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CQ QRS
What happened

RagChew

last Tuesday, and a reminder for the next net.

e What

a ripper!

e Three

more team

members

e VK2WF’s

amazing

low band

e WhatsApp

CQ QRS

Group

e VK2WF’s

80/40m

e This week’s
e

Wow

Reminder

bounds

VFO

Quiz

for 6Feb24

- did you make

Wasn’t ita ripper?
SDRs showed

set-up

- leaps and

QRS

it to Tuesday’s CQ QRS Slow CW

Practice QSO

The three hours on 40m

to work well, both

lots of QSOs happening

on the night (stations worked

seemed

in parallel.

plus QSOs

net?

| filled 51 lines in my log

heard), and we ended

up with at

least 36 known stations on or listening - and | Know there will have been
others that we don’t know about.... after all, the RagChew
to more than 125 readers every week!

newsletter goes

We should all be proud of just how

popular our little group has become - thank you all for your support and for
making

it happen every week.

So it looks like the three-hour 40m
then two hour 80m format was
popular this time - so we'll give it
another try this coming Tuesday
February 6th.
I’ve been a little worried because 40m

opens to the US in late afternoon -

and | didn’t want to scare off our team

by mixing our QRS training with non-

QRS

DX;

however, so far we seem to be ok, especially being above the DX

end of the CW band.

The one advantage of 80m

is that it usually works so

well for ground wave and near vertical incidence skywave,
angle skywave

is just a bonus for us late-stayer-uppers;

apart from the QRN

and the low

this means that

and hash from the ubiquitous switch mode

power

supplies, it’s a pretty safe for first-timers to have a go at transmitting.

RSS

we'll see;

interested in your thoughts

New Team

mark.bosma@icloud.com

Members

Our little net keeps getting better and better and our numbers continue to
grow;

this week I'd like to welcome Adrian VK2WF from Tallong, Nigel

G4RWI

who is in South Australia at the moment,

Keiran VK3BTV on 40m

during the last net.

Adrian caught up with George VK2AOE

and lan VK7TA who met

Welcome Adrian, Nigel and lan.

during the previous week’s net - you

may have seen George’s YouTube video of the net and that QSO

in the last

RagChew.
Adrian has a pretty swept-up lowband capability with capacity hatted
ANTENNA

FARM VIEW

/ loaded verticals over extensive
ground radials for 80m and 160m,
and he also uses the so-called EWE
low-noise antennas and resonant
speakers on receive... both of which
I'll be picking his brains about some
time in the future in our on-going
Other Topics of Interest discussion
on noise.

Those team members who have also joined our CQ QRS WhatsApp group
will know that there’s growing interest in 160m among out QRS team - so
I’m sure Adrian and his 160m
Band QSOs

signal will be one of the go-to stations for Top

by our team.

Meanwhile, Adrian joined us with a bang... he’s provided us with this week’s
Topic of Interest - his 160m VFO - thanks Adrian and welcome.
We were also joined on Tuesday by VK/G4RWI
with his callsign - HI!

who caused

huge confusion

| guess we can all see the logic of putting the country

prefix at the start (we used to use the much

easier protocol of G4RWI / VK5,

but the ITU changed the rules some years back) - but if you’re not used to
it, it comes as a Surprise in CW!

In Tuesday’s net, he was asked to repeat

his callsign so many times (which | was pleased about - took me a number
of goes as well when
patience Nigel.

| heard him with Paul VK3KLE) - thanks for your

For those of us still learning, better bone-up on dah-di-di-

dah-dit (these days called forward slash) because | think Nigel will be a
regular on our nets, as will more /p stations;

Nigel is at the Yorke

Peninsular touring around Australia for six months, so we'll hear lots of his
characteristic callsign | hope - see Other News for more.

Welcome to our

little net Nigel.
You'll also hear more from lan VK7TA in the Reports and Comments section
- thanks lan.
So many lans, so many Pauls on our net - so if you don’t get someone’s
name, just call them lan or Paul, and you'll have a good chance of being
correct - HI!
WhatsApp

Group

There’s been lots and lots of activity on our CQ QRS WhatsApp Group of
late - in particular notifications from team members on the night advising

that they’re looking for QSOs on particular frequencies.
that our team
40m

I’m excited to see

is having lots of fun during the week between

is very popular during the day, and that the WhatsApp

to be so useful.

net nights Group proving

If you’d like to join in, or even just watch the goings on on

your phone or computer,

please let me know and I'll add you

mark.bosma@icloud.com
lan VK1HF

has asked that we consider splitting the WhatsApp

two - one group for general chit-chat between team

group into

members,

and a

separate group for spotting advice that people are on particular
frequencies.

Interested in our users’ thoughts - mark.bosma@icloud.com

In the mean time, there’s a summary

of this week’s WhatsApp

Group discussion topics and some of the many

CQ QRS

photos further down this

newsletter.
Last Tuesday’s

net

So back to last Tuesday’s net;

here’s the list of stations heard:

30Jan24 CQ ORS Net
Total active stations this week:
Total QSOs (note that this figure won't be correct- QSOs may be countec

36
131

Black text- QSLed, Green text - heard but not worked, Blue text - incomplete Q50 (not QSLed).

MY CALL ‘iling ¢
y

qsoi

Qso2

qaso3 | aso4 | aso5 |

aso6

qaso7 | asos | qaso9 | Qs010 |

F Listeningif no G50)

VK/G4RWI

VK3KLE

VK1HF

VK1HF/p

VK2TER

WK / G4RWI

VKIKVS
VK1TE/m | Listening

VK1ZDJ)
VK2A0E

VK2WEO |

VKSCZ

VK3BAP |

VK2BHO
VK2BHO
VK2DLF

VK2WF |

VK2GAZ

VK2TER | VK2WF | VK3ADX | VK2NAP |

VK2TER | VK3BTV

VK2KI

VK2IK

VK3BTV

VK5CZ

VK5PH_ | VK3ADX | VK2NAP |

VK2KI 40m

VK2TER | VK3ACU |

VK2KI 40m

VK3KLE | VK2NAP | VK3BTV

VK2KI 80m

VK3ACU

VK2NAP

VK2KI | VK2GAZ | VK3BYD |

VKSCZ

VKVKPC | VK2GAZ | VK2DLF
VK2IK

VK7TA

|VK6MK/p|

| VK2NAP |

VK6NT

VK2KI
VK2WF | VK3ADX |

VK6FN

VK3BAP

VK3ADX | VK5GG |

VK3BYD

VK2IK

VK2NV
VK2TER

VK2KI

VK2WEO

VK2A0E

VK2WF | VK2DLF | VK2GAZ | VKLHF/p

VK2WE

VK2TER |

VK2DLF | VK2GAZ | VK6FN | VK3ACU |

VK3ACU

VK2KI

VEK7KPC | VK3DBD |

VK3ADX

VK2IK

VK2KI

VK3BAP

VK2DLF | VK3DBD | VK2NAP

VK3BTV

VK2IK
VK2NAP

VK3CLD/p
VK3DBD

VK3BAP | VK3ACU

VK3KLE

VK/G4RWI|

VK3KO

VK7KPC | VKSGG |
VK2IK

VK2DLF | VK7TA | VK3ACU |

VK3BU
VK3BYD

VK6QI

VK2WF

VK5CZ

VK3KLE

VK2WF | VK3BTV

VK5CZ | VK2GAZ
VK3ADX | VK2GAZ | VK3BTV

VK2KI

\VK/G4RWI

VK3TBR
VK5SA0
VK5CZ
VKSET
VK5FA
VK5FD
VK5GG
VKSIP
VKSKFG
VKSPH
VKS5PL
VK6AAV
VK6ATB
VK6BEK | CQ
VK6CK
VK6DEV
VK6DV
VK6FN
VK6GAL

VKSC2
VK2WF

VK6QI

VK2IK | VK3ADX |

VKGIS

VK3ADX

VK2IK

VK6HRC

VKG6IR
VK6IS
VK6JDM
VK6JK
VK6KD
VK6KHZ
VK6KQ
VK6LD
VK6MK/p
VK6MU
VKENC
VK6NT
VKENW
VK6PZT

VK6FN | VKSAO | VK7KPC | VK2AQOE |

VK6IS.

VK7TA

VK6ENT
VK6IS.

VK2Kl

VK2WF |

VK6IS

VK6KHZ

VK6FN

VKGAAV | VKGKHZ | VKGFN
VK6FN | VKGBEK

VKSCZ | VK6JDM

|VK6MK/p]

VK2KI

VKSCZ

VKG6IS.

VK6IS.

VK2KI

VK6EDV

VK6KHZ

VK6IS

VK6FN

VKENT

VK6TY
VK6XU

VK6WE
VK6YV
VK7WW
VK7KPC
VK7TA
VK7ZA

VK3ACU | VK3ADX | VKSCZ
VK2KI
VK2GAZ | VKGAAV | VK3BTV

Cheers,
mb

VK2KI / VK6QI

Reports

& Comments

Here’s this week’s
From

lan VK5CZ

Thanks

reports.

at Clare:

Mark and the team.

On 40m vk2wf vk6fn vk5ao while waiting for
Then 4 on 80m
Good

after dark 80m vk7kpc vk2ao0e vk2ik vk3adx.

roll up and good 2 hrs of corse mode tonight. Regards to all keep up

good work
vk5cz gn
[Thanks for your report lan - a good night for most people | think especially having good signals out of VK5 helos both sides of the country|
think.

By the way, if you or anyone else knows

VK5AO’s email address, I’d

like to let him know about the Group.]
From

Max VK6EFN

at Manjimup:

Tks to all who took part tonight - 40 was alive and kicking all night.

Just

missed working u Mark.
Cheer’s too all.
de 6fn
[We'll both need to pedal harder next week Max. ]

From

lan VK1HF

I'm visiting Mum

at Noorat

VIC:

this evening so just

2 for me.

1. G4RWI/portVK5
2. VK2TER

Set-up at mums place for the QRS
this evening
cctinn

Both

lan VK1HF K

40mtrs.

Cheers,

lan
VKILHF / 3

From

Paul

VK3KLE

at Stawell:

Hi mark on 40m vk/g4rwi and on 160m vk2wf . Sorry didn’t stick around seem to have been feeling a bit unwell. Better today thank goodness.
[Thanks mate - hope you're quickly on the road to recovery.]
From

Adrian VK2WF

at Tallong:

Hi Mark. Last nights activity:
40m: vk2ter vk2dlf vk2gaz vk6fn vk5cz
80m: vk3acu
160m:

vk3kle

[Thanks Adrian - I’m glad you had some fun, and terrific to see the
WhatsApp group being used to arrange the 160m QSO.]
From

Phillip VK6DEV

Sorry crew, didn’t make

at Dalyellup:
it in the net last night. Had a terrible day at work

and needed to rest the brain with some ft8

[Hey Phillip - keep working at it - after a while, you'll find the CW a perfect
way to do some concentrated relaxing!]
From

Nigel

VK / G4RWI

portable

at Yorke

Peninsula

via the

QRS

Group:

Thanks for the invite to this group I’m Nigel G4RWI

- currently on a 6

month tour in a campervan.

Came

across you guys last night on 40m,
and worked

a couple of you. | think

my VK/G4RWI

call is confusing,

although correct according to ACMA!
ll try G4RWI/VK5 from now on!
Using an IC705 with a EFHW. Are
Tuesdays QRS night or is it more adhoc?
From Paul:
Hi Nigel.

I’m Paul VK3KLE - we had a qso in 40m. Your trip sounds great.

I’ve used a 8m

loaded squid pole for vehicle stationary operation before.

Prob the efhw is quick to roll out and up.
From Nigel:
Hi Paul. Yes the efhw is a great portable ant, very quick to deploy and
efficient.

Im in acw group in the UK. A very proficient op is G4KLE.

thinks he has worked you?
From Stuart VK6MK:
Hi Nigel. Welcome to the net. Yes it’s regular on Tuesday nights from about
4:30 WA time starts on 40 then later moves to 80.

Are you heading to WA

during your trip?
From Nigel:
Hi Stuart. Not this trip. Working

our way back up to QLD before hopping

over to ZL.
From Stuart:
Sounds like a great trip. Hopefully an on air contact during the net from ZL.
From Paul:
Hi Nigel, | think | might have had a qso a little way back on 10m with your
friend. | have relatives in the uk.
From Nigel:
| guess the KLE would stick in your mind. He is ex military and his idea of
QRS is 30 wpm

but he does slow down for us mere mortals.

From lan VK5CZ:
If you pass by Clare Valley call in for cuppa.
From Nigel:
Thanks. We’ve just been in the Clare Valley, loved it!
[Hi Nigel and Welcome.

I've emailed you the info about the CQ QRS group -

our weekly RagChew newsletter - however,
invitation to WhatsApp

the internet went off and the

went before the email.

Agree your comment about

the VK/G4 contusion.... its a nightmare for new operators that’s for sure took me a bunch of tries before | decoded your callsign last night (| was
having a QSO on another frequency at the time, so only half my brain was
engaged!)

Talk more as you head East.]

From James VK2TER

at Terrigal:

Hi Mark,
Another great 40m

QRS net. Band conditions were difficult with deep QSB

and high noise floor. | managed
VK2DLF, VK2GAZ

to make five contacts with: VK2KI, VK2WF,

and VK1HF.

Regards
James (VK2TER)
[Hi James - I’m glad you're able to join in now that we start on 40m.]
From Jordan VK3ACU

at Meredith:

Hi Mark,
Contacts are as follows.
VK2KI
VK3KPC
VK3DBD
VK2WEF
VK2KI on 80M
TU 72

VK3ACU
[Hey, thanks Jordan;
From

catch you on WhatsApp.]

Keiran VK3BTV

at North

Ringwood:

Five contacts on 40m tonight - the most for some

months.

completely CW'd at the end :)
e VK2IK, VK2DLF, VK7TA, VK3ACU

and VK2KI

Here’s a recent picture of Bozzie
(VK2KI) trying to make contacts,
listen on two SDRs, fill the log and
spot CW on WhatsApp
simultaneously.
Cheers,

Keiran VK3BTV

[How did you take the picture of
me?]

From

Paul

VK2IK

at Moss

Thanks for another great CW
40m
VK3BTV
VK5PH

Vale:

net tonight.

My contacts were:

| was

VK3ADX
VK2NAP
80m
VK3ADX
VK5CZ
VK2Kl
Hope to be on again next week.
73
[Excellent result Paul.

Good to catch you - and especially do the

comparison of antennas;
! was S8.

you were S9 into the VK6QS SDR at Brookton, but

Could have been single hop F-layer (2 to 8 deg takeoff angle) or

more likely two-hop (15 to 24 deg take off angle).

Great to have some

close-ish stations to do comparisons with now.]
From

Mister Morse

Code

Richard

VK6PZT

at Dalyellup:

My apologies for missing QRS tonight Mark - dinner with family and friends
took priority.

Looking forward to QRS next week

Richard

[Family always comes first in my books Richard.

Thanks for the check-in,

and good luck in your new digs.]
From

Shaun

VK6BEK

up at Quinns

Rocks:

Hi Mark

No contacts this week.

| used the paddle and called CQ on 80m

few times but no luck. | could see my signal on a VK5 SDR (80m

and 40m

poor, 40m

ok) but could not hear the eastern states from here.
Regards
Shaun - VK6BEK
[Wow - sorry you didn't catch anyone, but thanks for the report mate;
Donald heard you in Esperance as well. ]
From

Donald

Dear

Mark,

VK6JDM

at Dalyup:

9.55 UTC Heard VK6BEK on about 3561
9.40 UTC Heard end of a QSO of yours with VK6IS on 3555.
9.55 UTC Heard VK5WE having QSO with VK2AOE?
Then to 10.20 put out CQ's - no response.
11.03 - QSO with VK6FN

- difficult conditions due to QRN

null in VK6FN's antenna.

He says the null is not intentional!

rising fast, so | then went QRT.

Howarth

VK6JDM

[Thanks Donald.
From

Glad you’re back on board again now.]

Garry VK2GAZ

The noise was

Did not hear VK6KRC - will have to chase

him up.
Donald

and my being ona

at Hobartville:

Good

morning

Mark VK2K],

Thanks for the contact last night, there were a few stations about.

contacts for the night were:
James VK2TER, Adrian VK2WF,

Marv VK3ADX,

Chris VK2NAP & Mark VK2KI

Many thanks for keeping the show on the road.
Best regards,
Garry VK2GAZ
[Hey Garry - busy, busy, busy from the looks of things. ]
From

Stuart VK6MK/p

at Broome:

Hi Mark

| have a place in Broome and I’ve moved
heading

up here until mid-March

before

back to Australind.

Set up my G90 with an End Fed random

wire.

I’ve tried with a dipole in the

past but had no luck so this time tried an end fed.

Its direction is north-

south so better than the dipole which was east west directional.

Two

contacts only both on 40m VK2KI and VK6IS both with QSB but readable on
the highs.

| was on all night and could hear some VK5 activity on 80m

nothing workable.

Did manage to hear a JA on 80m

but

but he was too fast for

me. The pics are of the antenna and my portable set up, a G90 with a pi.
mainly used for logging but also connected for digital modes and Winlink.

Great to see so many on the net and the inclusion of 40m
Cheers
Stuart

is a real winner.

[Thanks Stuart.

Terrific that you’ve been able to get the antenna up and

have started to have some success,

how long is the antenna?

Fingers

crossed that you'll have lots of success from there - it’s a bloody long way
to anywhere from Broome!]
From

Peter VK7KPC

at Evandale:

Hi Mark,
Better get in early or | will forget like last week.

Running

IC-718 and trap

dipole at about 80W this week.
40m

QSO's with Jordan VK3ACU

and Merv

VK3ADX

Both more than just RST and greetings.
80m

QSO with lan VK5CZ

near Clare with weather report exchange.
Getting more comfortable with
longer QSOs.
Quiz for the week:

what

is this item

from my collection?
Cheers
Peter.

[What’s this - operating a commercial transceiver - well well!
the quiz question Peter - great idea.
dodd.pc@bigpond.com

Anyone like to have a go.

Thanks for
Email to

and if you'd like to do the same in future RagChews,

send me your photos and questions. ]
From

George

VK2AOE

at Kogerah:

Hi Mark

First week back at school (my day
job) so 2zzzz.
Got on later only 2 QSOs on 80m
John VK2WEO
worked

and IAN VK5CZ

(who |

last week but forgot his

name... Alzheimers here | come!).
This week fired up the venerable
Kenwood TS-520 and my homebrew
Straight key and audio filter. Enjoyed
dipping plates and peaking drive for

the tooooobs.
73 from George VK2AOE
[Thanks for coming up George and / hope with the 7om start on 40m, you
might be able to sneak a few QSOs in during the school term.

By the way,

John VK2WEO has called in a few times from Wentworth Falls, but so far,
no-one has been able to get me an email address, so! can invite him to join

the net;

so if you or any of our other team members happen to work John,

please ask for his email address.

Hey don’t wish dementia on yourself

mate - it can be a horrible disease for the people involved and their loved
ones.

Gee that’s a nice looking TS-520 my father who was licensed at the

same time as me had one - terrific bit of kit.]
From

Peter

VK6IS

at Wundowie:

Hi Mark,
this week was with vk6aav, vk6fn, vk6khz, and an attempt with vk5cz.
So - I'm not hearing that many stations, so far this season.
On the new format - maybe:
- even hour - 80m
- odd hour - 40m
those on the East Coast that wish to start early:
- would

be the odd hour - 40m

73
Peter
vk6is

[Thanks Peter - interesting that you didn’t hear many stations - seemed to
be plenty on the VK6QS SDR whenever| looked - perhaps it went quiet
when | looked away?
Any thoughts from the team about Peter’s odd- / even- hour 40 /80m
suggestion?]
From

Brendan

VK3BAP

at Truganina:

Hi Mark,
| didn't sit down

at my key until after 8pm

but there was plenty of activity

on 40M.

| heard VK2DLF

calling| g and

WwW

wa S very

pleased to finally make a QSO with
idle, hil sf bs - Li

Be csarieeemi) occas

ch eta tay

George, whom

I'd heard on the air

many times but never managed

cies

one | or [uve [vese [esr [es |e

contact. After we'd finished, VK3DBD

tail-ended us and | had a nice QSO

~—_—rwith David at Yackandandah, a QTH

that has a musical quality when

sent

via CW.

Sending our respective QTH's (Truganina and Yackandandah,

both sent

twice) via QRS takes some considerable time.
| also heard VK2NAP, VK2IK, VK3ADX, VK2GAZ

& VK3BTV.

| didn't have time to put up the Rybakov for 80M
QSO.

Maybe

Cheers,
BP.

next week...

so it remains untested ina

[Hey Brendan.

Very nice report - interesting to read - thank you mate.

You

certainly need to write Yakandandah down before sending - HI! And yes |
did hear you on, in among the multiple conversations - wasn't it great fun?
Cheers and thanks again mate.]
From

lan VK7TA

at Latrobe:

Thanks for the email Mark. George (VK2DLF)

passed on information about

the net to me. I'm not normally very good at getting on air in the evenings,
as | have domestic duties when
did manage

last Tuesday.

and VK2GAZ.

my wife comes

home from work. | obviously

| heard plenty of stations in QSO,

| did start a QSO with VK6AAV,

including VK2KI

but he disappeared. Then |

came across VK3BTV, whose signal was pretty good down

here. It was

great to hear so many stations on air, so well done. I'll try and be there
next week.
| don't have an antenna for 80m at the moment

so it is 40m

been at this QTH for very long. | will try to get something
Thanks for adding

only - | haven't

up for 80m

me to the email list. I'll pass on the WhatsApp

later.

group as |

don't use that.
Myself and some some others have commented
pass the morse test (at LOwpm
around

15wpm.

20wpm

which must make

Cheers,

lan.

Now it is rare to hear anything on the bands below about
it very hard for anyone to get started.

[Welcome to the team lan;
Nic VK7WW,

how years ago one could

| think?) and have plenty of QSOs. Certainly

great to have another Tasmanian on - joining

Peter VK7KPC, Lance

un-written rules of the group:

VK7ZA and Catherine

VK7GH.

One of the

your family is number one - so, no special

leave pass Is required for absences - HI!

Great that you worked Mike

VK6AAV - 40m doesn’t open (ie the Absorption Layer Frequency drops
below 7MHz) until part-way through our 40m Prelude at the moment,
by the time we slide down to 80m,

that band is opening too.

and

The

proliferation of electronically-generated warp-speed CW on HF... and in
particular, the difficulty such operators have responding to PLS QRS
requests has been a topic of conversation among our team;

| understand

that what may seem easy to us straight-key users, may in fact not be easy
at the other end.

| have to admit, just between you and me, that/ don’t

actually chase DX or operate contests any more (tsk!)... except for
specifically QRS and QRP ones.

And speaking of that, we try to run several

QRS contests each year... but I’ve been just too busy since the last one our International Morse Code Day practice contest, but I’m aiming to run it
again in April.... along with our famous International Morse Code Day Quiz
that Mister Morse Code Richard VK6PZT runs via Zoom - it’s such a hoot!.
So, if nothing else, our net satisfies the need for CW for many of our
team... including mois.

And thanks to George

VK2DLF for passing the net

info to you lan.]

From

Richard VKG6HRC

at Padbury:

Hi Mark
Tuesday’s

CQ QRS

Practice QSO

Net

| was only there for the start of the net this week, three locals heard before
| headed off.

The band seemed to be in good shape with no QRN!

Stations heard :

VK6IS
VK6KHZ
VK6FN
Wednesday’s

Post Morseum

Hi Mark
Another good

net this week, with five of us on the South West AllStar

network for the
6am WA time Wednesday

morning

Post Morsum.

Stations on:
VK6QI
VK6FN
VK6LD
VK6GAL
VK6HRC
and possibly others listening in on their way to work. Apart from the normal
observations there was an interesting discussion on methods of learning
Morse code before the advent of computers and the internet namely vinyl
records, tapes etc.

Also a reminder of the upcoming

PARGFest in Mandurah

on the 10th Feb.
Looking forward to the next net, thanks to all.

73s Richard VK6HRC

[Thanks again for your reports Richard.

And a special thank you for running

the Wednesday morning Post Morseum

each week

- much appreciated

mate.]
From

Max VK6FN

at Manjimup:

Hi Mark.
Enjoyed 40M;

boy, there were so many Stns on.

Stations contacted
e

Peter 61S. His RST 599 A very strong sig. Report received RST 599.

e Adrian 2WF.
e

last Tuesday were:

RST 449. My report was RST 559

lan 5CZ. RST was 449 and my RST 539. Heard

lan later on sending a

lot faster and previously | had been sending slowly thinking lan was
new to Morse.

Donald 6JDM

RST 559. Had improved several S points as time got

later. My RST 559 also. Great result with the 10 Watts.
And that’s my lot;

sorry, | forgot to include the bands used - HI.

73's Gfn.
[Thank you Maxwell. ]
From

Hi Mark

Chris VK2NAP

at Marrickville:

Wow - 40m was pumping

Tuesday. Well more like P
| N

G which is more spaced out.

Plenty of 40m

QSOs including with

your evil twin Paul VK2IK. Solid local
signals on 40m
common,

around dusk is

however often the band

goes long and you’re looking at 80m
for those close-in stations. But not
on Tuesday night... NVIS was solid.

Had some

longer-form QRS QSOs with our SKCC

liaison / coordinator

VK2GAZ

along with VK3ADX,

VK2KI, VK2IK and VK3BYD - all solid signals.

On 80m,

| lurked listening to VK2IK and VK2KI duke it out for

supremacy....there can be only one....| don’t Know who came out on top but
managed

a short QSO with Mark before | decided to give up on 80m and

see what was poking through from the state-side SKCC crowd on 40m.
Nothing

| could get to this time though.

Managed

to sneak a slightly quicker SKCC QSO with Phillip VK2GBR

Newcastle.

Dude sends some

impeccable code on a straight key 19-

20WPM.
| also have to say how much

| enjoy scanning the shallow end of the 40m

CW and hearing a number of QRS and sub-15WPM

stations that have been

pecking away of late, so I’ve enjoyed a few other leisurely-paced QSOs
outside the Tuesday nights.
| remember starting out back in 2021, it was almost impossible to find a
station that was in that slower range. Plenty of awesome

ops who would

slow down for me, take their time, but only the odd slower CQ call. Hardly
anything

less than 17WPM

on the reverse beacons. Glad to see that’s

changed.

I’m seeing regular spots at slower pace that let people hear some

code the have half a chance of understanding.
Here is a QSO tip for people who are still new to the code, still suffer brain
lock, miss stuff and find that even
other station to send twice.

12WPM a

little fast: send twice. Ask the

While you may miss part of the word, you'll

pick it up on the repeat.
My first QSO with VK2LGS,

Gabe, was like this. He tail-ended me on another

QSO. Sent slow, deliberate and sent each word twice. It was his first CW
QSO ever. For me it was probably number 11 or 12 since | got my license
reinstated. | may, or may not have had a few in the six weeks or so leading
up to the ACMA granting me privileges by finally working out how to take
money from me....
But we chatted for almost an hour.....yes it took that long to exchange a
signal report, but I’m sure there was “something
something

something Tequila

nerves”. | didn’t Know you could slur like that on paddles.

I'll be working this Tuesday evening,
on what time | get home...

but might jump on after - depending

no promises.

If any of you see me on an RBN trying to break my 21WPM

on a straight key

record, give me a call at a rate you're happy with and I’ll match.

I’m not

that good above

my slow

15WPM

anyway - always up for a rag chew.

RBN spot record is 9WPM.

Has anyone

managed

BTW

to spot any slower ??

73s and happy fists
DE Chris VK2NAP
dit dit
[Hey Chris.

Great report, thank you - and terrific that you've joined our

WhatsApp CQ QRS message Group as well.

I’m glad you got a Tuesday off

so you could enjoy the absolute pleasure of a leisurely CQ QRS QSO
Practice net.... and you picked a good one.

One of the many terrific things

about our Iittle group Is that we’re very collegiate - I’ve got no doubt that
when someone hears you outside our net, or see a spot on
parksnpeaks.org,

they'll give you a call.

Yes, the experiment that Paul

VK2IK and | did using the VK6QS SDR at Brookton was very interesting;
certainly no competition, just terrific a comparison of my 100m doubleextended Zepp close to the ground and Paul’s 32m doublet antenna at
twice the height, over a low-take-off angle skywave path.

Really interesting

that a small height difference (wavelength-wise) made such a difference,
well and truely nullifying any directivity (ie gain) from the DEZ;
below.

Cheers, mb]

From

me, VK2KI

Zepp

antenna

at Bowning

from

home

using

and

my TS-50 and

Double-Extended

also using the Tecsun

SDR at Araluen

NSW:
Three-hour

40m

Prelude

| had my hair on fire on Tuesday
evening’s three-hour 40m
marathon;
Araluen

both the Tecsun SDR at

NSW and the VK6QS

SDR at

Brookton were choc-a-block with
QRS QSOs - pretty to watch (see the
screen shots at the start of the
newsletter).

| caught up with James

VK2TER at Terrigal who was
struggling with the QRN

and early

QSB - | was only RST 219 there, yet
he was 479 to me.

James went on to chat to Adrian VK2WF
VK3ACU

at Tallong while | worked Jordan

who was a solid 599 from Meredith.

Peter VK7KPC

Jordan then went on to chat to

at Evandale while James caught up with Garry VK2GAZ

Hobartville and Adrian chatted to George VK2DLF at St Marys while | talked
to Merv VK3ADX

at Ballarat - also solid 599.
Ms Elizabeth’s rescue Morsle delivery.

Sanity Break
Merv then worked

Peter while | took

a break for a few minutes - my head
decoder was struggling a bit after a
hard day of weed whipper

snippering.
When

| returned to the task at hand,

Ms Elizabeth had delivered a nice
Morsle - I’d been ‘harvesting’
blackberries from one of our
rampant weed

patches this week (I

use the term lightly... more like
torture of a million thorns than
harvesting!)

| then heard Max VK6FN

Manjimup and although we
acknowledged

each-

other, the signals were too weak and had too much QSB to exchange
RSTs... SO we gave it away, and Max went on to chat to Adrian.

George

then caught up with Brendan VK3BAP at Truganina.

Meanwhile,

| tuned

into a QSO that Paul VK3KLE

my tired brain just

at Stawell was having;

couldn’t get the callsign of the person he was working, and it sounded
Paul might have been having the same
VK/G4RWI

problem.

It turned out to be Nigel,

who was operating portable in SA at Yorke Peninsular.

| was

really pleased to see that Nigel has since joined our team, thanks to lan
VK1HF - welcome

Nigel, and good

callsign protocol - HI!

luck with using the de rigueur portable

At least, the 50% of our team who read the RagChew

newsletter will be aware and prepared to deal with your call from here on!
After finally sorting out Nigel’s callsign, | went on to chat with Chris VK2NAP
from Marrickville who was RST 599 - Chris normally works on Tuesday
nights, so it was good to catch him this time.
Garry, before | did;

Garry was RST 579.

our missing-in-action team

member,

SDR... but on 80m - quick WhatsApp

Chris then went on to work

While chatting to Garry, | noticed

Lin VK6NT

listening on the VK6QS

message sent to let Lin know that we

were all still up on 40m.
Next up | heard Keiran VK3BTV at North Ringwood working
Latrobe;

| was very pleased when

well - welcome

lan VK7TA at

lan too joined our group after the net as

lan.

Next up, | worked Stuart VK6MK/p

at Broome - we both struggled with
the QSB RST 359, but it was great to
work Stuart from his pool-side over
the 3200km

path.

| then heard Merv

working VK5GG

and Chris chatting to

Warren VK3BYD

at Wangaratta

before my complement,

Paul VK2IK

at Moss Vale.

| then had a chat with Keiran who had a respectable RST 599 before
moving

my transceiver, antenna coupler and noise canceller over to 80m

around

1115z.

80m

| chatted to Jordan who was RST 579 on 80m,

but then annoyed the

proverbial out of him with repeated dah-di-di-di-dahs while | decoded,

logged then reported on WhatsApp
on 40m.

a QSO

between

Merv and Chris back up

Jordan, then retorted with a double entendre that | completely

failed to decode;

| think he’d retorted to Vogon

poetry, just to see if | was

paying attention... which apparently | wasn’t!
| also noticed Claude VKITE

listening in as well on the Tecsun SDR when

moved the SDR over to 80m, and watched
other lan at Moss Vale;

lan VK5CZ at Clare working the

needless to say, both the beautiful wine-area

lan

(the area, not lan) and Moss Vale lan were also pouring into the VK6QS

SDR

at Brookton.

Sagas
Date:

name:

Canberra

name:

Perth

SWS GRAFEX

Tx
Rx

latitude:

HF FREQUENCY

Circuit:

Canberra

Bearings:

267

First Mode

| then caught up with Moss Vale lan

2824
Tx
Ax

longitude:

who was RST 599 to me.

149.17

115.87

doublet up 15m

PREDICTIONS

Perth

186

-35.25

-31.95

Date:

Distance:

|--2-2--- Frequency

January,
3891

2824

T-index:

(MHz)-——-—— |

point stronger into WA than | was;

148

Second Made

1F2-8 1E8
1 5 1
15 20
25 30
35 48
2F 15-24 2F 3
UT) OWE ENUF ALE [ace least] eeealiere!| caetliael ces |ooee (> UWE EMU ALE UT
0@ 19.5 8.8 13.5
SSSXXKFFF Ws...
13.5 16.1 10.2 08
@1 19.5 2.0 14.1
ASSIOOXXEF%s 4.0.0.
13.9 17.2 18.6 61
@2 20.2 0.0 14.4
ASSSIOMFFF WA.
14.5 17.9 16.7 62
03 20.4 0.0 14.6
ASSSIOOXFF SAA.
14.8 18.3 10.8 83
e4 20.3 0.0 14.5
ASSSKXKXFF SARA
14.6 18.1 16.8 84
@5 19.9 @.0 14.2
ASSSXXXFF': MAA...
14.1 17.5 10.7 85
@6 19.8 0.0 13.7
SSSKOOXMFFR: MARAE...
13.7 16.5 10.4 66
Q7 20.0 2.0 13.0
A SSXOXOMMFF: SABRE.
13.7 15.1 9.9 87
8 19.8 @.0 11.8
S SXMMMMMEF%s SAMA...
13.9 13.8 9.2 68

pel uids | mene wal

aa
ba 8208
14.3 8.8 6.3 10

10 21.0 0.8 4.5
MMMMMM MMMMMMFEFE Sama...
11 20.3.0 @.@ XXMMMMMMMM MMMMMMFEFE 9.
12 19.5 0.8 0.0 XXMMMHMHMM MMMMMFFFFS S%....
13 18.1 0.0 @.@ XXMMNHMMMM MMMMMFFFRA
1417.4 0.0 0.0 XXMNMMMMM MMMMEFFAAd 8...
15 16.6 0.8 0.8 XXHMMHMHMM MMMFEFAAAE
16 15.7 0.8 @.@ XXMMMMMMMM MHMFPSAAG.
1713.4 0.0 @.@ XXHMMMMMMM MMPS.
18 12.1 0.8 0.8 XXMMMHMMMM MPSA,
19 10.7 0.8 @.@ XXMMMMMMMM sta
20 10.6 0.0 @.@ MMMNMMMMMM sees,
2113.6 0.8 8.9
AMM MEFS...
22 17.1 @.0 11.2
AS XMMFFFFAMM oo...
23 18.3 0.0 12.6
A SSXXFFFFAG 0...
UT OWE EMUF ALF [...[scse[ vcceleeee| vevefeeee] sosefeeee|

14.1 2.6
13.5 2.6
12.8 2.6
12.1 2.6
11.5 2.6
11.8 2.6
9.8 2.6
9.8 2.6
8.1 2.6
7.7 0.8
8.2 0.8
10.7 11.9
12.7 14.4
OWE EMUF

6.8 11
6.6 12
6.6 13
6.8 14
6.6 15
6.6 16
8.8 17
8.8 18
8.819
5.120
7.7 21
8.9 22
9.7 23
ALF UT

|.
|B
|F
|S

(c)}

38-Jan-7824

BoM

Space

Weather

Services,

Sydney

Australia

+61-2-9213-B8808

lan’s 32m

as about one S-

antenna

Zepp

(two

100m

long

shows

double-extended

5/8th

.
in

but

only

how

phase)
up

Tm.

:
adding

- over
Just

only

0.1

a wavelength in height can lower the
_
take-off

oo,

angle

much.

The

IPS

prediction shows that at 1200z, the
.
le-h
first F
d
‘b|
SINQIE-NOP
TITS
mode was possible
.
with a take-off angle of 2 to 8
degrees,

WaS

two-hop

F-mode

take-off

angle;

deg rees

:
with

our

:
horizontal

antennas

close to the ground, I’d expect the
higher-angle two-hop mode was
more likely.

Later on | caught up with Chris who was RST 469;
40 and 80m

can’t really compare the

signals of course - the QSOs were 2-1/2 hours apart.

After

Chris, | was pleased to then chat to Lin at Hamersley who was a
respectable RST 579;

welcome

Nick VK6DV at St James,

back mate.

Lin then went on to chat to

but | decided to give it

away and head off to bed relatively early - around

midnight;

Snipper was Calling for an early start on Wednesday

the whipper

before the weather got

too hot.
So.... what a sensational night!
effort to come

up - fantastic!

Also

VK6QI

from

Remote

Thank you to everyone who made the
What a great team.

via the VK6QS

at Bedfordale

and

SDR

the VK6CRO

at Brookton,
Remote

the VK6SR

at Carnarvon:

While having my first QSO on 40m from VK2, | was watching the VK6QS
SDR and heard Ron VK6KHZ

at Yangebup

and Peter VK6IS at Wundowie

chatting, while just up the band, Max VK6FN
QRS. A

Things then got really busy on
40m

at Manjimup was calling CQ

little later | heard Max and Peter chatting.

over East, and | didn’t have a

moment to have a look in WA for
some time.

In fact it was about an

hour later that I noticed our old
mate Lin VK6NT from Hamersley

listening on 80m
SDR;

on the

a quick WhatsApp

message to Lin reminded

on 40 for the first three hours of the net;
some

months away.

him that we were all up

great to hear Lin back on after

Later in the evening, after working

Lin from here in

VK2, | heard him chatting to Nick VK6DV at St James.
Things had started to get quiet by around

1300z (2100 in WA, 2330 in SA

and 2400 here in the East), so | had a nice early mark, and headed to bed much to Elizabeth’s surprise considering the relatively early hour.

| assured

her that it was my early morning date with our whipper snipper and being
buggered

after whipper snippering for hours on Tuesday - not a lack of

stations - that saw me come to bed so early for a Wednesday

CQ QRS

Traffic from the CQ QRS
Some

Feed
Group.

of he many conversations on our CQ QRS WhatsApp

Liaison between team

Paul KLE’s 160m

e VK1HF/p
e

morning.

Group:

members for skeds

station pics

in VIC - Mallacoota,

Noorat, Falls Creek

Discussion about portable transceiver and coupler options

e Jordan’s 630m tx
e 2WF’s Community

Radio promo of the Goulburn Amateur Radio Club

recording
e Spotting of stations calling CQ and having QSOs during Tuesday’s CQ
QRS net
e VKLHF

using ChatGPT to make a callsign list for a Morse Tutor program

e Welcome to Nigel G4RWI
e Jordan’s uSDX working VK4 and VK5
e QRP in the morning
e

Paddles

House dust, moisture and contact corrosion

13,000km

e Top Band
e
e

on 160m
Disease - 96 DXCC countries on 160m

Paul’s 4-125 amplifier for 160m
160m

antennas - including EWE antennas for low-noise RX on low

bands
Please let me know if you'd like to be in the WhatsApp

group - I'd really like

all of our net participants to join in the fun mark.bosma@icloud.com
To whet your appetite, here’s some of the recent images shared.

pee

_<
ig

ewMn

~~ ;

Pall

itatne

}

————

mee

| still need help - I’m looking for a
volunteer or two to copy/paste the
WhatsApp feed and photos to a
file each week for me to import
into the RagChew

newsletter.

Please let me know if you’d like to
help.

Other
Other things

I’ve received

News
from

our 125-odd

readers.

Keiran VK3BTV

had a go at decoding

from the US Navy’s
attached

historic KPH

the encrypted

transmission

station - using the audio file

to the last RagChew.:

Hi Mark

Using the audio file you provided (after the event was closed, of course), |
decoded:
XXX XXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXK

XX XXXKXXXKKKXX.

XXXXX.

XXXXKXK XXXXXKXKXXKXKK XK

XXK XXKXXX XXXKXKXXKK. XXXKXKXKXK XXXKK XXX. XXXKXX,

XXXXXX XK XXXXKK XXKXXX. XXKXKX XXXKK XXXXXKX
AR N DE KPH

KPH KPH SK

[1 decided not to spoil it for those who have still yet to decode the
transmission, so you may have noticed a little bit of redaction above. ]

Took me about an hour this
afternoon with an excel spreadsheet
(I'd mixed up my 7's and 8's several
times at 15wpm)

I'm learning Python, so | think I'll
take this on as my first real Python
project - to decode FAST using the
OTP, Conversion Chart and Code
Book.
This exercise gave me just a tiny appreciation for what those poor buggers
went through at Bletchley Park more than 80 years ago.
Cheers

Keiran VK3BTV

[Thanks Keiran - great job of decrypting - you did much better than me - 1
lost sync soon after the start and couldn’t decrypt much of it - picked up in
the middle then lost it again;

| intend to keep going until | get it; guess I'd

never crack it as a covert operative.
hopefully he’ll get a certificate.

Richard VK6PZT

A really fun exercise.

got it as well, and
Keep an eye out for

more from KPH - seems that they have received such a good response from
the previous two exercises that they want to make it a regular thing - using
different encryption methods each time.
Having played with the Enigma machine simulator for the previous one, |
agree with your thinking about Bletchley Park.

Elizabeth and I read to

each-other a book called The Turing Guide - fascinating.

| suspect they

may not have had access to a Python-coded computer though. ]
PARGFest

on Saturday

Peel Amateur Radio Group
PARGFEST Swap-Meet

aturday 10° February 2024
Mandurah

Bowling Club

89 Allnutt Street, Mandurah WA.
Doors Open:
0800 — Exhibitors & Sellers
0900 - 1230 Buyers
Entry Fee - $5.00 per person
See you there amongst the raffles and bargains

Please check www.parg.org.au/whatsnew for last-minute updates.
Call-in to VAGARG in PARG1 - AllStar & 146.850Mhz with 91.5Hz sub-tone
For more information call Peter 0432718026 or email parg.secretani@gqmail.com

At Saturday’s PARGFest in Mandurah

WA,

I'll be giving a short presentation

about our CQ QRS Slow CW Practice Net via Zoom;

| hope to see as many

of you as possible in the audience giving me a hard time!
From John VKS5ET at Hope

Valley:

G'day Mark, hope all well your way.

| have been busy with other activities,

so haven’t been on air lately - hopefully should be on next week.
For a future RagChew
searched

article on noise cancelling speakers,

DSP speaker Ham

radio which may shed some

| google

more light on this

subject for the article in conjunction with Peter VK7KPC’s experience as
well.

I’m considering doing some

& nothing else INTERFERES!
Once again, great work on the Newsletter.
73's John, VK5ET.
[Thanks John, | look forward to the RagChew article on the DSP speaker
from you and Peter. ]

This Week’s

Topic of Interest

As mentioned at the start of the RagChew, Adrian VK2WF has provided a
terrifically written article about this 160m
VK2WF

160m

VFO.

VFO

By A Van Der Byl VK2WF

- Tallong Technology Centre

My log indicates | worked the CQ QRS Team

member

George VK2AOE

week on 80m, and from the newsletter | can see that there’s some
in 160m

among

the Group.

last

interest

| am normally parked on 1829.7 kHz looking for

DX, but you’re very welcome to work my home-brew
| have also worked your member VK3KLE

160m

signal any time.

a number of times on 160m.

When

| hear QRS signals, | will get

my brass pounder out - HI.

As an encouragement to the Team's
home-brewing

efforts, here’s an

article about the VFO | use on 160m.

Project Details
This project was inspired by the need to supply a VFO signal to drive
vintage AM or CW transmitters in the ham shack. It gives frequency aglility
not available to crystal locked transmitters.
It is made

up of a 7 to 7.6 MHz VFO

which is set up to run continuously
to minimise drift with a current drain
of 40ma. When the VFO output Is
required the Divider/ Counter/
Buffered and Filtered outputs are
powered

up with the push button

ON/OFF switch.
The output is divided down to either 80m

or 160m

with separate outputs

with a level of 4 volts peak which is sufficient to drive a transmitter in the
stead of a crystal. Output is enabled when the transmitter extends an earth
to the VFO on being keyed up.
The VEO

Its built in 3 sections:

e Variable

Frequency Oscillator in its separate compartment

PSU with Mains and Battery back-up facility

Divider/ Counter/ Buffered and Filtered outputs for 80 and 160m

The Variable

Frequency

Oscillator

Some comments are in order. The
circuit came from March

[ VEEWF Stotron VFO 6-9

1971

edition of Electronics Australia,
which had a good report of itself. A
220 ohm

resistor was added

series with the output to stop
Spurious oscillation arising from bad
loads.
While the oscillator runs off a 12v
zener regulated supply further
regulation was necessary to
ensure that it was not frequency
modulated

by the multiplexed

LED

display in the counter ,hence a
7815 regulator boosted with a stiff
low impedance voltage source was
used to give it immunity from
Supply variations.

Good VFO construction practice requires short leads associated with the
tuning circuit, my layout was such that it could not be avoided. 33 ohm
lwatt resistors were connected

in parallel with the leads connecting the

tuning capacitor to the tank coil to stop parasitic oscillations.

VFO Compartment - Underside view

Not shown

on the circuit but seen

e A12v

LED bezel across the 12V

zener to give an indication that
the VFO is powered
e

24V Supply enters the

through power filter. (left red

wire)

7MHz

Divider

signal

leaves via a BNC

—

Chia!

up.

compartment via a feed

The

—

’

here:

connector

2 ape

(white wire).

& Counter

Divider / Counter / Buffered and Filtered outputs for 80 and 160m

The input clocking to the 74LS74 D
type flip flops occurs on a positive
going transition at approximately
half VCC. To ensure reliable clocking
it is biased at half VCC with a
voltage divider consisting of a pair of
10K resistors. Not shown

on the

logic diagram of the flip flops are the
ClearData and Set Data inputs which
need to be tied to the +5V rail to
ensure proper operation.
Switching
Relay K2 is operated with an external earth to enable the 80m output.
Relay K1 which is also operated

by an external earth enables the VFO

output by earthing the selected NOR gate input.These relays are 5V DC
DPDT PCB mount relays available from Altronics. The PLI - 6 LED
FrequencyCounter is very cheaply obtained from Hong
found on e-Bay.

Kong and can be

Divider / Counter/ Buffered and Filtered outputs for 80 and 160m housed in a metal box

The resistors marked with * serve to stop spurious outputs. The 33 ohm
resistor in the output prevents spurious output when

bad loads are applied.

They may be changed to suit if the circuit layout gives problems.
PSU with Mains and Battery back-up facility

The PSU circuit is straight forward.
While mains power is supplied the
33V DC from the voltage doubler
provides all DC power. When

mains

fails or is turned off the station 27V
battery takes over.The intent of this
arrangement ensures that the
oscillator is always running,
stabilised and ready whenever it is
required. In this standby mode

consumes just 40mA for the VFO.

VKQWF
+2

Stet

VFO

G03)|

Top view with covers off

The original top and bottom ventilated covers of this former WW2

tuning bow are now replaced with

sold 3mm aluminium plite to enhance the thermal stability of the oscillator.

| look forward to working CQ QRS Team
Band or 80m.
Best 73

Adrian
Adrian Van Der Byl

VK2WF

[Thanks Adrian - outstanding!

members

with this gear on Top

And if you’re up to some drooling about Adrian’s amazing low-band set-up,
here’s a link to a YouTube

video all about it.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNSq684XR_8

Topics of Interest
This Topics of Interest section is where we discuss various aspects of radio
communication,

which may or may not necessarily be associated with QRS

CW (eg our on-going discussion about managing

80m

receive noise, 80m

one-way propagation, static crashes, the phased antenna
mode

paradox, switch

power supplies, noise cancellers and artificial intelligence-driven

noise reduction).
Please let me know if there’s something you'd like to contribute, so we can
share more thoughts and ideas;

email to mark.bosma@icloud.com

Brain
How

Teaser
did you go?

Jules Perrin JP VK3JFP has created a terrific resource to help guide learning
for all levels of amateur radio licenses:
https://www.julesworkshop.net/Amateur%20Radio.html
This week’s quiz questions from Jules’ Workshop example test questions:

What is the opposition to electron flow called and what unit is it measured
in?
The input impedance of a Field Effect Transistor (FET) is
e very high
e very low
e

current dependant

e voltage dependant
The depth of modulation of a transmitter may easily be monitored

means of an oscilloscope. The following displays, from left to right, show
approximate

modulation

percentages of:

100% over 100%

30%

100% over 100%

80% 0% -10%
60% 0%

10%

What is the maximum

peak envelope power an Advanced

may use on the band

144.0 MHz - 148.0 MHz?

station operator

(a) 30 watts
(b) 400 watts
(c) 120 watts
(d) 10 watts

How did you go?

Answers

from

Answers

last week’s

EMF goes by a common
Answer:

next week.

Quiz:

name &@s.....

voltage

The function of a tripler stage in a transmitter is to
e

multiply the frequency of the incoming signal by three

e triple the power output
e

enable two final stages to be fed by the one oscillator

act as an impedance doubling device

Answer:

multiply the frequency of the incoming signal by three

A single side band transmitter could cause interference to stations on
adjacent frequencies if it
e

had shorted turns in the tank coil

had ripple on the power supply

had leakage of RF into the mains cable

e was overdriven
Answer:

was overdriven

On which of the following frequencies can VK4JRL and VK6FHLV
2-way telephony contact?
(a) 28.625 MHz
(b) 52.56 MHz
(c) 144.50 MHz
(d) 439.25
Answer:

MHz
b

52.56 MHz

How did you go?

not hold a

Tuesday’s

CQ QRS

Net

Reminder.
Teamwork

Thank you so much to our outstanding team of 25 contributors (some
submitted several articles too) this week! Thanks to: VK5CZ, VK6FN,
VK1HF, VK3KLE, VK2WF,

VK6DEV,

G4RWI, VK2TER, VK3ACU, VK3BTV,

VK2IK, VK6PZT, VK6BEK, VK6JDM, VK2GAZ, VK6MK, VK7KPC, VK2AOE,
VK6IS, VK3BAP, VK7TA, VK6HRC,

VK2NAP, VK5ET and VK3JFP;

especial thank you to Adrian VK2WF
brewed VFO.
team

and an

for his superb article about his home

Thank you team - a superb effort - it’s the thoughts of the

plus the photos that makes

(perhaps 125-plus would

So back to the Slow CW QSO
Next Tuesday’s

RagChew

so interesting to the 125-odd

be safer) subscribers.
practice net.

Net

Our CQ QRS Net will be on as always on Tuesday from around 0800z,
starting

on 40m then moving to 80m;

see below 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.
have fun.

We'll

dah-di-di-di-dah
For those who | work on Tuesday night, please accept my apologies in
advance for the pauses, repeated dah-di-di-di-dahs etc during our QSO,
while | attempt to pick up and log callsigns that | hear on the SDRs, sending
WhatsApp
Reports

notes, etc.
- please don’t use Reply

Please let me know by email to
hear on Tuesday’s net.

mark.bosma@icloud.com

who you work or

The reports are important - because during the net,

| can only attempt poorly to listen-in and log QSOs while having QSOs
myself - so | really want your comments

each week to make our RagChew

newsletter interesting and count the number of stations on air and
listening.

Also send me anything for the RagChew

newsletter that you

think might be of interest to our group.
And by the way, when you send reports and other material to me, please
address it to mark.bosma@icloud.com
newsletter email;

depending

rather than replying to the RagChew

on your email application, sometimes what |

get is either unreadable by my iMac Apple Mail application, or attachments
don't come through;
Apple Mail application.

the HTML of the newsletter seems to confuse the
If nothing else, any attachments end up right down

the end of the email on my Mail system... and if | don’t happen to scroll all
the way to the bottom, I'll miss your pearls of wisdom... and that’d be bad,
n’kay?!
Post
And

Morsum
for those who

are within earshot of an AllStar node,

Richard VK6HRC

will run our Post Morsum

on the South West AllStar net (via repeaters and

hotspots all over WA) from 0600 WA time.

If you’re in WA, all you need is

an FM 2m or 70cm transceiver and an AllStar node nearby.

If you’re

elsewhere, you may be able to connect your local AllStar-enabled
to the net, or you

have

a listen via Echolink.

mark.bosma@icloud.com )

if | can help with that.

CQ QRS

can

Let me

know

repeater

(

Group

We've now got a good

bunch who have fun exchanging

alerts and

comments

during the net, and also spotting QRS stations on at other times.

However,

I'd really like you to join in on the WhatsApp group if possible.

Please let Stuart VK6MK stujen55@gmail.com
mark.bosma@icloud.com

or me

Know your mobile phone number, and we'll add

you to the group.

€Y CW on Tuesday,

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

New

Extended

the

QRS

dah-dah dit!

Net

details.

Prelude

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

Net. CQ QRS will start at 0800z until about 1300z+.

1600 - 2100+

WA time, 1830 - 2330+

Practice

This translates to

SA Summer time and 1900 - 2400+

Eastern Summer time.

For the first three hours (0800z to about 1100z) we’ll be on 40m from
7030kHz

to 7040kHz.

For the last two hours (around
3540kHz to 3570kHz.

1100z to 13002), we'll be on 80m from

So tune around and call anyone you hear, or find yourself a quiet spot in
the designated 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).
Landing

Zone

If the band goes really quiet, call and listen on 7032kHz or 3555kHz.
catch someone, there’s no need to QSY - enjoy the frequency.
forget to tune around

If you

But don’t

if it’s quiet - we have lots of operators with crystal

locked transmitters - and they could be anywhere within the segments.

For

those who are locked, or can only transmit outside the segments, send a
message on our WhatsApp CQ QRS group advising of your current
frequency.
Speed
If you’re proficient at CW and can race along at 20 or 30wpm - terrific, but
please remember,

the net’s aim is to encourage,

hammer the key.

Please send slowly where you can and concentrate on

not show how fast you can

rhythm - listen to your side-tone, get that wrist action going and make a
special effort to make

it sound

like perfect CW;

net, the more | understand just how many

the longer we go with our

non-transmitting

have - and they will most likely appreciate your QRS!

listeners we

So, if you’re an

experienced operator, please try to send nicely balanced slow CW to give
them a chance to practice and gain confidence.... they’ll reward you one
day by coming

up on air to say g’day and thanks - how good

is that?

And if

you're new or like me, just rusty.... ignore the above... just have a go - the
lather of sweat will be worth it and there’s plenty of time to get the details
sorted out as you practice.
Matching
And also for the oldies like me, when you hear someone
their sending speed - or slower.

new, please match

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

QRS

And if someone

is sending too fast to comfortably copy - “PSE RPT PSE

QRS” or “AGN?

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.
Whose

frequency

is this anyway?

The aim is to give everyone a go at contacting others - no-one owns their
calling frequency on this net.

So unlike working

DX, if you hear someone

signing off - jump in and call - doesn’t matter who was first on the
frequency - we really are all good

mates on this net.... and besides, at the

speed we’re sending, after a QSO

most of us will have forgotten who was

first!

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.
CW Tips
As always, for newbies, operating suggestions are available from the
operating

hints link here:

https://www.parg.org.au/
files/ugd/ebe236_ 3ca5ca08bb38429db4eee524b
da2f97a.pdf.
There's usually people around until after 1300z - 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

respectively.

VK2KI / VK6QI

Send

comments

The

opinions expressed

The

opinions

in the

RagChew

do not necessarily

newsletter are those

of the individual contributors.

reflect that of the editor or of the CQ

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