Past

Issues

Translate

View this email

in your browser

CQ QRS
What happened

last Tuesday, and a reminder for the next net.

Reminder

19 Contributors this week..

Quiet... or was

Richard

Lightning

e Whale

for 14Nov23

goes

CQ QRS
Nineteen!

it?
portable and

Claude goes

Mobile

never strikes twice

Migration

How

much

CW Acadamy

e Tecsun

RagChew

Season

Over

do people copy?

SDR

Propagation

Reminder

Off Air
of Static Crashes

- a combined

for Saturday/ Sunday’s

SKCC

research

Slow CW

She was relatively quiet on our CQ QRS Slow CW Practice QSO
Tuesday;

project?

Saunter.
net last

for the second week in a row there were some thunderstorms

causing trouble for everyone - but you might be surprised where the storms
were located.

See the my report below, and this week’s topic of interest on

propagation of static crashes.
This was the last time operating

portable and QRP from Bermagui

on the far

South Coast of NSW - sadly I'll be back to normal and operating from home
this coming week.

Shaun VK6BEK and Max VK6FN

were both apologies last week,

but |

counted 11 stations on between 0900z and 1300z; thank you to those who
persisted - and considering the aim of the net - to give people practice in
CW QSOs - having some
internet-based

interference, fading etc gives the net an edge over

practice - real challenges rather than perfect Morse code.

And the important things:
e

our QSOs aren’t tests - you don’t need to copy 100% to make-out the

RSS

gist of what’s being sent,
e

and

asking for repeats - multiple times if needed - is what it’s all about and good

practice for both sides.

Here’s this week’s

list of stations

heard:

7Nov23 CO ORS Net
Total active stations this week:

Total

505

[reote that this figure
eran be coerect = 0505 may be counted twice of more]

Instructions:

Existing: Users:
Go down

te the line with your callsign on the left (Coturin A). Use the slider on the right hand edge of

If you can't $¢e@ the lines, expand the spreadsheet downwards

by clicking on the bottom of the windea

Move across to O501 (Column Ch, click on the cell and select the callsign of the first G30
Wack text - OSLed,
Repeat the O50

Green text - heard

but not worked,

you had orh

Bue text - incomplete G50 [nal

entry against the other station's row.

Moving to the next cell ta the right in your row for the second O50 ete

If you hear

someone

If you hear

or work soreene net in the left hand column er drag-dawn

just calling OO,

find them on the list in Column.A

We'll then update the spreadsheet (the spreadsheet had hidden
Stuart:

stujenss
eg mail.com

telark:

mark. bosma@icloud.cam

and then enter

00 in Column

list, contact Stuart or Mark an

farriulad that reed

to be copy pa

Cul-S to save the sgreadsheet when done,
If the soréadsheet is tod confusing,
New

send the fist of your contacts and heard

stations bo Stuart oc Mark

Users:
Contact Stuart or Mark {click on email address above] and ask for your calkign (or name

if unlicensed

Include a list of callsigns heard or worked, and we'll add the O50s.

MY CALL
é

Calling CQ

0501

Os02

0503

O50 4

Qs05

VKSKD

VK6OI

Os06

os07

VKBIS

VEBKD

bert COor Listeningif no 050)

VEKLTE/m

VE2KI/p | VEZADX | VESDBD |

VE2BHO
VE2BHO
VE2GAZ
VE2IK
VE2KI/p

VE2NV
VE2WEO
VK3ACU

Listening

VESADX

VKI1TE/m

VESBT¥

VK3DBD

VK2KI/p | VK1TE/m

VESKO
VESCZ
VKSET
VESFD

Listening

0508

VESIP
VESKFG
VKGATB
VEGAAY
VK6BEK
VE6CK

VK6DEV/p
VEK6FN
VEK6GAL
VEGHRC

Listening

VKBIS

VKGPZT

|VKITE/m|

VWK6OQI

VEGIR
VEGIS

VEBAAW | VEGPZT

VEK6JDM
VK6KD:

VE6IS

VKGAAV | VK2KI/p |

VK6OI

VK6KO

VR6LD
VE6MEK
VKENC
VENT
VEKGNW
VE6PZT
VK6Q)
VR6ETY
VEKERU
VETW'W

Listening

VE7KPC

VE2KL'p

VRIZA.

7Nov23

drop menu_J

Reports

& Comments

So here’s this week’s
From

Peter VK7KPC

reports.

at Evandale:

Hi Mark,
Confirming our CW QSO about 21:45 on 3.540
Sent RST 459 received 479
Using Wireless Set 62 crystal locked this week
About 2W output according to matcher
Should

have got rid of most of the chirp

Cheers

Peter VK7KPC...
[Absolutely - chirp fixed;

much easier to listen to than last week.

Good

Job!]
From

Richard VK6HRC/p

at Gidgegannup:

Hi Mark,
| went portable last Tuesday to get away from the Metro hash/QRM.

| am

very lucky to be able to go out to a friend's block in Gidgegannup which is
normally very good for AR but Mr Murphy had the last laugh providing a
major electrical storm somewhere!
Stations heard amongst the huge static crashes :

VK6IS

599+

VK6PZT

599

VKITE

599

VK6QI

599+

So very difficult but good experience for a newby, also heard your VK2KI/p
signals but did not manage to decode enough to get you in the log.
Some

photos of my portable ops.

| get to stay in a van not a luxurious Avan

though at a very nice spot overlooking the Avon valley - no power lines etc.
Unfortunately | did not take a photo of the operating position will rectify
that next outing.
Away gear left to right:
Morse key

Lifepo battery

dipole

+ coax

Thanks

as usual,

Icom 703

throw line and weight

80 mx

Richard VK6HRC/p
PS Will leave the subject of electrical storms to the experts ©...
[Hey Richard.
Thank you for your report - excellent.

Yes it probably wasn't a good test on

Tuesday night - both storm-wise and number of people-wise.

Very quiet on

the latter front.
Experts?

Nope - just enthusiastic learners - HI!

Cheers and thank you muchly].

From

our new team

member Jordan VK3ACU

at Meredith:

Hi Mark,
We

had some

major lightning at home so | had to call it quits just before

7:30. | did log in to a few SDRs but did not manage to catch anyone.
Thanks for the RagChew

newsletter offer, looking forward to it.

I've attached a short video of the lightning*before it got serious.
Cheers

Jordan
VK3ACU
[Thanks Jordan and welcome;

bad luck about Tuesday, but hopefully this

week you'll have more luck.

The net starts at 8pm during daylight saving...

and by about 10pm the band starts opening to WA (we actually have more
VK6s than anywhere else would you believe ?).
Nic VK7WW has forwarded a link to your lightning video below, because |
haven't been able to attach it to this newsletter.

httos:/drive.google.com/file/d/1Y56MCbROKQRi05madgiGsOH4RisdZhnbBNi
ew?usp=share_link
And of course, many thanks to Nic for referring Jordan to our group... Nic
has now successfully referred at least three people to our net - good work
mate].
From

David VK6KD

at Ballajura:

Hi Mark,

The 80m

band was noisy from home

anyone.

| logged onto a number of different remote receivers in the SW

(Brookton and Yarloop).

(as usual) but last week | couldn’t hear

From the Jelcobine (Brookton) receiver | was able

to make the contact with you from VK2.

Lots of static crashes and could

hardly hear your RST report for me which | think was a 469 report.
7:07pm

Listening only:

VK6IS de VK6AAV

7:37pm

QSO-

3.550MHz

8:17pm

3.550 MHz

VK2KI

3.555MHz

(Rx from remote at Jelcobine)

Listening for station calling me.

Could not make out

code but could tell there was CW on the frequency.
9:00pm

QSO

VK6QI

3.560MHz

(Rx from

home

QTH)

Great fun juggling RSTs and multiple receivers at my end.
my wifi OFF switch was on my PC...(right next to the volume

oops!
Catch you next week Mark

| learnt where
mute button)...

Regards
David
VK6KD
[Thanks David - yes | had a laugh when you said that you'd turned your
WiFi off by accident - funny how simple things can become quite an arm-full
when in the middle of a CW contact (just ask Elizabeth how she goes asking
me questions when I’m working people on the net - HI/!].
From

Nic VK7WW

at Legana:

| had +30 over 9 crashes and flashes (see Flash Gordon theme

by Queen

@) and Jordon sent me a video of the closing-in lightening flashes to his
QTH. So instead | did a bit of soldering, with the antenna grounded. One of
our local hams

in St Helens did all the right things antenna-wise but forgot

to unplug

his pc and associate equipment...suffered a spike and lost

modem,

pc etc... | respect the Gods of the ether!

Many years ago | was in my agricultural apprenticeship in Cheshire and was
working with the Farmer when

a storm suddenly approached. A lightning

strike hit an oak tree about 20m from us and blew away part of the tree, we
were both deafened

by the noise. It scared us shltless!

He said to me

‘don’t worry lightening never strikes twice!’ The second strike hit a fence
about 15m from us and literally vaporised the wire. We looked at each
other and without saying a word we suddenly became

contenders for the

Olympic Sprints, running like hell back to the farmhouse some 300m
That was my first lightening experience. The second was when
QLD.

In the evening

the verandah

had

a massive

electrical

storm.

| was

away!

| was in
standing

looking at the street (22 Dean St, Redhill, Brisbane abt 1976)

and a lightening bolt came down
reached the ground

into the street with a ‘soft hit’. It never

but at about 2 ft from the ground

it burst it streamers

going off in every direction (it was raining too). One of the streamers hit my
S2A Land Rover and caused the alarm to go off (which | had just installed!)
the LR survived, but the alarm, although

it went off never worked again.

| was doing hi-voltage research at UQ, so it was very fitting!
Here’s Jordan’s video.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1168652865393401867/11/138
2271824117800/PXL_20231107_090728503.TS.mp42.mp4?
ex=655c79cOGis=654a04cO&hMm=9a5343b903e0a92feee8fcdle3d9claII1c
d8048ef9elea0973ddfca3lcf6b2cd&
73, Nic....
[Great story Nic.

Scary stuff lightning... especially when

makes the hair stand on end;
made

Mark VK6MOA

it strikes so close...

at TET Emtron

me a prototype lightning arrestor for the balanced

in WA

has just

line on my double-

extended Zepp].
From

Richard VK6PZT

at Dalyellup:

Just one contact for me last Tuesday
VK6IS

Peter 579

sent rxv 559

Very odd conditions, not much propagation and few locals on. | had to bowout early for a work related Skype call.

Heres hoping for better conditions next week
Richard
[Thanks mate
From

Peter

- better luck this week | hope].
VK6IS

at Wundowie:

Hi Mark.

Just VK6PZT & VK6AAV - this week.
A strange week, with so few around, & which makes
you are able to hear so many, when

me wonder, just how

I'm not able to work that much.

Peter
[Hi Peter - good question!

Listening on two SDRs (one in WA and one in

NSW) on two computers helps - being able to see the QSOs on the waterfall
display makes all the difference - and 1 can then either listen on the SDR or
my transceiver to pick up the callsigns.

Also as | mentioned before, at

home | use a little stereo mixer to allow QSOs to be monitored from the
different sources in my

left ear, right ear or both together (where the

cerebral cortex does the work).

| also risk annoying the people I’m talking

to by pausing when I’m transmitting but listening for callsigns.

Not as

much fun as being able to concentrate on one QSO though].
From

Claude VK1TE/m

at Mount Taylor:

Hi Mark,

Another interesting event!
After taking a TS-480sat out of its box and mounting

it in the Ute I just

started learning how to use it a few days ago. Quite different compared to
an FT-857D.
Managed

a first QSO with it with a Hobart Station. The QSO was

unfortunately aborted

because | made a mistake while trying to reduce the

output power, lost the contact and couldn't find the frequency back soon
enough as | did not lock it... Silly, but, anyway,
40m

between

it was nice to get a 589 on

my high-QRN driveway and Hobart!

During the QRS net, the TS-480 was driving a Little Tarheel2 antenna which
covers from 80m to 6m. The FT-857D is still installed and | use it with a
Yaesu ATAS-120a

(working from 40m to 70cm).

The time it takes for the

tuning of screw driver antennas is a bit long but it will do for now... The
Kenwood

might become

my preferred unit when

I'll get used to it. By

current standards they are both old units but, apart from missing
panadapters and waterfall displays, they are doing a good job.
As you can see, | keep trying to squeeze as much as | can from a mobile
installation.
You seem to also try to squeeze what you can from your /P system.
The picture indicates that, | should probably nickname the old Ute Echidna!

7)
Another novelty on my side is that | just realised that it feels more natural
for me to use the CW paddle on reversed

polarity. | don't know why... could

it be because | used exclusively a straight key for many years before?... It

will take some time until | get accustomed to the change.

| would find

interesting to know if anyone else experienced that?
So last week, at the bottom West of Mount Taylor | stopped the Ute while
remembering

my wife asking me to make sure | wouldn't get wacked!

;-)

There were a few cars over there, in the dark, where | was hoping to stop
but | preferred to let those doing whatever they were doing on their own
and drove back down a bit! ;-)
1026Z: Getting back to the QRS, as | did not copy anyone | started CQ and
you were my first QSO with 559-479.

| started with 1OOW and

| am not sure

if you actually copied my 5w signal at the end...
1045Z: VK3ADX,

Merv, appeared with 379 - 359

1102Z: You VK2KI/P were with VK3DBD
11222:

| worked

VK3DBD

David

599+20db

- 589

1136Z: you VK2KI/P reappeared 459 - 589 QSB QRN
1220: VK6KD

(David)

Later, back home,

de VK2KI/P

| had a quick look at the VK6QS

SDR and if | remember

you were there VK6QI with another VK6 station.
Overall, it was a good session. Thanks for the contacts and see you next
time.
73
k
VKI1TE
[Thanks Claude - terrific report again - and great that you were able to get
amongst it - despite the low numbers.

Unfortunately the image didn’t

come through with your email - | couldn’t open any of the attachments please try again mate.

Interesting question about swapping the paddle

direction - | don’t use a paddle, so it’d be good to get some comments from
those who do.

We even have one operator who uses a horizontal paddle to

good effect].
From John VKS5ET at Hope

Valley:

Last Tuesday dead quiet apart from the noise. | was expecting to hear at
least one

VK5

but nil heard;

| thought at one stage that my antenna was

crook. Received a call from Paul, VK5PH

a day later saying that comms

were out that day/ night due to a Mass Coronal

Ejection, or something

along those lines.
All being well, should be VK5ET/p,

next week, trying out a ZS6BKW,

don't hold your breath. Hope to get some

but

rabbits while away.

73's, John...
[Hey John.

Yes I'd seen a solar event warning but the band was ok - apart

from static crashes again. | worked VK7,
5 Watts from Bermagui on the NSW

VK1 and VK6 with my ZS6BKW and

far South Coast. Did you hear lots of

static crashes down there? Fingers crossed for your /p - where to this time?]
You did well on 5 watts, Mark. Probably the location being near the sea may
have contributed to your good haul of stations. Tuesday night had some
crashes etc, amongst the noise but strange that no stations were heard,

not even a faint signal. Hoping to get better signals this Tuesday,

may try

QRP while here, can only try. Will be on a property 60 + km S.E of Hawker
in the Flinders Ranges (abt 5 hr drive, taking Jipsi with me. Staying there for
few

nights

)

Cheers, John
From

Mike

VK6AAV

at Forrestfield:

G'Day Mark.
On Tuesday night the band seamed to be rather quiet. | only managed
work Peter VK6IS who came

in at 579 and he gave me a similar report also.

| also heard two VK6 stations but they were very low down and | was unable
to copy their full callsigns. May have better luck next Tuesday.
meantime

In the

best wishes and Regards.

Mike Molnar
VK6AAV...
[Thanks Mike - 1 did try calling you at 1130z - but my 5 Watts just didn’t cut
the mustard this time.

Cheers].

From

at Yakandandah

David VK3DBD

after the previous week’s

net:

| was sorry to miss the session last week.
| was pleased to manage

| was just too tired.

a QSO with Claude this week.

improved vastly over a few minutes.

Claude’s signal

He supplied no info on his set up in

our contact, but as you know, | have always been very keen on mobile
operation.

| have not bothered

much

of late as it is a tread warily pass-time

these days... the VK police are unlikely to be too keen on the idea.

So!

mostly use static mobile to be sensible - my driving licence is a priceless
asset that | intend to keep - HI!
73

David

[Thanks David.

Bermagul.

etc included;
From

he’s given further details above too].

VK6QI

at Bedfordale

Operating

Good to work you this week from my QRP station at

On Claude’s mobile set up - see last week’s RagChew - photos

via the

and

the

VK6QS
VK6CRO

portable at Bermagui

the South-bound

SDR

at Brookton,

Remote

NSW

the VK6SR

Remote

at Carnarvon:

near the Victorian border once again;

migration of female humpback whales and calves

appeared to be over - so from the look-out above the Blue Pool, | could
concentrate on the CW

net instead of watching.

to listen to the VK6QS

SDR at Brookton - the SDR was full - so | couldn't

Using my iPad from the car

connect for a long time, but | could piggy-back on Clause VKI1TE’s
connection.

Once | was let in, | heard Peter VK6IS at Wundowie

calling and

calling - with no one to talk to until Mike VK6AAV at Forrestfield came
also heard Richard VK6PZT calling;

1300z.

however, with the very limited battery

life available on my notebook computer,
Bedfordale Remote

up.

| had to hold off on using the

until | did the one-way propagation test at around

David VK6KD

responded to my Vees and we had a nice chat, except

that the Remote just wasn’t transmitting what | was keying.

It would get

about 90% of the characters right, but then send something

different part

way through a letter.

Probably not surprising though - if you think about

how the latency (delay) varies as packets are sent through from my
computer to the Remote, this sort of thing must be common

- | didn’t try

varying the buffer settings at the time to test that theory.

It’s also possible

that my key-to serial port adapter was playing up.

Anyway, thanks to

David for putting up with my strange keying,

Also From
doublet

me, VK2KI/p

up 8m

using

FT-817

and also using the Tecsun

at Bermagui

SDR

at Araluen

| noticed Claude VKITE using the Tecsun SDR at Araluen
VK6QS

and ZS6BKW

NSW

NSW:

(and the

SDR at Brookton) - but | couldn’t get in to either SDR - they both can

have a maximum

of four people connected - so | just had to wait, while

calling CQ using my transceiver with 5 Watts.

Claude mast have taken pity

- because he disconnected from the SDRs to go mobile... which allowed me
in | reckon.
Claude’s mobile signal was quite useable at RST 479 among

the static

crashes, and he did a stepped trial of reducing the power from 100 Watts,
to 50, then 10, then 5 Watts - | could copy him ok all the way, although
things were getting tougher as the power was reduced of course.
| then worked

Peter VK7KPC

at Evandale with his two Watts - also RST 479 -

but being crystal locked on 3539.8kHz, there was no sign of the keying
chirp that had made things interesting last week.
an

RST 599 chat with David VK3DBD

| followed that QSO with

at Yakandandah;

my signal was

varying from 529 to 599 which must have been fun among

the crashes.

And speaking of static crashes - for those listening in on the band, you
might be interested to see where the storms were located.
VK2OMD

Thanks to Owen

(see below), | could watch the individual crashes in near-real time

on my phone.

And using the two SDRs, | could see the simultaneous

lightning bursts on the waterfall displays in NSW and WA - yet the storms
themselves that were producing the noise on those SDRs were actually
located in the South West of Queensland
though there were storms across much

and North West of NSW
of the continent).

(even

See below.

The

green dotted lines show which Blitzortung stations received the particular
strike | was watching.

all Boost

10:51 pm
@ blitzortung.org

A worldwide,

real-time, community

a7 @O 75% a)

collaborative lightnir

location network. © 2003-2023 Blitzortung.org
Contributors

| listened-in to Claude working David, and at around
Mike VK6AAV
however,

| heard both

and Peter VK6IS coming through to NSW at around

neither could hear the mighty FT-817 when

Claude and | hooked
To round

1130Z,

| called.

RST 469 -

Instead,

up again - by now he was RST 589 and reported 459.

out the night from VK2,

Ballajura and managed

| heard

David

VK6KD

calling CQ from

to exchange 469 RSTs.

So although there was nowhere

near the usual number of stations on, | still

kept busy and had a good number of QSOs from my portable set-up, before
pulling the antenna down and heading
1330z.

back to our campervan

at around

Other
Other things
From

Will VK6UU

News

I’ve received

at Gooseberry

from

our 100-odd

readers.

Hill:

Hello All,
Tropo opening on 2m from Perth to Carnarvon this morning
CW

26th October.

SSB RO
Wireless Hill beacon on 2m

not heard (cross polarised)

FB
Will
VK6UU...
[Will is one of the many non-CW operators who find that CW can be useful
sometimes for esoteric things like tropospheric propagation].
From

Phillip VK6DEV

at Dalyellup:

Sorry | didn’t make it this week Mark - came

back from PerthTech with the

flu
Phillip
VK6DEV
vk6dev@gmail.com...
[Bummer Phillip.

| hope you enjoyed PerthTech despite that].

And

David

This week,

from

VK3DBD

at Yakandandah:

| thought I’d tell you about some of the home

made

keys I've

built, along with some thoughts about receiving and transmitting speeds.
know some of our members

have asked for opinions about different

paddles.
All (the paddle keys) are magnetic which | feel is definitely the way to go,
and all are different to use.
Commercial

Tony G3ZRJ was an ex-ships RO and

op (FISTS and fellow FOC member too - | have met him).

However | remember

him telling me that when

he was originally trained,

his instructor told the pupils "You can send Morse with bits of wire
couple of bent railway lines - don't

blame the Key...... ".

ora

More about this

below.
| once borrowed a Vibroplex
first paddle | used.

paddle (called a racer | think) and that was the

| used the principles of this with what | felt were a few

enhancements to make several similar paddles mostly using scrap metal |

could buy cheap or scrounge.
to more sophisticated

Several were given to friends. Then

engineering,

looking

| made the BB paddle (4 ball bearing

races) which | still use regularly.

Then the Dogwood

key - named

after the wooden finger pieces fashioned

from a garden shrub of that name - a slightly neater version of the BB.
red perspex ones were an experiment;

that key | think went to the USA.

The round key also went to a new home somewhere

in Victoria.

The

VK3FGE

The much

no doubt

still has

his.

sought-after Marvcini PS-213 is the first straight key | made.

information was kindly supplied by my old friend G3WNQ,
and ex-Humber

radio GKZ operator too.

The

a Ships RO op

He had an original 213 key which

he sent me photos of along with precise measurements.

Only very minor

changes were made to suit my needs and convenience of manufacture.

A longer base was fitted to this key later - in commercial
often screwed to the bench.

use, the keys were

It is a heavy key which with anti-slip material

under the steel base, does not show any signs of walking around the
desktop!

It is in regular use daily.

Now for some thoughts on CW operating that I’ve observed of late.
As you commented

before, it is a pity that so many stations (like the one |

found the week before) have no email addressed

published.

After that

contact on the QRS net, | was going to email him as | suspected,
like so many

he was

had been calling at a speed faster than he could read.

In most

QRS QSOs you seldom get a protracted answer - so are left in doubt how
much they actually copy.

Despite trying hard to QRS to suit the other stn,

getting some feedback is important.
| had a similar one on another CW

net recently.

| think not a member of

that net, but that is of little importance:

he sent his call quite efficiently

and | replied at very close to his speed

but he said NIL CPI PLS QRS..... so |

repeated

most - much

more deliberately QRS and eventually got a

brief

comment and 73. | looked up his call with the intention of emailing him, as
he showed

promise,

because | would

but no email on QRZ.com

like to have offered some

AARRGH.

So annoying

helpful hints.

A one-to-one practice session with talk-back might be the answer,
seem willing to make the effort.

A few mins a day would

into decent ops in a week or two quite easily.

make

but few

many

| remember getting my

sending speed up before getting the receive sorted by listening to a morse
record (by G3HSC

| vaguely recall?)

record player offered

16,

33, 78

played at the various speeds the
etc not quite the Farnsworth speeds we

use these days.
| happened to look at a CW website today and | noticed that there was a
new newsletter. Attempting to download same, | found | had already
downloaded

it - but most likely not actually read it - put it down to old age if

you like but really | have better things to do than sit looking at a computer
screen half the day.

| am

more likely to be putting a few calls out on

various bands - which | do manage

several times a day - often without

success, but often with.
Now reading through that newsletter solved a

little mystery to a point.

few days ago | had a short QSO and at the time felt the call was vaguely
familiar.

It was another QRS contact and again | tried and match the speed

of the other station, but had the feeling that he was not copying all of my
code. | gave him my membership

number per the protocol for that group,

but a reciprocal was not forthcoming even though
quite nice.

| would

his Morse sending was

have expected some feedback on the numbers or at

least a PLS QRS or PLS RPT if he was having problems in copying. Again, |
would

have liked to offer helpful comments,

find there was no email

so again looked up QRZ.com

published. So after our QSO which was perhaps

more one-way than | would

have liked, | felt | needed to communicate with

him to discuss any problems he might have and hopefully
some way - again, without feedback that is difficult.
person was the editor of of that CW

magazine

assist him in

As it turns out, the

I'd just read;

he needs to

have news to edit, and not having an email address to receive such
material cannot make the task easy - there seems a distinct lack of logic
here.
So | fully support any QRS practice sessions (like our CQ QRS Slow CW QSO
practice net) - but it has to be 2-way

to be effective.

easy and there are many versions of itfault that results in broken

Sending QRS is not

drawn out characters is a common

letters and a total failure of timing - which in my

opinion is the essence of good

Morse, whatever its overall speed.

Glad to find our net is QRV of course and sorry my own QRS might not be

ideal - | find it hard going, but hopefully our group realises that everyone on
the net is there for their benefit of course.
73

David

[Thanks for your thoughts and sage guidance David and thank you for the
beautiful images of the keys you've built - perfection!
On sending PSE QRS - yes as you know:
e

Contrary to some of your thoughts,

the aim of our net Is to encourage

people to have a go - irrespective of their skill level and confidence mistakes, lost concentration, missed decodes etc are expected and
most importantly, no-one’s going to judge them on their abilities here.
I’d much rather have two dozen new operators who are willing to
have a go and learn, than having no-one on because they feel that
they'll be judged - it’s just that kind of net - and | think our
participation rate and interest in our newsletter attest!
e

/ encourage our members to not be backward in coming forward always send PSE QRS in preference to struggling.

/also encourage people on our net to try to send at 75% of the speed
that they’re comfortable receiving - so that the net becomes an
enjoyable and relaxing place to be - rather than a palm-sweating race
(1 learned this lesson the hard way when instructing on an advanced
driving course at Calder Park raceway a few years ago - HI!).

Feedback-wise, several people have commented both before you left and
after your return that they actually found your QRS to be too fast!

| suspect

that either:
e

they're sending faster than they can receive (ie per your email);

e you may actually be sending faster than you think; or
e

the slow speed is buggering up your rhythm more than you suspect!

Any thoughts?
Perhaps on the CQ QRS net, try purposely going even slower than the net
member you're working and see if that helps the comprehension - and
helps answer the above options?

As it turns out, most of the time on the

net | try to purposely send slower than the other person.... primarily to give
our listeners under training an opportunity to get some QRS practice - ie
not just for the people we talk to - but others who tune in to learn, but don’t
transmit yet.

Other gun CW operators like you have told me the same

thing - they find slowing down really hard work - it takes concentration to
break old habits (like learning to fly a helicopter after a life time of fixed
wing flying - bloody hard work for some of us - HI!)

Of course, if I'm tired or

feel pressured to catch a new station on our net for instance, | often catch
myself going too fast... and try to consciously slow down.

Challenging eh?

Cheers mate and thanks for your article].
And David's reply:
Hi Mark.
Thanks for your comments;
happening

you are dead

right - but one thing which is

all too often is this character speed thing.

The rot set in years

ago in the UK when the powers decided they would

have a 5 wom

test for certain class of novice licence;

many of the official

this caused

testers to resign because instead of testing at 5 wom

morse

with say a Farnsworth

speed of 18 or 20 as it ought to have been with a two second space
between, they were told to send with a second or more between each dot
and a dash etc - which made the CW

pretty well unreadable because

without the rhythm, you could not tell the difference between the keying of
an individual character and end of a letter - and what about between
words?

So there has been far too many

people taught wrongly in the UK

and possibly Australia in the first place... un-learning such a cognitive
motor skill is harder than learning I’m sure!
More examples:

| found a dead

15m

band yesterday (nothing unusual) but

a station was calling CQ - not very good CW

but enough to make out

AM775CPT;

what the he//- was what | copied the totally run together

characters,

no spaces with repeats? | called him thinking it was some USA

special call, as | was beaming West

to the USA.

| got a “?” reply so | sent

my call back 2 or three times - but then abandoned the attempt.
A few mins later | heard a weak VK4 calling CQ and turned the beam to the
North to improve his signal by 2 or more S points. We had a reasonable
QSsO but with a rather error-punctuated Code from the operator who turned
out to be a Keen QRP hunter.

| read his interesting QRZ page later as he

failed to answer all my questions - which again makes one wonder how
much

he was NOT copying....

if only he had sent PSE QRS or PSE RPT!

was certainly doing QRS to the best of my ability to match
Reading

his sending.

his blurb he had splashed out on a new Begali paddle

(!) presumably to try improve his Morse.

Now to my mind and

experience, one should learn on a pump

key and only progress to a paddle

to relieve the muscles and physical effort perhaps, at higher speeds but only once you have achieved that status on a straight key.

In my

opinion, learning to use a paddle is about as much effort as learning the
Code in the first place.
Reading good code, properly sent at a reasonable speed
necessity

before one starts to send yourself.

regular practice and

is almost a

It can only be done with

given that, it is not a lengthy leaning process at all to

say 10 or 12 wom.

Once that stage is reached the student should be

listening to 20 wpm

and copying

as much

as he or she can.

After a very

few short sessions, he or she will find that falling back to copying
there is an almost boring wait for the next letter to come!!

12 wom

Yes it really

works!
73

David.

[Cheers David - and others’ thoughts on learning the art?]
From

Max VK6FN

at Manjimup

after the previous week’s

net:

Yeah sorry Mark.
A pity | did not hear a thing from u last Tuesday...

However, that’s how the

cookie crumbles...Was after | had shut down that | got your message saying
that you were looking for me...Conditions did not allow for Lee 6TY

myself to have contact... we’ve finally got him up and running on Slow
Morse.

Expect good things from him in the future.

73's Max....
[Thanks Max - | look forward to hearing Lee on again soon].
From

Chris

VK3QB

at Korumburra:

Hi Mark, would you please pass this notice on to the QRS community?
Would you like to learn or improve your Morse Code?

CW Operators Club runs CW Academy three times per year. Courses are
directed at four levels of competence:
Beginner, Fundamental,
You

can

learn

Intermediate, and Advanced.
about these

courses

here:

https://cwops.org/cw-academy/cw-academy-options/

CW Academy

have trained thousands of amateurs who are now enjoying

Morse Code. The syllabus and methods are tried and tested, and far less
frustrating than the methods you may have used in previous attempts to
master the code.
Chris VK3QB

is seeking expressions of interest from those who would like to

attend a Beginners or Fundamentals Course in January/February 2024.
Courses run for eight weeks, and a detailed syllabus is provided. There are
two Zoom

sessions per week;

Monday and Thursday evenings, VK time.

If you have questions or would like to discuss, please contact Chris VK3QB
by email vk3qb(at)hotmail.com

73, Chris VK3QB

CW Ops # 2949
wWww.cwops.org

[Thanks Chris - terrific addition to our newsletter - please let me know
about the courses as they come up - and remind me just before each one
for last minute additions.
From Allen VK5FD
Hi Mark,

Hopefully we can send people in both directions].

at Blakeview

after the previous week’s

net:

Emails recvd. On 31/10 | heard VK6FN, VK6AAV and VK5CZ,

but | only

worked John VK5ET.
Allen VK5FD
[Thanks Allen;

yes | heard you from my portable set up at Bermagui when

you were working John.

Thanks for your report mate].

From

from TecSun

Garry VK2YBX

at Araluen

NSW

Radios the owner of the KiwiSDR

that | use to monitor the band

over this side

during the net:
Mark, looks like we have been hacked. When

| checked

it last night | gota

message saying "you have all been kicked off". | do have a standby unit but
it will need some

programming

to become operational. | am away all next

week with no opportunity to get it fixed. So looks like our SDR will be out of
action for a few weeks.
maybe

Its doing something with lots of network activity so

its rebuilding the firmware. There are no PCs connected

in the

network here so | might as well let it run for the next week. U better alert
your team....

[Thanks Garry - one of life’s mysteries these days - vandals, hackers, and
other anti-social behaviour that makes life difficult for others - although |
recognise that some people take their own life frustrations out by
pain on others, it’s still a mysterious aspect of human nature.

inflicting

Thanks for

the advice - and | look forward to hearing of progress - in the mean

time,

unfortunately your terrific facility ts off air].

From

Garry VK2GAZ

at Hobartville:

Greetings all.
The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday,
18th November,

2023 from 00:00 UTC until 23:59 UTC.

All are welcome to join in!!
If you are looking to make a few slow speed CW contacts this might just be
the event for you.
All the details for the Oceania

QRS

SKCC

Saunter

website

(OQS)

can

be viewed

on the

at:

https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/oqs/
Please make use of the SKCC Sked Page and the CW Club RBN Spotter.
https://sked.skccgroup.com/
httos://ron.telegraphy.de/

| look forward to contacting you during the event.
Best regards,
Garry VK2GAZ/VK2ZP
#5460C.

SK % CC

Straight Key Century Club

SKCC
Straight

oas

Key Century

Oceania

QRS

Club

Saunter

Saturday 18th November, 2023 0000z

This Week’s

Topic of Interest

Do static crashes

propagate?

After suffering the cascade of static crashes during last week’s net, |
pondered

in last week’s RagChew whether or not static crashes were

propagated via the ionosphere.
Intuitively, the answer might have been yes... after all, the electromagnetic
pulses are no different to our own (less annoying?) emissions, except that
they are wide-band
say 30km

height.

been as annoyed

and come from sources from ground-level
However,

up to let’s

if that was the case, stations in WA would

have

by them as us unfortunates in the East once the band

opened - and | would

have also seen them concurrently on the VK6QS SDR.

So there was a paradox to explore.
| was really pleased to hear from our reader Owen VK2OMD
Bowral

in the Southern

up at beautiful

Highlands:

Hi Mark,

There are online maps of lightning activity, lots of observers in the US etc,
but there are some here. You might read how they work, and compare the
real time maps with your listening experience to form a view about
ionospheric propagation.
For example:
map=20.
73
Owen

https://www.blitzortung.org/en/live
lightning maps.php?

all Boost

10:26pm
@ blitzortung.org

& 7F @

93% (=)

tcl.com

Front Load Washing

aay

® Machines

2023-11-04
Lear es

UTq
Strik

A worldwide, real-time, community collaborative lightninc
location network. © 2003-2023 Blitzortung.org
Contributors
C'est bon!

That's an excellent way to start the discussion. | see that the

website allows us to roll the memory

back to the specific date and time (eg

the previous Tuesday and say the previous time when the WA stations were
sent under the blankets by the static crashes - if the system allows me to
go back that far).
Now for this topic I’m starting from a zero base, so rather than doing the
research myself and suggesting

hypotheses or answers which are just as

likely to be wrong as anyone else, I'm hoping some of our subscribers might
like to do some of the research on whether or not the static crashes are
propagated the was way as our transmissions.

So I’m suggesting some

(perhaps guided) research by our readers, so that together we might come
up with some

ideas or hypotheses to test on future occasions.

So would anyone
this time?

like to have a go at a portion (or even all) of the research

I’m thinking for instance that one or more of our team could

research:

How the Blitzortung lightning tracking system works?

e What receive frequency is used by Blitzortung and whether the pick-up
stations (the dots on the end of the green dashed

lines in the image

above) are receiving the signals via ionospheric propagation or by
refracted line-of sight?
e What have others written about propagation of static crashes via the
ionosphere?
e
e

Gather others’ on-air experiences with static crashes.
Do some experiments with SDRs around Australia (perhaps on
different frequencies) to look for hints.

e And ultimately bring the information together to answer the paradox
about whether or not static crashes are propagated via the same
mechanism

as our 80m transmissions.

I’m very happy to work with any volunteers to provide steering, exchange
thoughts, etc.

The idea is that we run the project over a number of weeks -

adding to our knowledge as we go - a bit like we did with the one-way
propagation

paradox in previous RagChews.

Any thoughts, ideas, experiences that might add to our knowledge of this
phenomenon?
ideas;

Please let me Know so we can share more thoughts and

email to me 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 tonight from around 0900z (5pm WA time, 7:30pm SA time and
8pm

Eastern time); see below for details.

Fingers crossed that we’ll keep

attracting more Easterners and that they’Il 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 19 contributors this
week:

Peter VK7KPC,

Richard VK6HRC, John VK3ACU,

David VK6KD,

Nic

VK7WW,

Richard VK6PZT,

Peter VI6IS, Claude VK1TE, John VK5ET,

Mike

VK6AAV,

David VK3DBD,

Will VK6UU,

Chris

VK3QB, Allen VK5FD,

Garry VK2YBX,

Phillip VKeDEV,
Garry VK2GAZ

Max VK6FN,

and Owen VK2OMD.

Thank you team - 19 contributors to this week’s RagChew
me!) - how good

is that?

(not including

| even had an enquiry from a reader concerned

that he hadn’t received the newsletter yet (I’ve had a number of
interruptions - including returning from Bermagui,
days in Canberra, etc - so the RagChew

having to spend two

is nearly five days late;

I'll aim for

getting it out on Thursday night this week - let’s see how | go!
But it’s the thoughts of the team
interesting to the 100-odd
so for everyone,

plus the photos that makes

RagChew

(perhaps 100-plus would be safer) subscribers;

please let me know by email to

mark.bosma@icloud.com

who you work or hear this coming week on Tuesday’s net - before
Thursday if possible please.

As always, | can only attempt poorly to listen-

in and log QSOs during the net while having QSOs

myself - so | really want

your comments

newsletter interesting.

each week to make our RagChew

And for those who | work on 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
one-way propagation tests, etc.

notes, do

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; I'd like you to
join in on the WhatsApp

group if possible. Please let Stuart VK6MK

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

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

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's usually people around until after 1330z - so keep calling until you
catch someone.

| should be on as usual from home

in 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

Feed

Here’s what went on on the CQ QRS WhatsApp

Group.

message group this week:

[8:23 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VK2KI/p calling CQ on 3557.
[8:28 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: is the band open ?
[8:29 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma:

Not yet mate. Was that you calling on 3560 before? | can only

get on one SDR at the mo - no dogs heard yet over East.
[8:30 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: The disk line is just going through Adelaide at the mo - so it'll be
a while | suspect.
[8:30 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: Yeah 3560 got the last hour
[8:47 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: Very quiet tonight in both WA and the East.
[8:50 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: Zilch for at least an hour occording to VOACAP site
[8:52 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VK2KI/p calling CQ 3557.
[8:53 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VKGIS also calling CQ on 3557.
[8:54 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: nada
[9:09 pm, 07/11/2023] Richard Ayre: vk6pzt calling CQ on 3555
[9:31 pm, 07/11/2023] Richard Ayre: i hearing a continuous tone on 3557
[9:32 pm, 07/11/2023] Richard Ayre: and 14030
[9:46

pm,

07/11/2023]

Mark

[9:49

pm,

07/11/2023]

Richard

[9:52

pm,

07/11/2023]

Mark

[10:07

pm,

07/11/2023]

Mark

[10:19

pm,

07/11/2023]

[10:23

pm,

07/11/2023]

Bosma:

VK7KPC

on 3540

Ayre:

nothing

heared

Bosma:

VK3DBD

and VK2KI/p

in bunbury
on 3558.

Bosma:

VKGAAV

and VKG6IS on 3555.

Mark

Bosma:

VK3DBD

working

Max

Faulkner:

VK1TE/m

on 3558.

Sorry Chaps..

Non starter tonight..
Have

company

from

England

this week.

Ok next week.

Missing

the

session

already.

73'S All
de 6fn
[10:24

pm,

07/11/2023]

Mark

Bosma:

[10:24 pm, 07/11/2023] Max Faulkner: Yea me tooooco
[10:31 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VK3DBD

rolling into WA on 3558 - QSO with VK1TE/m.

[10:33 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: Too Fast !
[10:34 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: Go Peter
[10:36 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VK6IS calling CQ on 3560.
[10:38 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: Guess you're not copying my magnificent 5W eh Peter?
[10:38 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: Can hear you, but can't make it out
[10:39 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: Auroral noise just came up in WA - won't help!
[10:40 pm, 07/11/2023] Richard Ayre: vk3DBD too fast forme

have to bow out now for a work

meeting
[10:40

pm,

07/11/2023]

Peter Scales:

$5 qrn now

[10:40 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: Was super quiet an few hours ago
[10:41 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VKITE/m calling CQ on 3558.
[10:51 pm, 07/11/2023] Peter Scales: Too Weak
[11:04 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: VK1TE/m calling CQ on 3558.
[11:06

pm,

07/11/2023]

Mark

Bosma:

VK6KD

calling CQ

on 3550.

[11:22 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma: Can you hear Claude 1TE/m calling you David?
[11:22 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma:

3550.

[11:24 pm, 07/11/2023] David Potts: Hi Mark. Must be thunder storms across OZ. Sorry can't make
out Claude but can hear code just.
my home QTH

Very noisy from Jelcobine remote rx.

Can't hear anything from

Ballajura. Tx from home QTH.

[11:27 pm, 07/11/2023] Mark Bosma:

R. Pity you didn't hear Claude. Yes thunderstorms all over the

place. | was running without the front end preamp to improve the readability through the noise.
Thanks

for persisting

[11:33

pm,

- glad

07/11/2023]

Mark

made
Bosma:

it.
VK6KD

calling CQ

on 3558.

VK2KI/p

calling CQ

on 3560.

[11:40 pm, 07/11/2023] David Potts: Lost my internet link to the remote rx. Working on the prob
now.

Vk6kd

[12:29 am, 08/11/2023] Mark Bosma: Thanks for your patience David. May be the key to serial to
USB interface making the VK6SR Remote play up. On that previous over, my notebook screen had
gone into power save mode (blank) and hence | didn't see that someone else had connected to the
Remote - requiring me to click on OK to keep transmitting - sidetone continued but it wasn't
transmitting until | unblanked the screen. Cheers and thanks for the chat x 2.
[12:35

am,

08/11/2023]

David

Potts: Also thanks

Mark for persisting.

my QTH soi was receiving from a number of remotes.
sending, | accidently turned off my wifi on the pc.
remote again.
QRT

now.

| was

not receiving

much

from

In my hast to silence the remote when | was

Rookie mistake.

Took me a

while to log onto the

All contacts with you on your remote | Rx from my home QTH direct.

Good fun, going

73 vk6kd

[10:10 am, 08/11/2023] Lin Jacob: Sounds like you folks had a great party last nigh, and new
participants too. | haven't get on for weeks now due to personal circumstances.

But | didn't give up,

still keep training my ears when there is right chance. Will try to get back on next week.
[10:12 am, 08/11/2023] Mark Bosma:

Hi Lin. | was wondering what happened to you - sorry you

couldn't make it - hope you can get on again soon mate.

The

opinions expressed

The

opinions

Send

in the

do not necessarily

comments

RagChew

newsletter are those

of the individual contributors.

reflect that of the editor or of the CQ

about the RagChew

QRS

Group

members.

Newsletter.

Our mailing address is:

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You

can

update

your preferences

eB INTUIT
Es mailchimp

or unsubscribe