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CQORS
RagChew
Edition
Bruscileoren
ELECRAFT
CU
38/2024
gsr
el
K1TRA
ae Pe
DIN
NN
|
orc
e
Last Tuesday’s
e
Nic Causes
e John
Group
Reports
a Stir
Dips His Toe.
e
First CQ
QSO
e
Is it VK Night or ZL Night?
e
DXperiment
e
KiwiSDR
e
Post Morsum
- Paul
VK4PMW
Reports from
Under the Table
e Traffic Report
Report
DL3YZ
and
MONNK
v
RSS
Elecraft K1 Kit
e 9A5N
e POTA
Morse Paddle
in the Hail
e Jordan
e
SKCC
e 40m
Cracks
- Yes, Yes, Yes!
1000 CW
QRS
Band
Harmonisation
e Orange
Plan
Escalation
Saunter - this weekend
- Space
e A Controversial
Prosign
e
Net
Morse Training
e A Pleasant
e The
Fools
- Round
1 Outcomes
Paper
Weather Alert
Errand
Half Square Antenna
e This Week’s
e
QSOs
Oceania
Brain Teaser
Di-dah-di-dah-dit
e About the CQ QRS
Group
The weekly CQQRS
Slow CW Practice QSO Group gets together on
Tuesdays
about 0700z and 1300z, in designated segments of the
between
40m then 80m
band (see the end of this newsletter for details).
Although originally organised for both new and experienced VK and ZL CW
operators, our intrepid team
the US also join in the fun.
members
in Germany, the UK, Argentina and
Without doubt, our little group of around 200 is
one of the most active, with good numbers of participants every week.
Who’'da thought that CW could be so popular, and that we could have so
many people learning and building up their experience, or lending a hand
to those who are.
Reflecting the Group’s popularity, just look at the list of topics discussed
this week’s RagChew
in
- most written by the 31 contributors this week -
fantastic - thank you all for making this such a success, and for helping so
many new CW operators cross the threshold and enjoy the bliss.
Last Tuesday’s
Group
Here’s this week’s list of the 61 stations heard on Tuesday’s Group:
CQQRS Team
Member
ca
qQsoi
qQgso2 | QSsO3 |
Worked 20m
Calling the spots off his shopping cart from the swamp.
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Worked 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 20m
Heard 80m
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 80m
Heard 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 40m
Worked 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 80m
Worked 40m
Qso4 |
QSO5
|; QSO6 |
QSO7 | QsO8
Heard 40m
Heard 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard on air.
Hrard on air.
Worked 40m
Worked 40m
Worked 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 80m
Heard 40m
Worked 80m
Heard 80m
Heard 40m
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 80m
Worked 40m
Tried 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 40m
Tried 80m
Worked 40m
Worked 80m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 80m
Heard on air.
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 80m
Tried 80m
Heard on air.
Heard on air.
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 40m
Worked 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 40m
Heard 80m
Heard on air.
Masthead
Image
And thanks this week to Andy VK5LA for the photo of his Elecraft K1 Kit
build - see more mouth-watering
images below.
Reports
After next Tuesday’s Group, please send me a
or who you heard using our web form here:
bit.ly/COORSNET
list of who you worked
and /
As our team outside of Australasia grows, we've seen lots of interest in
expanding our activities to other bands to catch our overseas members.
head of our software department,
Nigel G4RWI
The
has been working furiously to
produce a simple way of reporting on contacts with our team outside of 40
and 80m.
But in the mean time, please just use the 80m
(separate out your 80m
report area
report from other bands of course), and when you
enter the list of callsigns worked,
heard or missed, please append
an
‘@band’ to each callsign without a space (eg VK2KI@20 VK6QI@15
etc).
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 Group is
working and attracting new and old team
members to have a go.
Cheers,
mb
Mark Bosma
VK2KI / VK6QI
Beautiful South Bowning NSW
mark.bosma@icloud.com
non impediti ratione cogitationis
Reports
& Comments
Here’s this week’s
reports.
The spreadsheets above show the known stations on last Tuesday’s Group.
Comments
distilled from the reports I’ve received are below:
Comments:
From
Michael
Welsh
VK4CCW
at Kawungan
QLD
[40m]
¢ Band conditions very noisy.
[80m]
© Nil.
From Jordan VK3ACU
at Meredith
[40m]
¢ Great band conditions on 40 for QRS night. | was running 5 watts and had
a
great time. Basically non stop from 5:30 till 99m.
work a VK2
| also pulled over to
mobile on the way home from work. | worked QRS night from
the
warm
dining room table,
a bit of coax draped across the floor in to the
shack where it connects to my matching
unit and ladder line. Really great
to work ZI1PB Phil with his Hermes and 5 watts 599 QRP both ways.
[80m]
¢ Thanks for sticking with the contact Richard. Tricky copy with a report of
229 but we persisted and made
see
it happen.
| was also QRP on 80m.
Hope to
you all during the week.
| will be calling CQ every day
(mostly at night) for the month of
September above 7.025 but below
7.040 hope to catch you!
QRS to any speed
| will
please drop
your call sign in if you catch me
calling. Cheers.
Bamakey TPIIl on a jewellers block (from ebay)
designed | think for stamping and panel beating
jewellery.
From Nic VK7ZWW
at Legana
[40m]
¢ Very tired tonight after working on restoring the mobile “shack”;
1978
eXarmy Series 3 Land Rover FFR 109” (Fitted For Radio) fell asleep listening
on 40m, woken
by XYL for tea!
[80m]
¢ Recovered
after tea, but still tired... Heard Stuart VK6MK on 3541, gave
hima
call but no joy. So called CQ QRS on the same fx, which evoked almost an
abusive voice call from someone
called ‘Captain America’ who tuned down,
telling
(yelling) the CW station to QSY, having caused severe interference!
Captain America
my apologies;
| don’t hear you when
filter (he runs a net on 3543 LSB, along with some
Sorry
| use a narrow CW
LIDS that
have some very strong signals like margarine - spreading everywhere! overdriven)
....no hum anyway at least my 15w was getting out @
¢ Oh! | also heard VK3CYD’s
From David VK6KD/4
Ha!.
10w CW beacon.... Never a dull moment
@.
at Halifax QLD
[80m]
¢e | have concluded
| have an Issue transmitting on 80m.
Radio keeps
Switching
off.
Currently restricted to 40m
and above until the problem
has been
resolved.
[Challenge to fix when on the road David!
Anyone in the Townsville area
or further South, interested in offering a hand to David to helo him sort out
the problem, so he can get back to putting out a terrific signal from his
caravan set-up?]
From Stan ZL3TK at Waitarere Beach
[40m]
¢e The band started lively, several stations on right from kick-off.
Propagation was geographically limited, ZL stations QNP,
solar eruptions.
likely due to
Delighted to report the first ‘traffic intruder’,
possibly the most welcome
intruder of all time!
OM John VK5ET sent his
first QTC consisting of three correct answers to a compound
well executed!.
[80m]
¢ Eerily quiet.
From
Wal
VK2WP
at Bathurst
N.S.W
question. Very
[40m]
e A welcome to VK4PMW
with whom
| had Paul's first CW contact. Hope to
hear
Paul again.
From Tony VK3CTM
at Junortoun
[80m]
e This net is most useful as well as
being great fun!
It still intrigues me
that so little RF power is required to
Support contacts right across to VK6
from VK3 - and that, on our huge,
'dry continent' is not DX.
Long live CW!
From John VKSET at Hope Valley
[40m]
e Strong signals in VK, ZL3TK was RSN 333. Good session with the two "
OMs
"
:-)
[80m]
e bit quiet tonight.
From
lan VK7TA
at Latrobe
[40m]
¢ One ZL op commented
~*it must be VK night". It turned out it was ZL
night
here. Nil heard from VK6 this week.
From
Richard VK6HRC
at Padbury
[80m]
e It was a struggle working the Eastern states conditions marginal, thanks
to
the operators over there persevering.
From
Manny VK3DRQ
at Blackburn
[40m]
e When
| arrived from the Dentist's appointment it was already 0930Z.
|
tune
on 14047Khz and soon | could heard very faint signals but impossible to
know if they were from Mike.
e Even, arriving a bit later from the Dentist's | did enjoy what | could do.
[Manny putting on a brave face after major dental work - thanks for making
the effort to get on mate.]
From
Mike
DL3YZ
at Stuttgart
[80m]
e My shift began quite promising. As soon as | got all parts working, |
heared
Pat's ( VK2IOW
) signal from Orange at a 579 here in Stuttgart, and
we had a great chat. Then, the gods of HF propagation
must have been
busy
somewhere
else. So on my next slot on the 15 m | had a hard time even to
be
heard by the nearby RBN stations here in Europe.
Despite no one heard
me,
my new setup with the second
hand 25 A power supply and the LiFePo
both
worked
perfectly. Using the power supply and the solar powered
220V
system
of the hut was quite funny. The lights of the hut and the backlight of the
rotary controller of the beam
blinked in perfect synchronicity with my
keying. But the power supply delivered a perfect 13.8 V for the radio,
pumping
a constant 100 Watts up to the stars. They made
really great
devices back in these glory days. And Its great to have something to warm
up your fingers for the next round on a cold and foggy German
morning.
Have
a nice week 73 Mike.
[Well done to Pat and yup, the band must have slammed shut on you Mike.
When | listened a bit later, even though you were seen on the European
Reverse Beacon Network stations, nothing seen here.
Looking forward to
the next round. /
From
Stuart VK6MK
at Australind
[40m]
¢ Great conditions.
[80m]
e 5 Watts
across Australia.
Low
noise and great conditions..
From Andy VKSLA
at Winkie
[40m]
¢ Had a look on the waterfall on my 7300 and was very Nappy to see it
chocka-block full of QRS CW stations on the net. | was just listening tonight
though - | was busy building an unbuilt Elecraft K1 Kit that was gifted to
me...| heard those stations on it as | was tickling up the RX...Hope to
have a QSO
next Tuesday with it, should have the TX side of things up and
running by then. It's a dual band 80/40.
[Thanks for the K1 build images Andy - they're further down the RagChew. /
From Mathew
Van
de Loop VK3AFH
at Wantirna
[40m]
¢ | have been caught up with work the last few weeks - coincidentally
Tuesday
night installs seem to be a thing lately, but at least my remote
workstation is in front of my radio so | can still listen in where
possible! 73.
From
Ketut
VK3SBWN
at Near
Melbourne
[40m]
e Listening to 40m
at around
18.40 AEST, it was refreshing to hear that the
band was chock full of CW QSOs.
From
Peter VK6IS
at Wundowie
[40m]
e sigs are very few until abt 0800z and then its an fairly noisy band after
1000z,.
e although some
ES stations can still be heard, even then.
[80m]
e who is interested in exchanging
an eQSL ?.
e - some OPs have sent me the odd one -.
e so who is interested in expanding their idea ?.
e - Just Do It -.
From
Patrick VK2IOW
at Near Bathurst NSW
[40m]
e A busy evening for me.
Apparently my QSO with Paul, VK4PMW,
was his
first
CW QSO,
but with many
more to come!
[20m]
e Enjoyed a DX QSO with Michael
DL3YZ on 20 metres.
| gave him
RST 549 and
he gave me 579.
We were both
using about 100 watts.
Both using
3 el yagi
antennas.
From the Editor VK2KI
in the dining room at a nice resort at Bowral, but
listening via the Tecsun
KiwiSDR at Araluen NSW.
[80m]
e Lady Elizabeth and | were away at Bowral on Tuesday, and had a dinner
date... which meant only the occasional quick listen to the Tecsun
at Araluen NSW
and the VK6QS
KiwiSDR
KiwiSDR near Brookton was wise using my
phone
during dinner.
| had no luck hearing Mike or Ross on either SDR.
spotted on the Reverse Beacon
Network from Spain on both 15m
Mike was
and 20m,
but |
had no luck hearing them..
e | didn't soend
much time on 40m
enough to note callsigns coming
between
into the NSW
courses and didn't listen long
SDR.
On 80m there were a
number that | heard calling CQ or chatting away happily.
™
naa
630m
160m 80m 60m 40m 30m 20m 17m 15m 12m 10m
)
cw
=H
(J
CQ
) DX
a
6m
4m
2m
supporting the
M
RBN!
Ses
{Show Spotters
=)
CW Speed:
I)
BCN
|
_
/B
J NCDXF
OpenStreetMap
Max rows:
4g
-[ 45.)
;
Minutes
Advanced Mode
Min
s
o
.
map
Odista
distance km
O@mode
ue
@speed
Max
Gtime
Copy URL to Clipboard
e Spotter (de)
contributors
Show Elements
New spots | Sieg
Zs
rity psk31 psk63
}
Leafiet
Consider
@seen
© Spotted (dx)
callsign
di3yz
® spotter
® spotted
Wl
LZ4AE
MM
distance mi
freq
mode
type
snr
speed
time
seen
pi3yz
762 mi
14047.0
cw
ca
7 0B
12wpem
0931z 17 Sep
4
MM0ZBH
98 seconds ago
i pi3vz
738 mi
14047.0
Cw
ca
10 dB
15 wpm
093iz 17 Sep
=
svippa
2 minutes ago
pi3yz
4039 mi
14047.0
CW
ca
19 dB
15 wem
0930z 17 Sep
2 minutes ago
™ pi3yz
Mn.
ase
766 mi
=
14047.0
cw
ca
4dB
15 wpm
0930z 17 Sep
——
2 minutes ago
@
Gil Gi4DOH
WME ccc
=
From your Editor VK6QI
via the VK6QS
KiwiSDR near Brookton, using my
phone during dinner while overlooking the golf course from the dining
room at Peppers Bowral.
[40m]
« After listening for Mike and Ross on the VK6QS
40m
KiwiSDR,
| heard a few on
before sliding down to 80m..
[80m]
« Pretty quiet on 80m
in the East when
| listened.
Sava VK4PN
was coming
in
to the TecSun
KiwiSDR at Araluen
From Phil VK6GX
NSW
nicely.
at Gidgegannup
[40m]
¢ | only had just over an hour to participate on Tuesday,
but despite
lingering effects from the X4.5 solar flare on the weekend
and the
subsequent CME
passing Earth at 0730 WST on Tuesday morning,
resulting
in
significant geomagnetic storming,
signals on 40m,
Post
Morsum
from
Richard
it was good to hear reasonably good
but no ZL QSOs again.
VK6HRC
Hello Mark
five on the VK6RLM, AllStar/ Echolink
net this morning
eventually !
VK6NW
VK6FN
VK6QI
VK6HRC
and our shortwave listeners VK6MRB
Wayne VK6NW
Mulligan and others.
had a good evening on 40 Mx
and got five stations in the
log nil on 80Mx before he had to head off. Barret radio and Winkeyer
combo working well.
Max VK6FN
went on in listening mode as his fairly new Flex radio was not
cooperating,
but enjoyed some
recording
as the evening
head copy and some
progressed.
pencil and paper
Mark VK6QI was roughing
look at some
it in Beautiful Bowral but managed
KiwiSDR receivers through the evening
know that Ross M@NNK
managed
to sneak a
! Mark also let us
one contact from his portable set up on
the coast but that station was not far from where he was set up!
activity was probably making
Solar
life difficult for Ross this time.
| had three contacts on 40 Mx and three on 80 Mx, also remembered
listen in on the formal exchange
and managed
between
to
Stan ZL3TK and Manny VK2DRQ
to decode a fair amount of the exchange.
Thank you Stan
and Manny for helping us along with our formal traffic experience.
Thank you to everyone on the net this morning and last night.
73 Richard VK6HRC
Traffic Report for 17 September
2024
from Stan ZL3TK
In his usual reliable style, OM
previous week's question.
Manny was on duty to send his answer to the
He was followed by a big surprise
-
[regular] member to dip his toe in the turbulent traffic waters
major milestone in the history of the CQ QRS Group!
OM John VK5ET,
Sea’,
the first
-
truly a
A big welcome to
as he begins crewing on board the the good ship ‘Cutie
to give our vessel a true maritime flavor!
week's rhetorical question in the comments
The answer to last
section:
Does anyone have
the sheer British guts and determination to be first?
has proven to be a
resounding
'YES'.
Hearty congratulations go to the intrepid
Adelaidetarian VK5ET on his NR 1.
bright future,
Looking forward to a lot more and a
thanks a lot OM John.
Here is the answer John
sent to the previous week's question,
then printed
out formally below.
OTC
NR
1
R
VK5ET
ZL3TK
19/17
PF95ID
1004Z
17SEP24
=
=
COMMODITY
WAS
SANDALWOOD
ROYALTY
WAS
ONE
POUND
TOWN
IS
DRUMMOND
COVE
VKSET
AR
QRU
STOP
TEN
SHILLINGS
COMMA
WA
STOP
=
K
VK CQ QRS Group
;
&
QTc;
NR
1
|
PREC
{R
Tuesday
09402
WIRELESS TELEGRAM
I
HX
STATION
|
OF
ORIGIN
VK5ET
wes
CHECK
PLACE.
19/17
OF
ORIGIN
7.0384 Miz
|
PF9OSIL
TIME
1BBAZ
DAT?
17SEP24
ZL3TK
MESSAGE
COMMODITY WAS SANDALWOOD STOP
ROYALTY WAS ONE POUND TEN SHILLINGS
STOP TOWN IS DRUMMOND COVE COMMA WA
FROM
RECEIVED AT
ZL3TK
This week's QTC
VK5ET
VERSE
FROM
IME
DATE
VK5ET
Q957Z|
17SEP24
SENT FROM
0
(to which everyone is invited to reply)
TIM
DATE
is focused
squarely on the sunshine state, which cannot be found on any list of Qcodes.
Traffic is sent by both stations very slowly,
averaging
10 wom,
making
it
easily readable, and therefore able to be answered
Here it is,
QTC
NR
by almost everyone!
first exactly as sent, then printed out formally below.
13
R
VK3DRQ
WHY
ZL3TK
VIA
38/32
CQ
SHOULD
QRS
ALL
DUNKUM
IN
1
YEAR
AND
5
TO
COMPETE
IN
THE
ZL3TK
AR
WAITARERE
GROUP
NM
AUSSIES
DAYS
01452
17SEP24
=
TIME
QUILTON
AND
DESCEND
ON
HOW
MAKE
MANY
AUSTRALIAN
WINTON
DUNNY
UP
QLD
A
TEAM
DERBY
QUERY
=
K
VK CQ QRS Group
Tuesday
09402
WIRELESS TELEGRAM
[s NR
QTC
[PREC
|
|133| R
|
o
HX
|
STATIONOFORIGIN,
|
ZL3TK
.
|
CHECK
]
38/32
|
PLACE
7.0384 Mz
OF ORIGIN
l
TIME
WAITARERE
VK3DRO
DATI
G145Z
|17SEP24
_VIA CQ QRS GROUP
MESSAGE
WHY SHOULD ALL DUNKUM AUSSIES DESCEND
ON WINTON QLD IN 1 YEAR AND 5 DAYS TIME
AND HOW MANY MAKE UP A TEAM TO COMPETE
IN THE QUILTON AUSTRALIAN DUNNY DERBY QUERY
ema
RECEIVEDAT
ZL3TK
| FROM
TIME
coL
DATE
1
5
SENT FROM
ZL3TK
TIME
| DATE
VK3DRQ | @942Z | 17SEP24
Everyone is invited to dip their toes into traffic by answering the question
in NR 133,
even if the reply sent is only message text, devoid of
preamble.
Seek help if you need clarification on any point while
advancing skills.
zi3tk@qsl.net
The time to call ZL3TK with your answer
is immediately after the current week's question has been confirmed
VK3DRQ
on
~
7.0347
MHz,
please note the changed frequency.
Sent only one TDIH which was returned with 100 % accuracy.
listening to that station later,
From
he has polished his skills greatly over the
months accounting for his faultless return.
You Know who you are;
the next one to be measurably faster.
73
de
Stan.
ZL3TK
Other
Other things
I’ve received
Some
News
from
From Andy VKS5LA:
Hi Mark.
by
images of my K1 build...
our 200-odd
readers.
expect
ct
tnt
th McD
ELECRAFT
SS
Kl
ema
A
i +
TR
_
-
m= 7.1/8)
a
eee
"
|a
en VOR ea eee
|
e
i
i
K|
a
TRANSCHIVER
7
Pamela]
a
6
2a
eo
=
=
4, ESOS
eam
ELECRAFT
6.
RF
Board,
Part
I
LJ
In Part I, the VFO (\
sections
will
be
assem
@
Open the bas
Observe anti-statifity
al
’
Po
Locate
7
'
ron agin
’
Fa
axe
ne
a
the
illustration
shows
of‘,
aE
_
A
))
ear
SH
78
RF
board
and
orient
it
a
>
SHOWN
in
I igure
the major areas of the board.
Receiver
ra
T-R
half:
transmitter
oard
plugs into J6, J7, and J8.
and
SWi
6-1.
and
ch
itch ‘
in
\\
ee
c«
Filter
Ai
titer
board.
TAere
25
shown
gn
rmductonrs
Band
These
.
In
ad.
the
Pa
F
Figure
Tters
a
7)
wall
:
Premix
ae
iO
|
©
:
=5
—
/
|
>
=
:
—
Pressey,
Nae
leary
Pane)
dtea
eT
‘ST iy
““LT)
a
our
Manual
:
“nc
Orr
.
*
YOu
sh
arms
Suld
“Ctions
attach
.
tt)
am ad
:
d
;a
ALS7 ¢ s
J
then .
ayy
AStr
:
=
SCeg
»
Shoulg
SSE
teag the
nee Over - +
“
it to
have
se
a
I,
[Wow - fantastic project Andy - thank you.
S9A5N
Morse
from
Ross
When
will we hear it on air?]
Paddle
MONNK
Gosh, this is a hard article to write. Why?
Because the best tools are just
an extension of your hand - you simply don’t notice them. And that’s how
feel about this paddle.
This
VFO
stages
use
pt. (Figure 6-2 shows
the bottom side.)
be attached to the RF board at the indicated
the chassis panels.
"
As you can see, it’s nota “bling”
item (the photo shows that | have it
connected to a K1EL K-16 keyer for
Ultimatic mode, speed control, and
connection to VBand).
It’s just a
heavy square black base with a
Smaller square black box on top and
a couple of paddles sticking out.
The purple patch on top Is just a
piece of coloured card covering up
the manufacturer’s name
‘cuz |
don’t want to look at that every day.
It's a touch key so there’s no paddle movement
sensitivity through a paddle-driven menu
- you can adjust the
system.
If you like your paddle to
have small gaps, then this goes one better because it has no gaps at all!
No movement
means
no noise, so | can operate here in the Man Cave
without disturbing my wife whilst she’s working
In the next room.
It runs off
a couple of AA batteries which last for months.
It's so easy and natural to use that my top sending speed jumped from 17
wom
to 25 wom
almost overnight. The Morse just seems to stream out of It
without me thinking. It really is a very strange experience.
Can | recommend
it? It’s expensive so that counts heavily against it - a
Bencher paddle ts half the price and they’re highly thought of. It’s not as
good looking as a Begali, unless you particularly like the
brutalist/minimalist aesthetic. It’s not as obviously mechanically clever as a
Vibroplex bug. And, when you're sending
Morse, it disappears from your
consciousness altogether. So, back to the question, would
| recommend
It?
Yes, Yes, Yes and again Yes.
This paddle is not a plaything or a work of art; It’s a tool for sending
Morse
better than you ever thought yourself capable of. And that is something
worth paying extra for.
[Well well! As you said, these things ain’t cheap - and no-doubt the
custom
wooden hand piece adds a tad more... but if it’s such a pleasure to
use, and we all are issued with only a limited number of heartbeats....!/
|
like the web page too./]
My First POTA Activation
at AU-8318
From Jordan VK3ACU
lt was a day | had been looking forward to—my first Parks on the Air (POTA)
activation at park AU-8318. Armed
enthusiasm,
with my gear, my dog, and plenty of
| set up and started calling CQ. At 10:24 local time, | made
my
first contact. However, shortly after, things started to take a turn for the
worse.
Band conditions were far from ideal. A strange noise appeared
on the
frequency,
screenshot of
making things difficult. Later, VKOHRC,
sent me a
an SDR showing a massive blast of noise right over the frequency | was
operating on. Despite the interference, | pressed on and managed
contacts—3
to log 11
on voice and the rest on CW. One of the highlights was a park-
to-park contact.
| had brought my dog along, and she was riding in the back of the ute,
enjoying the fresh air. But then the weather took a sharp turn, and It
Started hailing. | quickly moved
the chaos, someone
her into the cab to keep her safe. To add to
nearby started shooting, and my poor dog was
petrified. | had to speed
up my activation, shifting to voice to hit the 10-
contact mark.
By noon, the CW contacts dried up completely.
Between the weather, noise
on the bands, and the terrified dog, It was an activation full of challenges,
but | made
it
through. VK6HRC’s screenshot of
the SDR (below) confirmed the
massive interference that had
plagued
me, but in the end, | got
the job done and hit the target.
All in all had fun and will do it
again.
VK3ACU
_
Ironstone Range 1
Ironstone Range, South Australia | Grid PF95ja, ASL ‘550m, [map], SNR 18/9 dB
Antenna: 12m Duoconical Antenna
00:37 utc
10:07 Local
Astralia/Adelside (acsT)
-
Be
=
r
"|
yy heh
OCCOOE@® spectrum
Oe
in ye)
a
ec)
Io) 5S) ia Pa
La
Dla
Cele
[Congratulations on your first Park activation Jordan..... and for amassing
over 1000 CW QSOs since you started... just over a year ago was it?]
SKCC
Oceania
QRS
Saunter
From
Garry VK2GAZ:
- this weekend
Greetings to all,
The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday, 21st
September,
2024 from 00:00 UTC until 11:59 UTC a 12 hour event.
All are welcome to join in!!
All the details for the Oceania
SKCC
website
QRS
Saunter
(OQS)
can
be viewed
on the
at:
https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/oqs/
Please make use of the SKCC Sked Page and the CW Club RBN Spotter.
https://sked.skccgroup.com/
httpos://ron.telegraphy.de/
| look forward to contacting you during the event.
Best regards,
Garry VK2GAZ/VK2ZP
SK
#5460C
Straight Key Century Club
SKCC
Y cc
Manager - SKCC Oceania QRS
OQS
* ace
oceeenen
ed
Saunter
40m
Band
Plan
Harmonisation
From Grant VK5GR,
- Round
1
Chair of the WIA Technical Advisory Committee
Thanks for your interest in providing input to the WIA Consultation 2024-2
on the 40m
Band
Plan. The outcomes
paper is now available which
sumarises the feedback received and our next steps in this process.
CONSULTATION
2024-2: 40m
Band
Plan Harmonisation - Round
1
Outcomes
This consultation closed on September 6th and has received well over 100
submissions from individuals and clubs from around the world.
The feedback that has been received has now been analysed and a
summary
of the initial findings has now been prepared. You can download
this summary
here:
https://www.wia.org.au/members/tac/consultation/documents/IARU%20Req
ion%203%20-%20HF%2040M%20%20Round%201%200utcomes%20Paper%20No1.pdf
Given the information provided to us by the community, the WIA is clear
that there is little support for many of the original proposals raised for
discussion in the first round. As a result, a new paper is being prepared,
taking into account the views and information received. It is intended to
have this new paper completed
in the next 2-3 weeks
in time for
circulation prior to the IARU Region 3 Conference in November.
We will be
inviting the amateur community to again provide us with feedback on the
round 2 paper once it is released.
Orange
Escalation
Space
Weather Alert
Interesting note from Jordan VK3ACU
Notification from
ambulance
ORANGE
ESCALATION:
Weather
- Whole
last
Space
of State -
17/09/2024
AV has been advised of a G4 Severe
Space Weather alert that is in place
currently and until 1000 hrs
Wednesday
18/9.
This may include possible loss of
GPS. Please check OneAV for
navigation
information
(link below).
This may also include a possible
loss of power to AV locations ,
please follow your local BECAP
if
this occurs.
A Controversial
“Prosign”
by Ross MONNK
We all Know that Prosigns are the sound of two letters run together to
make a single sound (we do know that, don’t we?). Examples are
standby and
Most of our ham
understood
end of message.
radio procedures are not carved in stone but are
by common
usage. But one “Prosign” stands out as having a
controversial status, and that is . Is it a Prosign (or
or or , the sound is still the same), or is it two
or
separate letters BK. They sound completely different.
| don’t use it much
myself but | was taught (by whom,
| cannot now
remember) that it’s a Prosign. And | often hear it sent as such.
But Wikipedia (for what it’s worth) says it’s two separate letters, and (I
believe) the LICW Club teach it as two separate letters. And | hear that too
sometimes.
The reason | don’t use it much
is that it seems unnecessarily ornate. |
prefer the quicker and simpler K. And that gets around the controversy.
But which are you? Are you a
Morse Training
Nic VK7WW
or a BK?
Net
runs a Slow Morse training net every Wednesday
at 7pm
on 3580 for 30 mins. He uses the callsign of the Northern Tasmania
Amateur Radio Club VK7TAZ
on that net.
EDST
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.
This Week’s Topic of
Interest
A Pleasant
A Pleasant
From
Ross
"Fool's
Fool's
Errand
Errand"
MONNK
Mike DL3YZ and | advertised that we would do another Long Path
DXpedition during this week’s “net”.
Long
Patn-
For this to work, a number of factors have to come together and one of
them
is PROPAGATION.
Unfortunately, solar flare activity threatened to
completely flatten the airwaves for us. But we said that we'd be there for
you, so Mike climbed the “Killer Hill” to his club’s hut and the steerable
antenna
up there, and | waited for the tide to go out on the foreshore of
the Exe estuary.
It’s not easy to see from this photo but | had two cheap Chinese “carbon
fibre” 6m
masts sat in beach umbrella stands supporting
“Half Square” antenna.
Unsurprisingly,
my home-brew
| got it rigged just in time to start on schedule.
| called CQ but without reply. So | called again. And again.
For 45 minutes. But, hey, as you can see, it was a bonzer autumn
morning
and | couldn’t have picked a better spot so it didn’t bother me.
| was just about to pack up when
| heard someone
responding to my CQ - |
was so surprised, | almost fell off my chair! It was Malc GOAV] operating
from his home only 2.3 kms away as the crow flies, so Ground Wave.
contact is a contact and | was pleased to have something
But a
in the log.
| could then pack up with a light heart and head home for a well-earned
mug
of tea.
It just goes to show that you don’t have to have 20 contacts in the log to
have an enjoyable morning with radio.
[l assumed that Ross was using a half-wave loop, so asked him for more
info:
e
e
How and where ts the half square fed?
Between you and me, I'd expect an odd high angle of radiation
pattern depending on how it's fed.
e
/ would have thought having two phased verticals would have given
you good gain and directivity with a low take-off angle.
Well, how wrong | was as usual!
Ross flashed back this terrific article in
response - thank you Ross. ]
Half Square Antenna
Half Square Antenna
by Ross MONNK
Half Square Antenna
My latest home-brew
antenna for DX is the “Half Square”, cut for 20m.
SHALE SQUARE" Ral TENNA
10.2 m
5m
5.1m
'
RF
CHOKE
0.4m counter poise
49:1
The reason why I’m using this antenna
is that it has marked
low angle
directional gain (at right angles to the horizontal element).
-
,
Functionally, it is two vertically-polarised quarter wave antennas joined ina
phased array. This vertical polarisation makes
it ideal for use with the
“saltwater amplifier”.
Some of you will have guessed
Wave
(EFHW) for 40m. When
(correctly) that it is also an End Fed Half
transmitting on 40m,
it radiates substantially
vertically and so can be used for Near Vertical Incidence Skywave
NVIS to
nearby stations. It can be used on other frequency bands but the radiation
pattern changes
in non-intuitive ways so it’s not really a multi-bander.
You'll note that I’m feeding it at the end (high impedance,
requires a transformer).
voltage feed so
| used an online calculator for the element lengths
and that gave the rather strange counterpoise length of 0.4m. | tried it with
a 5m counterpoise but its resonant frequency range was rather narrow.
Using a 2.5m counterpoise flattened out the bottom of the SWR curve
nicely. A 0.4m counterpoise was the same so | stuck with that as it was
more convenient for portable ops.
The Half Square antenna can be fed at the top corner into the horizontal
element (the coax sheath being connected to the vertical element).
|.
—
1/2 wl
coaxial feedline
1/4 wil
41/4 wl
No transformer is required in this case as the impedance
impedance,
is 50 ohms (low
current feed). But the coax should exit horizontally and that’s
rather tricky to rig, especially portable. A current balun should be placed at
the feedpoint to stop any stray RF from going back down the coax sheath
and into the radio.
For those of you with limited space who want an antenna for 80m, this one
might be worth considering. This article
httos://rudys.typepad.com/ant/files/antenna_halfsquare_array.pdf
has an in-depth discussion of the 80m
Half Wave antenna specifically.
For myself, | have yet to prove it with a DX contact but I’m excited about
its potential for reaching around the globe all the way to the Antipodes.
[Thanks Ross - terrific article.
And once explained, it made perfect sense -
two quarter wave verticals phased - low angle of radiation and a bit of
directivity... but my brain says the two verticals will be out of phase,
making them radiate in line with the poles, rather than tangentially.
I'll
have to do a bit more thinking - | know your modelling software will be
correct.
Strange about the 40cm counterpoise - doesn’t make intuitive sense;
might be interesting to be able to try the narrow band alternative.
By the way, down this side of the world, we call this a EWE antenna.
And
not because of some East-West or E-field nomenclature (that would have
an ‘an’, not an ‘a’)... but because these things look like sheep in a
paddock! ]
If you'd like to have a go at an article or three for the RagChew,
to cqgrsnet@gqmail.com
oy
email
Brain
Teaser
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
With thanks to Baz VK6MU
website,
for he idea, and Jules for the good learning
here’s this week’s quiz questions from Jules’ Workshop example
test questions:
Exam
Questions:
What
does ATU
stand
for and
what
does
The total resistance of four 68 ohm
e
272 ohms
e
12 ohms
e
17 ohms
e
34 ohms
it do?
resistors in parallel is:
In this circuit R1 dissipates 10 watts. What power is dissipated in R2?
10 watts
5 watts
2.5 watts
258
258
20 watts
Answers
next week.
Answers
from
last week’s
Quiz:
What does SWR stand for and what does it measure?
Answer:
Standing wave ratio is the ratio of the incident and reflected
power which indicates if the antenna
is matched to the transmitter.
The active conductor in a 3-core AC power cords is coloured
e
brown
yellow/green
e
red
e
blue
Answer:
brown
The approximate wavelength of the second
transmission
e
1 metre
e
2 metres
harmonic of a 144 MHz
is
3 metres
4 metres
Answer:
1 metre
How did you go?
Di-dah-di-dah-dit
Here
So back to the Slow CW QSO
Next Tuesday’s
we
go.
practice Group.
Group
Our CQ QRS Group 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 bit.ly/CQQRSNET who you work or
hear on Tuesday’s Group.
80m
For stations on other bands,
report area (Separate out your 80m
report from the other bands), and
when you enter the list of callsigns worked,
append
heard or missed,
please
an ‘@band’ to each callsign without a space (eg VK2KI@20
VK6QI@15
Post
please just use the
etc).
Morsum
Richard VK6HRC
will run our phone Post Morsum
on the South West AllStar
net (via repeaters and hotspots all over WA) from 0600 WA time, then from
0700 WA time on 80m
(3605 LSB).
For the 0600 (2200z) net, 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 (cggrsnet@gmail.com)
if | can help with that.
and if you
can’t connect that way, give 3605kHz SSB a try from 0700 (23002).
Teamwork
Thank you so much to our team of 31 contributors for this week’s
RagChew:
VK3ACU,
DL3YZ,
MONNK, VK2ASB, VK2DLF, VK2GAS,
VK3BTV, VK3BWN,
VK3DRQ,
VK2TIG, VK2WF,
VK3JFP, VK3KEV, VK5A0O, VK5ET,
VK5KFG, VK5LA, VK6BEK, VK6GX, VK6HRC, VK6JDM, VK6MK, VK6NW,
VK6PZT, VK6RR, VK6WE, VK7TA, VK7WW,
€U CW on Tuesday,
ZL1PB, ZL3TK, ZL4BDG
mb
Mark Bosma
VK2KI / VK6QI
Beautiful South Bowning
NSW
mark.bosma@icloud.com
non impediti ratione cogitationis
An Ode to CW - thanks to David VK3RU:
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
author
About the CQ QRS
Group
Here’s
the
details.
The team will be on again for our usual Tuesday arvo / evening Practice
QSO Group.
Frequencies
and Times
CQQRS NET - DEEP DEEP WINTER TIMETABLE
Coordinated Universal Time
Australia
07002 to 1300z
Western Australia Time
UTC+8
1500 to 2100
3Central AustraliaTime UTC+95 | 1630t02230
——EasternTime = suTC+10
| 170002300
New Zealand
NZ Time
UTC + 12
1900 to 0100
Time
Band
Frequency
0700z to 0900z
40m
7020kHz - 7040kHz
DOOUEtO TOS
0
ee 4om | 7020kHz-7040kHz
yisssssineccitescitiscirisscessitessiressitensrensrensretisratisratsratsratesrite:
80m
3540kHz - 3570kHz
| a 090021013002 ~=s(isis| |S 80m =| S35 40KHZ-3570KH2
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
(or send slower to their comfort level).
If
we’re on 40m 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
the kHz markers.
QRM that’s often dead-on
Speed
If you’re proficient at CW and can race along at 20 or 30wpm - terrific, but
please remember, the Group’s aim is to encourage,
can hammer the key.
not show how fast you
Please send slowly where you can and concentrate
on rhythm - listen to your side-tone, get that wrist action going and make a
special effort to make it sound
like perfect CW;
the longer we go with our
Group, the more | understand just how many non-transmitting listeners we
have - and they will most likely appreciate your QRS!
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
Group.
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 in this Group.... 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 7032KkHz (7028kHz
secondary) or 3555kHz.
enjoy the frequency.
If you catch someone, there’s no need to QSY -
But don’t forget to tune around 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.
And of course, put the frequencies in a memory so outside of the Group,
if
you’re not tuning around, leave your receiver on one of the primary
frequencies - you never know who you'll hear (7032
is used in VK and ZL
for SOTA/ PARKS during the day so you'll often hear activity there).
CW Tips
As always, for newbies, operating suggestions are available from the
operating hints link here:
httos://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.
mb
VK2KI / VK6QI
The
opinions expressed
The
opinions
Send
in the
RagChew
do not necessarily
comments
newsletter are those
of the individual contributors.
reflect that of the editor or of the CQ
about the RagChew
Copyright (C) 2024
QRS
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CQ QRS. All rights reserved.
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