

- what an adventure

and laugh!

challenge to repair.
me

David.

In years to come

| think you'll look back

| agree about the TS-50 - they’re a beaut little machine,

but a

The TS-50 is my current HF transceiver - and it’s done

very well all over Australia and overseas.

Shoulda dropped me a line

about the power-setting menu David - who needs a microphone
know the menu commands!

Anyway,

when you

terrific to have you back on the net

mate].

This Week’s
Or...

is there’s

In an attempt to spend

Topic of Interest
more

to life than

just

(?)

no more than two full days assembling the RagChew

this week (Elizabeth and | are on holidays after all - HI!), I've opted to not
rabbit on about non-CW topics.

In the past, as well as CW, we've talked

about propagation, antennas, operating practices etc.

Please let me know

if there’s something you'd like to chat about in future editions - so we can
all share more thoughts and ideas;

email your thoughts

to mark.bosma@icloud.com

Tuesday’s

CQ QRS

Net

Reminder.

So back to the Slow CW QSO

practice net.

Our CQ QRS Net will be on as

always on Tuesday October 31st from around 0900z;

see below for details.

Fingers crossed that we'll keep attracting more Easterners and that they'll
stay up late to catch the fun as the band opens from the East to the West
once again.
So thank you so much to our outstanding team of 10 contributors this
week:

Peter VK7KPC,

VK6BEK,

Phillip VK6DEV, John VK5ET,

David VK3DBD,

lan VK5CZ,

Claude VKITE,

Richard VK6HRC,

Shaun

Keiran VK3BTV and

especially, David VK6KD
unexpected

who should have other things on his mind with the

passing of his Father, Leland Potts VK6KLE.

Thank you team - once again, a superb effort - it’s the thoughts of the team
plus the photos that makes
(perhaps 100-plus would
me know by email to

RagChew

so interesting to the 100-odd

be safer) subscribers;

coming week on Tuesday’s net.

please let

who you work or hear this

As always, | can only attempt poorly to

listen-in and log QSOs while having QSOs
comments

so for everyone,

mark.bosma@icloud.com

myself - so | really want your

each week to make our RagChew

newsletter interesting.

And again, for those who | work next Tuesday night, please accept my
apologies in advance for the pauses,

repeated dah-di-di-di-dahs etc while |

attempt to pick up and log callsigns that | hear in parallel, send WhatsApp
notes, do one-way propagation tests, etc.
And don’t forget our CQ QRS group on WhatsApp - a terrific way to
exchange alerts and comments

during the net and also to spot QRS

stations at other times.

The feed from last week is below;

join in on the WhatsApp

group if possible.

(stujen55@gmail.com)
add you to the group.

or me know your mobile phone number, and we'll

At least one of our team

I'd like you to

Please let Stuart VK6MK

isn’t receiving the RagChews;

his email

application is dumping them unceremoniously and unread

in his deleted

mailbox, along with other emails created by MailChimp.

Let me know if

you’re also not receiving the weekly missive - HI!
Cheers,

mb
Mark Bosma
VK2KI / VK6QI
Beautiful South Bowning NSW
mark.bosma@icloud.com
non impediti ratione cogitationis
“Without antennas, amateur radio just wouldn't be the same” - author:

About

the CQ
Here’s

the

QRS

dah-dah dit!

Net

details.

The team will be on again for our usual Tuesday arvo / evening

Practice

QSO

This

Net.

CQ QRS will start at 0900z until about 1100-1400z+.

translates to 1700 - 2000-2230+
and

2000

2400+

Eastern

WA time, 1930 - 2330+

Summer

time.

SA Summer time

(I think!).

So tune around and call anyone you hear, or find yourself a quiet spot in

the 3540kHz to 3570kHz segment and start calling CQ QRS at about 75% of
the speed you're comfortable receiving at;

hopefully responders will match

(or send slower to their comfort level).
When

you hear someone

slower.

new, please match their sending speed - or

The person you're replying to may not be as deft on the decoding

as you - it may be their first ever CW QSO - remember your first?

Lather of

sweat, key that refuses to send that you tell it, brain that refuses to decode
those complex
someone
“AGN?

letters that were right there half an hour ago, etc!

And if

is sending too fast to comfortably copy - “PSE RPT PSE QRS” or

PSE QRS” will make

life easier for everyone.... and might just

encourage other listeners to have a go themselves.

The other thing to

remember - most operators are writing down what they hear... so when you
put it back to them, expect a delay while they read your words of wisdom,
before replying.
The aim is to give everyone a go at contacting others - no-one owns their
calling frequency on this net... even Monsieur trois cing cing cing :) So
unlike working

DX, if you hear someone

signing of - jump in and call -

doesn’t matter who was first on the frequency - we’re all good

mates on

this net.... and besides, at the speed we’re sending, after a QSO
will have forgotten who was first!

most of us

If you really want to move off frequency

(eg because of a spurious switch mode

power supply signal that’s just

drifted into the conversation), you could try sending an abridged callsign of
the person you’re after, followed by “UP 5” or “DN 5” then K;

then call that

person on the designated frequency and keep your fingers crossed, they
may have understood you and followed... or not.
As always, for newbies, operating suggestions are available from the
operating

hints link here:

https://sites.google.com/a/parg.org.au/www-parg-

org-au/training-and-practice-sessions/cq-qrs---slow-cw-qso-practice-net.
There are usually people around until after 1330z - so keep calling until you
catch someone.

| should be on as usual from NSW and via the Remote at

Bedfordale WA, and I'll also be watching the proceedings using the VK6QS
and Tecsun SDRs in WA and NSW

CQ QRS

respectively.

Traffic from the CQ QRS

Here’s what went on on the CQ QRS WhatsApp

Feed
Group.

message group this week:

[24/10/2023 09:22] Mark Bosma: VK2KI/p Bermagui working VK7KPC on 3555kHz.
[24/10/2023 09:37] Max Faulkner:

But too early for me to hear anything

[24/10/2023 09:38] Peter Scales: Still great to up here, on your test tx
[24/10/2023

09:38]

Stuart Cumming:

I’m listening on the side but eating

[24/10/2023

09:38]

Stuart Cumming:

Waiting

[24/10/2023 09:39] Stuart Cumming:
warning

if call come

on a work call

Can give quick call max but will have to go QRT without

[24/10/2023 09:40] lan - VK5CZ:

| be on in a while.

[24/10/2023

09:40]

Mark

Bosma:

VK2KI/p

calling CQ

on 3555.

[24/10/2023

09:53]

Mark

Bosma:

VK6BEK

and VK6FN

chatting

Max

were

on 3562.

VK2KI/p

calling CQ

on 3555.

Copyable on the Brookton SDR.
[24/10/2023

10:05]

Mark

Bosma:

you

pouring

[24/10/2023

10:11] Mark Bosma:

589 here Max - sounds like you can't hear me yet.

[24/10/2023

10:18]

Mark

Bosma:

VK2WEO

[24/10/2023

10:20]

Max

Faulkner:

Nothing

and VK3DBD
heard

in to my /p station;

chatting

listen for me

on 3541.8kHz.

here at this. Stage...

on 3562?

[24/10/2023

10:25]

Mark

Bosma:

VK2WEO

and VK3DBD

chatting

on 3541.8,

VK5CZ

and VK7KPC

chatting on 3556.
[24/10/2023

10:31] Keiran Blyth: VK3BTV calling CQ on 3560

[24/10/2023

10:40]

Mark

Bosma:

Still there

Keiran?

[24/10/2023

10:42]

Mark

Bosma:

VK3ADX

and VK5CZ

chatting

[24/10/2023

10:43]

Mark

Bosma:

VK2KI/p

calling CQ

on 3560.

[24/10/2023

10:49]

Mark

Bosma:

VK3BTV

and VK2KI/p

[24/10/2023

10:53]

Lin Jacob: VK6NT

[24/10/2023

11:12] Phillip Jubb: Can hear you mark but in and out very quickly

[24/10/2023

11:17] Mark Bosma: Thanks Phillip. | was copying you about Q3 as well. Also Peter 61S

on 3556.

chatting

on 3560.

still at work.

was strong but couldn't hear me.
[24/10/2023

11:18]

Peter Scales:

Not hearing

you

at all Mark

[24/10/2023

11:20] Phillip Jubb: | have a terrible noise right over our op freq so you'll find me up

around 3565
[24/10/2023

11:22]

[24/10/2023

11:25] Phillip Jubb: In line waiting.

Mark

Bosma:

VK5CZ

and VK2KI/p

[24/10/2023

11:35] Peter Scales: Go Phil

[24/10/2023

11:38]

lan - VK5CZ:

Sri Phil lost you

Mark

Well

chatting

in the noise.

on 3556.

Have

to be a rubber stamp

tonight.

Regards vk5cz
[24/10/2023

11:40]

[24/10/2023

11:45] Phillip Jubb: Thx 5cz

[24/10/2023

11:46] Phillip Jubb: Thx mark. Can just hear you on 3560

[24/10/2023

11:49] Mark Bosma: VK6BEK and VK5CZ on 3556. VK2KI/p on 3560.

[24/10/2023

11:56] lan - VK5CZ: Thanks for the calls tonight 7 qso QRT vk5cz..

[24/10/2023

12:00] Mark Bosma:

[24/10/2023

12:05]

Mark

Bosma:

VK6IS

and VK6DEV

[24/10/2023

12:08]

Max

Faulkner:

Good

night all..73’s all

[24/10/2023

12:09]

Max

Faulkner:

de fn

[24/10/2023

12:09] Mark Bosma: Quick one before you go Max?

[24/10/2023

12:10] Mark Bosma:

[24/10/2023

12:11] Max Faulkner: Sorry Mark .. on my way for tea...just missed me....

[24/10/2023

12:13] Phillip Jubb: Thanks all. Time to take it all down and head home.

[24/10/2023

12:13] Peter Scales: Gnite Phil

[24/10/2023

12:21] Mark Bosma: Thanks Phillip - sorry we didn't quite make it this time;

Bermagui

Bosma:

for the next two

done

Phillip.

VK2KI/p

chatting

on 3560

among

on 3560. VK2KI/p

the auroral

buzz.

calling CQ

on 3565.

3565

nets - try again?

Cheers

[24/10/2023

12:22] Mark Bosma: VK2KI/p calling CQ on 3560.

[24/10/2023

12:32]

Stuart Cumming:

Thanks

dipole is not working so in my 180m antenna

I'll be /p at

Peter, nice strong

signal

. 20 over at one stage.

. The 3 contacts are the most work that ant has got

[24/10/2023

12:33]

Peter Scales: You

[24/10/2023

12:34]

Stuart Cumming:

were very strong,

too

[24/10/2023

12:35] Peter Scales: The EC not so good, tonight

[24/10/2023

12:36] Stuart Cumming:

[24/10/2023

12:36] Peter Scales: Likewise

[24/10/2023

12:40] Mark Bosma:

[24/10/2023

12:40] Mark Bosma: VK2KI/p calling CQ on 3555kHz.

[24/10/2023

12:46] Stuart Cumming: Thought it was my ant. Calling CQ on 21 got Sweden.

| got VK2KI but just readable

Using only 5 Watts here to ZSGBKW

doublet up 9m.

Now

going QRTCheers
[24/10/2023
watching

12:52] Mark Bosma: VK2KI/p still calling CQ on 3555 - very lonely at the Blue Pool whale

point near Bermagui

NSW.

[24/10/2023

13:17] Mark Bosma: CQ QRS through the auroral noise - VK6QI on 3555.

[24/10/2023

13:37] Matt Dhue: Sorry mark, only got the occasional signal. Need some noise

cancelling or some investigation around here with noise or could be antenna to?

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