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CQ QRS
What happened

last Tuesday,

NZART Autumn

Ode to CW

Chinese Whispers

International

e
e

Up-coming
QLRF!

Sneak

Singapore-Based

Reminder

This weeks

in your browser

RagChew

and a reminder for the next net.

Sprint

Morse

Code

Day Quiz

Oceania

SKCC

QRS

Preview

- ppCW

- Head-Copy

Marine

for 16Apr24

Saunter
Body

Building

Radio Operator

CQ QRS

net was another ripper.

Net

Conditions seemed to be good, with ZL

signals coming through to VK6 from the start, and reasonable conditions
up, down,
Autumn

left and right.

Some

of our team also had a go at the NZART

Sprint which was on for half an hour, although conditions on 80m

were tough between ZL and VK with static crashes galore
IMCD

Chinese Whispers

Exercise

Good to see some of our team taking up the International Morse Code Day
month

Chinese Whispers exercise... with messages

assiduously.

frequencies for some of the exchanges,
times.
| know that Stan ZL3TK has issued
messages CWA1

through to CWT1

so they’re out there circulating in
the ether.

being passed around

Our CQ QRS WhatsApp Alerts group is helping to tee-up

both during the net and at other

RSS

If you would

like to have a go at sending or receiving a Chinese Whisper

message and don’t have WhatsApp,
cggrsnet@gmail.com,

let me know by email

and I'll try to post your invitation on WhatsApp...

and/or try to catch you myself for an exchange.
Remember,

once you've sent a particular message,

back (eg if you received CWA2,
CWA4

or CWAS5

you can’t receive it

and sent it on as CWA3,

back from someone

later).

you can’t receive

More details below or here:

httos://qsl.net/zl3tk/whispers/whispers.htm.

International

Morse

Code

International Morse Code Day Quiz

Day Quiz

ee =

Pee

Preparations are well underway for

our annual International Morse Code
Day

Quiz, which

will be held on

Saturday April 27th.

The winner of

the ABC TV Hard Quiz, Mr Morse
Code Richard VK6PZT

has sharpened

his pencil once again to bring us what promises to be a

fantastic night of fun and laughter via a Zoom

videoconference;

although

knowledge about Morse Code might be helpful, it’s not a requirement for
fun to be had;

details below.

Please put the date and time in your Calendar, and let Richard know nice
and early if you'd like to be sent the Zoom
Last Tuesday’s

log-in information.

Net

So back to last Tuesday evening.

Here’s this week’s list of the 39 stations

heard:
Team

Member | CQ
4

Qso 1

aso2

aso 3

aso 4

asos5

aso 6

Qso 7

ZL3TK

VK3XU

VK3ACU |

ZLIAJY | VK3DBD |

ZL2GD

VK3DBD

asos

{insert OO or Listening if mo QSOs)

VK1HF

Heard on the net.

VKLKVS 40m
VK1IKVS5

40m cont

VKLPWE

VK1ITE/m4om_

| Heard on the net.

VK1ITE/m 40m cont
VK1ITE/m 40m cont
VK1ITE/m 40m cont
VK1ITE/m 40m cont

VK1TE/m som
VKIWA 40m
VK1ZDJ

VK2A0E
VK2BHO
VK2CL/m
VK2COS5
VK2DLF 40m

VK2EBN
VK2GAZ 40m

Heard on the net.
Heard

on the net.

ZL3TK

VK2GAZ 80m

VK2IK
VK2IOW 40m
VK2IOW som
VK2KI 40m

VK3KLE | VK5ZA/m

VEK2KI 40m cont

VKSET

VK6FN

VK2KI som

VK6Q!

VK3ACU

ZL2GD

VK2NAP

VK2NV
VK2NNW
VK2TER
VK2WEF
VK2/G4RWI
VK3ACU 40m
VK3ACU

40m cont

VK3ACU 20m
VK3ADX
VK3AE 40m
VK3BAP
VIK3BAP cont

Heard on the net.

VK3ACU

VK1HF

VKSOA
éL3TK
VK2KI

VK3KLE

VK1HF

VK6PZT

VK2KI

VK2TER

ZL3TK

VK2NAP

VKSYA

VK2NA

VK2DVA

VK3ACU

VKSPH

VK3BNW

VK6NT

There in spirit at least.
VK5GG
ZL3TK

VK6BEK

VK210/P

VKSAOK

VK3ACU

VKLHF

VK2DLF

VKSKFG
VK3ACU

VK2DLF

VK3KLE

VK3BWWN

VK3BTV 40m
VK3BTV som

VK3BU
VK3BYD

VK3CLD/p
VK3DBD
VK3DPH

Heard on the net.

VK3FG 40m
VK3FG

40m cont

VK3KLE 40m
VIK3KLE

40m cont

VK3KO
VK3RU
VK3TBR 40m
VK3TBR

40m cont

VE2KI
VK3DRO.

VK7TA

VK3VMM
VK3 WOW
VK4DRK 40m
VK4DRK 30m

VK4JM
VK4MFX
VK6TX/4

VK5A0 40m
VKSAYL
VKSCT

Heard on the net.

| VK3DBD
VK6BEK
Listening to the noise - but on the wrong band.

VKSCZ 40m
VKSCZ 40m cont
VKSCZ 80m

VKSET 40m
VKSET 4am

VKS5PH
VK3DBD

ZL2GD
VK3BWN

VK6FN
VK3DRF

VK6BEK
VK2TA

VKSET som

VKSFA
VKSFD
VKSHAA 30m

VKSIP
VKSKFG

Heard on the net.

VKSLA 40m
VKSPH 40m

Heard on the net.

VKSPL
VKSQA

Heard on the net.

VK6AAV 40m
VK6BEK 4om
VK6BEK 80m
VK6CK
VK6DEV
VK6DV
VKG6FN
VK6GAL

VK6KHZ
VKSET

Good to hear you on wit h your new callsign Craig (also VK3CLD).
VKSGG
VK3TBL

VK6IS

ZLIASY

VK6KHZ

VK6IS

VK6QI

VK2KI

VK6FN

VK6PZT

VK2NAP

VK2ICU

VK3DBD

VKSKFG

VK6PZT

VK6JDM

VK6PZT

VK6FN

VK/TA

VKONT

Heard on the net.
Heard on the net.

VK6HD 40m

VK6HRC 40m
VK6HRC

40m cont

VK6HRC gom
VK6IR

VK6IS

VKGIS 40m

VKGHRC

VK7TA

VK6JDM som

VK6IS

VK6KHZ

VK6JK
VK6KD 4om

VK6KHZ

VK6Q|

VKG6IS som

VK6DEV

VK3ACU

VK6KHZ 40m

Heard

on the net.

Heard

on the net.

VK6KQ
VK6LD
VK6MK

40m

VK6MK 40m
VK6MK 4om
VK6MK

80m

VK6MU
VK6NC
VK6NT

VK6NW som
VK6PZT 40m
VK6PZT som

VK6WE
VK6IS

VK6KD

VK3ACU

VK6QI 40m

VKSKLE

VK2Kl

£L3TK

VK6HRC

VK6KHZ |

VEK6QI 40m cont

VK6PZT

VK6WE

VK6FN

VK6KD

VK6NT

som

VK6PZT

VK6IS

VK2KI

VK6TY
VK6XU
VK6VZ 40m
VK6WE 4om

VK6ZPT

VK6IS

VK6QI

VK6WE

VK3SACU

VK6IS

fLIAJY

VK2DLF

VKSPH

VK3DBD

ZLATE

VK4MHX

VK7TA

aom

VK6YV

VK7 WW
VEK7WW cont

VEK7KPC 4am
VK7TA 40m

VK6FN

VK6NT

VK4MFX

VK7TA 40m cont

VK5GG

VK3ACU

VK1HF

VK2CL/M

VKSET

VK3SDBD

VK5A0

ZL3TK 40m

VKITE

VK2GAZ

VK2NA

VK3ACU | VK3DRQ | VK3TBR |

ZL3TK 40m cont

VEK1HF

VK3DBD

VKSKFG

VK7ZA
ZLIAJY

Heard

on the net.

ZLIANY
ZL1HJ
ZL2GD 40m
ZL2GD 40m cont
ZL2GD

40m cont

VK3XU | VK4MFX

VK6IS

ZL4BDG
ZLATE

New

Heard

on the net.

Readers

I've been a bit slack and haven't been contacting people who've joined in
our net for a couple of weeks - so only one new addition this week - Manny
VK3DRQ

from Blackburn who joins us after arm-twisting

by Stan ZL3TK.

More next week I’m sure.
Reports
A reminder - after next Tuesday’s net, please send me a
worked and / or who you heard using our new web

list of who you

form

https://forms.gle/KWNZovWvtemLkdS69

Getting reports from stations and listeners is important to me - even if you
listened and didn’t hear anyone or weren’t able to copy anything - the fact
that you had a go needs to get recorded so we know that the net is working
and attracting new and old team

members to have a go.

Thanks again to Nigel G4RWI for building the Google Form and the Python
software back-end that does the processing.
And

thanks

to David

VK3RU:
An

Ode

In days of old, when

ops were bold,

And sideband was not invented,
Words were passed by pounding brass,
And all were quite contented.
- Unknown

Masthead

Image

And thanks to Pete ZL4TE at Cambridge for the nice picture of his shack for
our masthead this week.

Cheers,
mb
Mark Bosma
VK2KI / VK6QI

Beautiful South Bowning

mark.bosma@icloud.com

NSW

non impediti ratione cogitationis

Reports

& Comments

Here’s this week’s
The spreadsheets above show the known
Comments

reports.

stations on last Tuesday’s net.

distilled from the reports I’ve received are below:

Comments:

From Grant ZL2GD
© The 40m

at Oxford:

band was quite noisy tonight. | hope Claude was not

actually
driving while he was sending... he did mention that the road was
bumpy and there were lots of Roos on the road!
© On 80m,

| did work VK3DRQ

and VK4PN

with very good sigs but no one seemed

earlier in the evening
to be about from the QRS

group on 80m
[They're a weird mod those Aussies on the roads Grant].

From

Tim

VK3TBR

puueee

i
|

eet

y
5
*

e Stan ZL3TK gave me a Chinese

at Horsham:

| had a great night.

‘ Fest
Tw

Whisper to pass on which |
believe | have a 100% copy on

but we shall see how it goes!

nN Y
DD)

Sar

e Thanks for running the Whisper
exercise, it is a lot of fun!
e Great fun on Tuesday night, |
really look forward to QRS
night!
[Hey Tim - that’s the spirit!]

From Richard VK6PZT
©
o

Some

QSB and QRM

at Dalyellup:
on 40m.

Rx two Whispers on 40m

and passed one on to Peter VK6IS on

380m.
o That was was fun.
o And apparently | was on Hard Quiz on the telly again on Tuesday.

Now thats what | call multi-tasking.

From Jordan
©

VK3ACU

at Meredith::

Sent and received a few Chinese Whispers;

it will be interesting

to see
how they go.
©

Interesting conditions around on Tuesday.

Really struggled with

Stan (ZL3TK) - the signals where fading, had warble and the static
crashes wiped out parts of the QSO;

thanks for trying Stan

Lots of warble on stations
tonight on 40m - perhaps its
time to unplug the Lesley
speaker from my rig hi hi.

Interesting conditions around
on Tuesday.

Really struggled

with Stan (ZL3TK) - the signals
where fading, had warble and
the static crashes wiped out
parts of the QSO;
trying Stan

thanks for

e Thank you everyone who came
up.
[Yup - warble and the sound of
slowish ripple on some people's
signal - interesting.

There was a bit

of auroral activity visible on the SDR
before as well].

Picture is of a Leslie speaker for making
a tremolo - used a lot on organs etc.

80m
o

Made a contact with Mark for the NZART Sprint contest, 80M was
challenging.

From
©

David VKG6KD at Ballajura:
| searched 80m for a short time late in the evening

but did not

hear any stations.
e

From

Returned to 40m

Stan

ZL3TK

and had some

at Waitarere

more luck there.

Beach:

40 m
©

Operators’ skill-sets keep getting better and better week-byweek.

Fourteen virgin whispers have been sent, passed the half way
point now
with three weeks to go.

Some

in the group might like to comment

serial numbers

being received;

the magic

yet?

in their reports on

wonder if any are approaching

Keying',

CW version of the famous trucking industry meme.

80 m

80 m seemed

quite dead,

From

lan VK7TA

at Latrobe:

heard nowt.

night for VK6, my vertical seemed

better than my

horizontal
dipole (which is rare)!
© Just managed
©

to copy Mark VK4MFX who was QRP.

It is getting hard to tell who is on the net as opposed to amongst
the
net, which is not a bad thing considering some of our team are
new operators.

[Relaxed, confident and happy - that’s what | call a terrific outcome for our
net].

From Garry VK2GAZ

at Hobartville:

| had a very pleasing contact
with Stan ZL3TK.

e Stan passed along a Chinese
Whisper which was copied
correctly | hope.
e

| will pass it along to a willing
participant next Tuesday
evening.

[By the way Garry - no need to pass
the Whispers just in the QRS net any other opportunities (including
the up-coming SKCC Oceania QRS
Saunter) are good!]

From John VKS5ET at Hope Valley:
©

Forty mts was very busy during 1st hour or so.

Comments

rx complementing

QRS Net operation. GREAT work

Mark & other contributors.
°

Cheers, John VK5ET

[Hey John.

Terrific to hear you on the net again now that your shack is

cooling down a bit.

From

Richard

Thanks for the Malusa report mate].

VK6HRC

at Padbury:

40m
©

Quiet on the local front but listened on the Ironstone Range SDR
to
hear the activity over East, after seeing a WhatsApp
from
Mark VK2KI.

Back to the home station when the band improved.

Had fun trying to copy a couple of Whispers.

notification

°o | still have one (CWAZ2) to pass on as CWA3

to anyone ready to

receive it.
80m
oe My antenna
receive

From
©

needs some TLC for 80m - too much

only on 80m

Daniel VKGWE

salt air.

So I’m

at this time.

at Cottesloe:

Lots of stations active but | could not stay because of urgent
issues.

From

Paul VK3KLE

at Stawell:

From

Donald

VK6JDM

at Dalyup:

e On 80m,

my home-brew gear’s

power supply started to do
strange things.
would

The voltage

ramp up over the

duration of a dash.
e Clearly was affecting the
quality of the signal so | shut
the station down and will have
to pull apart the voltage control
circuit before returning to the
air.
e Once again, | put out a call to
VK6KRC

but no response;

| am

sure he was out there as he did
promise.
e Also put out a CQ on 3.540
using the paraset Mark VII about 5 watts for about 15
minutes.

eo Will try again with the paraset in 2 weeks, as | will be away next
week.

| will put out a CQ from

1100 UTC on 3.540 (it is the 80

metre crystal | have for it) in 2 weeks.
[Thanks Donald.

Bad luck about the power supply;

| sometimes have the

opposite problem - a little bit of gunk on the in-line 13.8V supply fuse and
the voltage / power drops (or waivers about) on transmit.

Strange effect,

because the dial lights on my TS-50 are driven off a 5V regulator, so there’s
no indication problems,
key-down.

apart from the power output not being steady on

Keep working with that reamer on Bob VK6KRC mate.

Hope to

catch you in a couple of weeks when you're back on Donald].

From

Peter VK6IS

at Wundowie:

o Very few folks seem to switch to 80m.

From

Mike VKG6AAV at Forrestfield:

| had success on 40m this week.

Made

lots of calls on 80m

but no takers;

the 80m

band was very

quiet in the West.

From Sue VKS5SAYL at Goolwa:
o
o

Hi Mark.

| couldn’t find the CW training on Tuesday.

It was noisy on 80, | moved

up and down

but maybe the Morse

ops were in my noise.
o

| have Discord but haven’t seen any recent messages,

| think the

last message was 7/4. I’m sort of familiar with Discord, | have
another couple of groups although | haven’t used it for awhile.
©

|’m looking forward to receiving my first Chinese whisper.

My husband

Richard VK5ZNC

wants to learn Morse too but will do

it his own way. He’s a Z call, so never had to do Morse.
°

| can’t believe how learning morse has become fever pitch;
always liked CW

but didn’t keep it up.

o Cheers Sue VK5AYL
[Bad luck Sue - but | appreciate the report.

The reason you didn’t hear

anyone was that around the time you were on, the action was on 40m;
the new Winter timetable.

see

Also, the Alerts etc were on WhatsApp - not

Discord:
e

CQ QRS WhatsApp

NTARC CW Training Discord Wednesdays].

e The Post Morseum

Tuesdays,

report from Richard VK6HRC

o Another interesting net this on Wednesday
Morseum

at Padbury:
morning’s Post

on the South West AllStar network.

e Stations on:
o VK6OFN
°o VK6QI
°o VK6KD
°0 VK6HRC
© and our shortwave
listeners..

o All reported enjoying the QRS net on Tuesday night.
o

Max VK6FN

could not stay long as he had to head off to oversee

the installation of the footings for his free standing masts - a
major project apparently engaging

half the tradies in Manjimup.

o Another topic was zero beating and the various ways to achieve
good results - including selecting CW-R (reverse sideband) to
ensure the tone frequency was the same.
only one watching

It seems

|! am not the

online tutorial videos !

o See / hear you next week
o

73, Richard VK6HRC

[Thanks Richard - great net and excellent report as always mate].

From

VK6QI

via the VK6QS

Electronics Group Remote

KiwiSDR

at Brookton

and the Southern

HF station at Bedfordale:

40m
o Another fun night was promised with the 40m
Signals in

band bringing

from

ZL to the VK6QS

KiwiSDR

at Brookton

at 0700z,

stronger

than the
marginal signals from the Australian Eastern States.
Nevertheless,

| was copying

both Paul VK3KLE

at Stawell (RST

559) and me (RST 549) on the SDR while we were having our first
QSO for the evening.
A while later | could hear Stan ZL3TK coming through at $4, as
well as VK5ZA who was mobile in VK3 and working
heard Richard VK6HRC

Paul.

| also

at Padbury chatting to Ron VK6KHZ

Yangebup.
During the evening,
40m from ZL.

| noticed some warble / rapid deep flutter on

The effect sounded

like an intermittent antenna

connection at my end, but Jordan commented
something
some

about it as well -

interesting going on in the ionosphere.

There was also

indication of auroral buzz on the SDRs earlier in the

evening.

e While all this was going on, |
was getting the “Why are you
standing there making tap-tap
noises when

I’m hungry.... why

aren't you feeding me?” stare.

After taking 30 minutes off for the NZART Autumn

Sprint, | came

back to the SDR and heard Richard chatting to Peter VK6IS at
Wundowie.

And when

| worked

Paul ZLIAJY at Birkenhead from

VK2, Paul was rolling in to WA Strength 9.
Grant ZL2GD

A while later | heard

Oxford chatting to John VK5ET at Hope Valley - both coming

nicely
to WA.
| then heard Richard VK6PZT at Dalyellup chatting to Dan VK6WE
at Cottesloe, although they were struggling with QSB on the
signals.
A while later Richard advertised on our CQ QRS WhatsApp

group

that he
was looking for an International Morse Code Day Month Chinese
Whisper
to exchange, so | cranked up the Southern

Electronics Group

VK6SR
Remote at Bedfordale and we had a great time exchanging
message CWI3 that | had received from Claude VK1TE/m
in the day;

earlier

Richard will now be looking for someone to receive the next
iteration
of that message

(CWI4).

After cooling down from the accurate message sending,
called by Max VK6FN

| was

at Manjimup who had been listening in.

was terrific to have a nice CW

rag chew with Max again;

he was

looking forward to an early start the next day to do the
foundations for his two new 60+ foot self-supporting towers;
seems that Max knows everyone in Manjimup,

so the next day’s

work was expected to be more of a mates’ get-together than just
hard work.
© Around then | must have been getting tired or just lazy - and |
kept using my VK2 call in the QSO with Max;

funny how the so-

called muscle memory works - now-a-days

| use my VK2KI call on

CW more often than my VK6 call - and it seems that without
thinking when sending
mode.

my callsign, my brain reverts to automatic

| wonder which callsign I'll be tapping out in a coffin on

the way to the crematorium - HI!
o After Max | chatted to David VK6KD

at Ballajura - another person

who | hadn’t worked on CW for quite some time - what fun!
© And to round-out my night on 40m,

| had a chat with our old mate

Lin VK6NT at Hamersley - Lin was on every single Tuesday
evening without fail in the early days of the net, but recently had
a period away from the key on Tuesdays with another
commitment;

it’s always really nice to chat to Lin again when

can be on air.

| also noticed

Richard and David having
a late-night chat as well.
Perhaps they were
comparing

notes after the

repeat on Tuesday night of
the ABC Hard Quiz episode
(where Richard’s topic was

of course,

Morse

Code)?

Richard VK6PZT after winning the ABC TV
Hard Quiz - topic - Morse Code

80m
© Around

1230z | had a listen to 80m

on the VK6QS

KiwiSDR at

Brookton
and heard Richard VK6PZT at Dalyellup chatting to Peter VK6IS at
Wundowie.
°

Because

it was getting late, | was calling CQ from VK2 and

listening to my RST 589 signal on the SDR - nice to hear solid
signals
from the East on 80m again.

e Also from me VK2KI

at Beautiful South Bowning:

40m
° As! mentioned

above,

| started off at 0700z on 40m working

Paul

VK3KLE at Stawell.
© While transmitting | noticed that my Raspberry Pi AllStar node
was keying up the WA AllStar network on some

letters;

normally |

have my hands full monitoring two SDRs and my HF transceiver
on headphones while
sending WhatsApp Alerts, logging
etc - and | usually have the

volume

of my AllStar hotspot handheld
turned down... so | wonder if I’ve
been keying up the network and
hence most of the 2m and 70cm

repeaters around WA) every
Thursday evening?

Something

else

for me to keep an eye on!

Meanwhile

| heard Stan ZL3TK chatting to Drew VK3XU,

listened-in on the QSO
o

between

Next up | worked Jordan VK3ACU

at Meredith, and we agreed to

head down to 80m for the NZART 30 minute Autumn
o When

| came

back to 40m,

Sprint.

| had a chat to Paul ZLIAJY at

Birkenhead and saw on the Tecsun
David VK3DBD

and |

Paul and VK5ZA/m.

KiwiSDR at Araluen

NSW

calling.

o After finishing with Paul, Jordan and | exchanged

a pair of

International Morse Code Day Month Chinese Whispers - what
fun, but quite hard work for those of us struggling with CW.
o

Meanwhile

| listened in to a QSO

between

Grant ZL2GD

at Oxford

and John VK5ET at Hope Valley - terrific to hear John back on
again after taking a break from the fun.
o When

| was working

VK6QS

Remote,

Max VK6FN

home - Max was thundering
SunSDR transceiver;
160m

at Manjimup as VK6QI via the

| was also listening on my Kenwood TS-50 at
in at RST 579 from his nice little

| don’t know whether he was using his

doublet as he does on 80m,

but Max was considerably

stronger than my signal from the Remote;
rain at Manjimup
o Anyway,

perhaps it’s the lack of

lowering the ground water table?

great fun on 40m for me - and exchanging

two ICMD Chinese Whispers just added to the fun.
80m
o

| was pleased that David VK3DBD

at Yakandandah

me about the NZART 30 minute Autumn
(even though

had reminded

Sprint earlier on Tuesday

I'd advertised it in last week’s RagChew);

thank

you David, it had
Slipped my mind as usual!
o Over this side, 80m was full of static crashes from the cold front
that was heading off shore toward
©

So even though
at Araluen

New Zealand.

| could see a bunch of ZLs on the Tecsun

KiwiSDR

NSW calling CQ, | couldn’t hear enough to decode

through the lightning bursts.... and besides, most were going
hammer-and-tong

- after all, it was a Sprint... implying that QRS

was out the window.
o

Nevertheless after tuning the antenna coupler and carefully
adjusting my noise canceller, Jordan VK3ACU
exchanged

RSTs and outside air temperatures about 15 minutes

into the 30 minute event.
ZL2GD

at Meredith and |

| then exchanged

numbers with Grant

at Oxford and to round out the Sprint, | tried to exchange

RSTs and temperatures with David VK3DBD,

but it just wasn’t to

be - we ran out of time before QSLing the exchange.

30 minutes

goes pretty quickly when you're sending and receiving slowly like
me.
© Combining the non-QRS

NZART Sprint and the CQ QRS Net was

good fun for me.
o

Later in the evening after all the activity had died down,
calling CQ on 80m.

Although

| started

| could hear that was coming

into

nicely at RST 589, there were no takers and after lots of calls,

| decided to take advantage of no daylight saving, and head for
the sack.
In all | heard or worked

16 stations on 40m

and 7 stations on 80m;

thank

you all for being there, helping us all to have another terrific Tuesday night.

International

Morse

Code

Day/

Month
Join the Celebration
In previous years, we've celebrated International Morse Code day with a
Quiz hosted my Mister Morse Code himself, Richard VK6PZT via Zoom
videoconference.

In addition, we’ve run the International Morse Code Day

Corroboree, an on-air QRS event held close to IMCD.

Well this year, we’re

doing two things for your entertainment - the popular and definitely fun not
serious Quiz will be held on the Saturday once again, but instead of a oneday on-air Corroboree event, Stan ZL3TK is running a fun and challenging
Chinese Whispers event for us over the whole month of April.

Celebrate

International

Morse

Code

Day - Saturday

April 27th

soko CM

International Morse Code Day.
Quiz

0845z April 27, 2024

* va
VK/ZL

International

Scheduled:

Morse

Code

Day

Quiz

27 Apr 2024 at 6:45 pm to 9:00 pm

Location: Zoom:
https://usO2web.zoom.us/j/87232811820?
owd=OQUIJYWZrZOVIRM5xdFBET3N3TTRSZz09

The

QRS

net team

will be hosting

the third International Morse Code
Day Quiz on April 27th, the birthday
of Samuel

Morse.

This event will be conducted

Richard VK6PZT via a Zoom
videoconference over the Internet,
Starting at 0845z.

The quiz will definitely not be a serious affair;

once again, having fun and

enjoying the get-together will be the order of the day.

Doesn’t matter

whether you're an expert Morsecodian or a beginner in the fine art of CW...
you'll have fun.

To obtain log-in details for the Zoom

[e} gy

event,
Richard please
VK6PZTemail
at to our host,

PUR
Rar
ee
28 oe seekRe toe otteets,
Steetest

vk6pzt@gmail.com

Eats (@)

beforehand.

Please put the date and time in your
Calendar.

Chinese

Whispers

- International

Month

Event

Morse

Code

Day

1 - 30 April

Hosted by Stan ZL3TK
https://gsil.net/zl3tk/whispers/whispers.htm
IMCD

Chinese

Whispers

Month

To celebrate International Morse Code Day (IMCD) this year,
provide an opportunity to hone your CW skills,

as well as to

we are running a Chinese

Whispers project from 1 April, ending 30th or earlier if the exercise is
completed

and we’re out of new stock.

Don’t worry, this is not a contest,

there are no winners per se, yet all are winners from the experience to be
gained.
Our Chinese Whispers works like this:
e Twenty-six, single-sentence Whispers have been prepared and are
ready to be sent to willing volunteer recipients.
e When

a Whisper has been received, it needs to be passed on to one

(and only one) other station via QRS CW.
e

Each Whisper has been assigned a name

in the range CWA

~ CWZ

followed by the digit 1 in the first instance.
e That digit is incremented
times,

as the Chinese Whisper is on-sent five more

eg CWAI1 becomes CWA2,

which becomes CWAS.... until it’s

passed around four times and produces CWAS.
e The recipient of CWAS5

is the end of the line for that Whisper.

She sends the received text by email to
the subject line CWA5

completed

zl3tk.radio@gmail.com

(or CWB5,

e The resulting message will be compared
results will be published in RagChew.

He or

CWC5

with

etc as appropriate).

with the original and the
Hopefully some

may be quite

amusing.
e And don’t worry, the identity of the stations along the path won’t be
known to the organisers... we'll know only the identity of the first and

last stations in the chain.
e

Exchanges won't be limited to the Tuesday net - as long as they’re
passed

URL:

by QRS CW during the month

of April, we'll be happy.

httpos://qsl.net/zl3tk/whispers/whispers.htm

The whole Whisper send and receive procedure can be conducted
language,

in plain

however for those wanting to extend their skills by employing

efficient traffic-net-style exchange,
e This Whisper-passing

here’s one suggested

protocol.

protocol is very gentle... no pressure.

e This is also an opportunity to use RSN (as an alternative to RST) if
you'd like to clearly indicate your reception conditions to the other op
so they can decide how best to send the Whisper... soeed, Farnsworth,
repeats, etc.
e

Let’s say conditions are pretty poor but you’d like to proceed anyway.

e The sending station could send

‘QRV CWSPR?

BK’ (ie are you ready to

receive a Chinese Whisper?).
o Affirmative response:

Acceptance could be in the form of a signal

report followed by QRV BK (eg
mostly readable,

| am

BK’ (Roger - break)).
receive as much
meaning
°

‘RSN432

QRV BK’ (your signal is

ready to give it a go, break) or simple: ‘R
One way to give yourself a better chance to

as possible in one go is to send

PSE QSZ,

‘Please send each word twice’.

Negative response:

The other side of the coin is to decline.

Simply send: ‘NO TKS

BK',

‘QRX 15 MINS

BK’ (call me again

in 15 minutes) or simply ‘N TU’ (negative - thank you).
e

So let’s say the receiving station is good to go.

The sending station

sends:

-’ followed by the text of

[callsigns if needed] then (say) ‘CWG3

the Whisper then

‘QSL?

BK’.

If the receiving station misses a word, they could send ‘PSE RPT
3 ES 7 - WORDS

3 ES 7?’

Alternatively:

WORDS

'RPT WA

XXXXX’

(ie repeat word

after XXXXX)

‘RPT WB

XXXXxX’

(ie repeat word

after XXXXX)

‘RPT AA XXXXX

(ie repeat all after XXXXX)

‘RPT AB XXXXX

(ie repeat all before XXXXX)

or,

‘RPT BN XXXXX YYYYY (ie repeat between words XXXXX and
YYYYY).

But if the receiving station has enough words to fill in the blanks, they
could send ‘QSL ALL - TU BK’ or similar.

inese Whisper
Originator

Station 1
|

2nd station
in CWA path

reg

RX CWA1
TX CWAZ

RX CWA2
TX CWA3

3rd station

4th station

in CWA path
5th station
in CWA path

RX CWB1
TX CWB2

RX CWC1
TX CWC2

RX CWB2
TX CWB3

RX CWC?
TX CWC3

+
oe
+

+
| oe
+

RX CWC4

4th station

So it’s a fun thing to try through
AprilHr in celebration of International

TX CWC5

in CWC path

RX CWA4

RX CWB4

TX CWA5

TX CWB5

RX CWAS

RX CWBS

RXCWCS

EMAIL CWAS

EMAILCWB5

EMAILCWC5

—

—_—

Chinese Whisper
Comparator

2nd station
in CWC path

;-———>

co,
st

"ur

orse

Code

Day.

Sth station
in CWC path

from 23 other
fifth station:

Publish Results

zi3tk.radio@gmail.com|

The whole Whisper send and receive procedure can be conducted
language,

in plain

however for those wanting to extend their skills by employing

efficient traffic-net-style exchange,
e This Whisper-passing

here’s one suggested

protocol.

protocol is very gentle... no pressure.

Let’s say conditions are pretty poor but you’d like to proceed anyway.

e The sending station could send

‘QRV CWSPR?

BK’ (ie are you ready to

receive a Chinese Whisper?).
°o Affirmative response:

Acceptance could be in the form of a signal

report followed by QRV BK (eg
mostly readable,

| am

BK’ (Roger - break)).
receive as much
meaning
©

‘RSN432

QRV BK’ (your signal is

ready to give it a go, break) or simple: ‘R
One way to give yourself a better chance to

as possible in one go is to send

PSE QSZ,

‘Please send each word twice’.

Negative response:

The other side of the coin is to decline.

Simply send: ‘NO TKS

BK',

‘QRX 15 MINS

BK’ (call me again

in 15 minutes) or simply ‘N TU’ (negative - thank you).
e

So let’s say the receiving station is good to go.

The sending station

sends:

-’ followed by the text of

[callsigns if needed] then (say) ‘CWG3

the Whisper then

‘QSL?

BK’.

If the receiving station misses a word, they could send ‘PSE RPT
WORDS

3 ES 7 - WORDS

3 ES 7?’

Alternatively:

°0

'RPT WA

XXXXX’

‘RPT WB

XXXXxX’

‘RPT AA XXXXX

(ie repeat all after XXXXX)

°o ‘RPT AB XXXXX

(ie repeat all before XXXXX)

(ie repeat word

after XXXXX)

(ie repeat word

after XXXXX)

or,

‘RPT BN XXXXX YYYYY (ie repeat between words XXXXX and
YYYYY).

But if the receiving station has enough words to fill in the blanks, they
could send ‘QSL ALL - TU BK’ or similar.

So it’s a fun thing to try through April in celebration of International Morse
Code Day.

Remember:

e Astation can only pass a
particular Whisper to one other
station, regardless of its serial
number. So if someone

offers

you CWTS3, but you’ve
previously sent the same
message to someone

else (eg

as CWT1), you'll need to
decline - eg ‘SRI NO - | SENT
CWT1

BEFORE’

e There is no restriction on the
number of Whispers any one
station can pass to another if
they have them

ready to go.

To keep track of the Whisper
messages you've handled
during April, you could use a
spreadsheet like this one from
Stan.
If you'd like to receive a Whisper with serial number 1, please email Stan at

z|3tk.radio@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Chinese Whisper Volunteer’.
Stan can also send you the spreadsheet in case you want to use it to keep
track.
So the messages

have started flowing both in the CQ qRS net and via CW

outside the net - any band can be used, and it’ll run for the rest of the
month.

You could use the WhatsApp Alerts to advertise:

a CWSPR

message to send’ or ‘CQ 7032 - anyone

‘CQ 7032 - | have

have a IMCD CWSPR

message to pass?’.
Keep an eye on next week’s RagChew - in case theres updates to the
guidelines.

Veeko
wonders
what to do

Other
Other things
Morse Training
Nic VK7WW

I’ve received

Vijay knows
three Hindus

News
from

our 160-odd

readers.

Net

runs a Slow Morse training net every Wednesday at 7pm

EDST

on 3580 for 30 mins. He uses the callsign of the Northern Tasmania
Amateur Radio Club VK7TAZ on that net.
Many of our team

learned Morse code with the support of Nic, and the

weekly training session comes

highly recommended

for anyone who wants

to learn the Code, or simply brush up.

Everyone’s welcome - 3580KHz at

7pm

The NTARC also feeds the CW

Eastern time every Wednesday.

live via

the Discord phone / computer audio stream, and previous weeks’
recordings are available.
Contact Nic VK7WW

for more info nicholaschantler@hotmail.com - or just

join in on Wednesdays.
WhatsApp

Rag

Chew

from

Richard VK6PZT
| had a problem with RF in the shack
and my key bitting me
up.

when! tuned

| sorted it with a better station

ground § and grounding

counterpoise on the end fed
antenna.

Also a very simple field

strength meter near my key lets me
know if there is RF getting back into
the shack.

lan VK1HF:

What is that key?

Richard:

It’s an American

Low Boy.

It’s a bit like two small

Morse

straight keys side by side!!
From Dylan VK3AE:

One for left

hand and one for right? lol
From Richard VK6HRC:
do it the easy way

Yeah why

From some wag

in Bowning:

Does it

work with both feet too Richard?
Richard:

i can

use

it with either

hand but | haven’t tried my feet yet

Richard again:

Turns out...

yes you

can....

hands free for eating my

dinner.

Why didn’t you think of this

before???
Bowing wag:

| usually try to use

only the one half of my brain ata
time.
David

VK3RU:

QRF?

QRF??

Richard:

So is this QLF

and

QLRF!

Max VK6FN:

Just soooo good...

Well sent...
Those on WhatsApp were treated to a video of

Richard’s foot work and expensive socks

Sneak

Preview - Ping-Pong

- Building

Head-Copy

Skill

From Claude VKILTE / VK2CL
About two years ago, | returned to the hobby after being idle for over 22
years.

Getting back into CW was more challenging than | initially expected,

but with some

help from Rob K6RB of CWops,

| managed

to reach 25wpm

at the end of one training session. For fun, | now practice copying at about
68wpm

(word by word only!), though

Over 25wpm

my sending

it's slow to sink in when

I'm tired.

becomes too messy with a straight key. ;-)

I've been thinking about a CW on-air practice method

I'd call 'ping pong

CW': ppCW for short! | wonder if such a drill system already exists, as I've
been out of touch for a long time?
The exercise would

involve asking the other station if they're up for ppCW.

Then we'd agree on word length, speed, and repetition rate, similar to an
RST/N

report.

One station starts head-sending while the other does head-copying;
no writing involved, no matter what.

e Then

immediately, the receiver sends the word

back to the initiator

along with another word of their choice, and the cycle continues until
one decides to stop.
e

If the responder gets the word wrong, the first sender repeats the
word until he/she gets the right response.

This game

could be easily initiated and stopped during a QSO, simply by

suggesting

'QRV ppCW?' followed by a'Y' or 'N'.

If popular, it could even extend to an annual ppCW event, or even a
contest, for example.

| have the impression that this could be a fun and

simple way of increasing one's CW

proficiency and confidence at any level,

from a very beginner to speedy Gonzales.
What | described

is a rough view of the idea, but | hope you grasp the

concept and see its potential for expansion

in terms of options and

variations. | think that it should not take too much time to implement and
fine-tune a protocol along those lines and start the ball rolling with a few
who'd

like to experiment on it before proposing the concept to a larger

audience.
Willing to use an existing wheel
if a similar impromptu
If not, I’m interested

instead of reinventing one, I'd love to know

drill already exists and how to participate if it does.
to hear ideas.

Cheers,

[Thanks Claude - this sounds like an amazingly simple idea that will take
off.
Claude and | have given it a try when he was driving home on Thursday
evening - under tough conditions we both had a ball exchanging three
letter words - great fun!

If you would like to have a try to help Claude

develop the protocols for this fun exercise, please let me know
cggrsnet@gmail.com.

Alternatively, keep an eye on the CQ QRS WhatsApp

Alerts and Rag Chews groups for more opportunities. ]
From

David

VK3RU

at Burwood:

| like the banner at the start of last week’s RagChew.
definition of QLF?
[1 think you’re right David.
e

Lance VK7ZA

What do you think Lance?]

at Margate:

Could this be the

Re: "And another left hander among

our team as well", you may be

interested to know I'm actually right handed,
CW with my left.

but made the choice to learn

I'll pen a short note for the newsletter regarding choice of

hand soon.
[Thanks gents].

Straight

Key Century Club - Oceania

QRS

Saunter

From Garry VK2GAZ
The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday, 20th April,
2024 from 00:00 UTC until 11:59 UTC for the 12 hour event.

All are

welcome to join in!!

All the details for the Oceania

QRS

Saunter (OQS) can be viewed on the

SKCC website at:

y cc

Straight

Key Century

Club

SKCC

OQs

Straight Key Century Club
Oceania QRS

httos://www.skccgroup.com/operatin

Saturday,

20th April,

Saunter

2024

00:00

UTC

12 Hours 00:00 - 11:59 UTC

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

| look forward to contacting you during the event.
Best regards,
Garry VK2GAZ/VK2ZP
#5460C
Manager - SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter
[Thanks Garry.

We could also use the CQ QRS WhatsApp Alerts in parallel

to notify our QRS fans that we’re calling during the event.

We could also

take the opportunity to exchange Chinese Whispers this month].

Community

Radio

Many readers know already that | do a stint as a volunteer presenter on the
local Community

radio station, YassFM

on Friday afternoons NSW time.

We usually have a number of the CQ
.
oo,
.
QRS team listening-in via the Live

Stream on the internet.
4pm

Mark Bosma
SMS: 0418161773
Pissseriliie cn Yaos EM:

1om until

Lae eee
Live Stream:

NSW time | have a guest, my

mate Dennis who has a Vineyard

wavwyassim.org

Yass is a great classical music fan -

yassim

100.3

and he brings his music to
share from 1pm

until 49m.

And from 4pm

until 59m,

| do the Your Shed

program - things of interest to local rural businesses primarily.

To listen, www.yasstm.org

and click on Listen Live.

Send me an SMS to say

g'day if you're listening in.

This Week’s
From

Topic of Interest

Singapore-Based

Marine

Willemsen

from

Hermann

VK2IXV

Radio Operator

Kiama.

Looking at my Japanese bug the BK100 (coffin key - below) reminds of
the 2 tropical terms | did in the Far
;

East from 1962-1966 with Singapore

=
-e w

| ogi
eat

NBL

/ :
eh

gees

akg

seo

, =
we
at

;

mere
ne

4
a!

‘|

as home

wr
me

port.

The ship | was the MRO

on was a

Victory ship called SS Tjibodas with
radio-callsign PHZI.

The radio equipment aboard was an
RCA 4U installation. U stands for
Unit, as her radio room console was
a wall of four units or panels,
consisting of an Antenna

Selector

Switch, Auto Alarm Apparatus, Alarm
Signal Keyer, a 200 W HF
transmitter, a 200 W MF transmitter,
main and back-up receivers, a 40 W
emergency

MF transmitter, and a

battery charger.
Morse hand keys on board were the
German Junker and the RCA-

‘

E SE
re
ee Sen

eeaEF

2
ee
eT

.
i
ne,

a ae

en
ee

# _S

wey

7=
eS

eer
7
rete

aa
ies

neh:

~
aera

ot————
ee

ee
ee

Ba
et
es

=!
Z es

oe
7

2
—:
SSaes

neal

oyFes
arm
4

eet rns eee

—

—————

supplied J37 with cover (below). The
latter was seldom
frowned

used. Although

upon by my radio company

(Radio-Holland), | mostly used my in
Singapore purchased

BK-100

Dentsu-Seiki, the forerunner of the
Hi-Mound. With this bug |
communicated

with regional coast

radio stations and far away
Scheveningen

radio/PCH. This all

with my 200W

MF and/or HF

transmitters.
The in WW2

built Tjibodas had no

aircon and therefore our sleeping
bunks were

equipped with a ‘Dutch Wife’ or
Guling, a
90cm

long pillow, filled with kapok,

which you could embrace or put

between your legs to absorb the
sweat.
One of the Officers kept a pet
monkey aboard and the Chinese
crew on the aft deck kept dogs and
played mahjong... those were the

ss._,, JJIBODAS*~

days!
Thanks Herman

- great story!

If there’s any other similar stories out there

just waiting for an airing opportunity,
more thoughts and ideas;

please let me know so we can share

email to mark.bosma@icloud.com

Apology
And speaking of Topics of Interest, my apologies to Stan ZL3TK for not
picking up grammatical

errors introduced when

| copied his fully-justified

article Human Subconscious into the left-justified MailChimp editor.

The

words at the end of each original line were joined to the first words of the
following lines;

dozens of grammatical

errors were introduced that | didn’t

notice.

My apologies to Stan who put in the
effort to write the article;
unfortunately my editing omissions
spoilt his otherwise perfect writing.
I'll stay back after school tapping out
lines!

Brain Teaser
How

did you go?

Jules Perrin JP VK3JFP has created a terrific resource to help guide learning
for all levels of amateur radio licenses:
httos://www.julesworkshop.net/Amateur%20Radio.html

With thanks to Baz VK6MU

for he idea, and Jules for the good

learning

website, here’s this week’s quiz questions from Jules’ Workshop example
test questions:

Calculate the following powers:
e

20v1=0.2A

|= 2AR
= 1000

10000 E = 500v

A radio frequency bypass capacitor:
e

blocks radio frequencies and passes direct current

blocks direct current and passes radio frequencies

must have a high reactance in order to be effective

provides a low impedance

path for direct current

Which of the following statements is incorrect in relation to a full wave
bridge rectifier circuit
e

its transformer does not require a centre tap

e the circuit requires two diodes
e

all diodes conduct at the same time

e the output ripple frequency is 100Hz
The callsign prefix "AX" may be allocated:
e for use during a special commemorative

event in Australia

e to an amateur network passing emergency traffic
to an ocean-going ship in Australian waters
e for communication with manned

satellites

How did you go?

Answers

next week.

Answers

from

last week’s

Quiz:

What is the formulae to calculate the power if the voltage and current are
known? Answer:

P=IE

The ability of a receiver to distinguish between
frequency is Known
e

readability

stability

selectivity

sensitivity

signals that are close in

Answer:selectivity
This block diagram

represents a:
CONTROL

balanced

LOOP
FILTER

modulator

e discriminator

VOLTAGE

PLL synthesizer
triple conversion
superheterodyne

Frequency

receiver

Selecto

Answer:PLL synthesizer.
What is the recommended

maximum

number of times the callsign of the

station you are calling should be sent?
(a) 1

(b) 3
(c) 10
(d) Does not matter
Answer:(b)

How did you go?

Di-dah-di-dah-dit
Here

So back to the Slow CW QSO
Next Tuesday’s

go.

practice net.

Net

Our CQ QRS Net will be on as always on Tuesday from around 0700z until
about 1300z;

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.

We'll

have fun.
Reports
Please let me know via our Reports form
https://forms.gle/KWNZovWvtemLkdS69

who you work or hear on

Tuesday’s net.
Post

Morsum

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 in the world, you may be able to connect your

local AllStar-enabled

repeater to the net, or you can connect via Echolink.

Let me know (mark.bosma@icloud.com)

if | can help with that.

Teamwork

Thank you so much to our team of 25 contributors this week:

ZLA4TE,

VK3RU, ZL2GD, VK3TBR, VK6PZT, VK3ACU, VK6KD,
VK5ET, VK6HRC, VKOWE,

ZL3TK, VK7TA, VK2GAZ,

VK3KLE, VK6JDM, VK6IS, VK6AAV, VK5AYL, VK1ITE,

VK7ZA, VK2IXV, VK3JFP, VK2TBR, VK5AO

and VK6BEK.

Thank you team.

€Y CW on Tuesday,

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:

ell

_—
———

SSS

About

dah-dah dit!

the CQ
Here’s

the

QRS

Net

details.

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

Practice

Net.

Frequencies

and Times

CQ ORS NET —- WINTER TIMETABLE

Australia

New Zealand

ent

CentralST

UTC+9.5

1630

2230

Easter ST

UTC +10

1700

2300

1900

0100

NZST

UTC +12

_ ie

Frequency
o7007 ~ 11007
40007 ~ 41002
41007 ~ 13002

40m

7.025 MHz ~ 7.040 MHz

40m

7.025 MHz ~ 7.040 MHz

gam

3.540 MHz ~ 3.570 MHz

sam

3.540 MHz ~ 3.570 MHz

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

send “QRL?” and if the frequency is quiet, start

calling CQ QRS at about 75% of the speed you're comfortable receiving at;
hopefully responders will match
we’re on 40m

(or send slower to their comfort level).

and you can hear that the band is open outside Australasia,

perhaps consider calling 500Hz above each

1kHz slot - to minimise the

chance of having to copy our team through QRQ

QRM

that’s often dead-on

the kHz

markers.

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.
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 - Alerts group advising of your current
frequency.
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

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