Subscribe Past Issues Translate View this email CQQRS in your browser RagChew Edition 42/2024 Accommodation www.thelily.com.au Static Crashes Anyone? QRP Fun VK6PZT How - All Dressed to Confuse Mathew On to Go Building a QCX-mini Electrical Abbreviations My Workbench IARU Submission SKCC Oceania QRS on 40m Ban Hours Contest - Sunday Fun on 160m Old Arlie Brain Teaser Harmonisation Saunter - this weekend DXperiment QRP Nowhere Dips His Toe Our Feature: Crackers Up and Keiran v RSS e Di-dah-di-dah-dit e About the CQ QRS Boy oh boy! Group Another bumper RagChew SO many contributors. Thank you one and all. conditions on Tuesday evening team members Ross MONNK QRPLabs much edition packed full of articles from | wonder whether the tough had anything to do with so many of our having a go at writing something? has written us two terrific articles about his decision to buy a QCX-mini kit, and his first two days building. Mouth-watering; so that | couldn’t wait until next week’s newsletter... both this time. so I’ve included And what’s more, Ross has also written a very interesting article about de-mystifying the nomenclature of Electrical Abbreviations. Last Tuesday Evening’s Group So back to Tuesday’s CQQRS 40m and 80m. Slow CW Practice QSO Group get-together on Here’s the 65 stations heard on the Group on Tuesday evening: CQQRS Team Member cQ Qso1 QsO 2 QSO 3 Qso 4 Qso5 QS06 QsO7 Worked 40m Tried 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard on air. Worked 40m Worked 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard 40m Worked 80m Heard 80m Heard 40m Worked 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Worked 80m Worked 40m Heard 40m Worked 40m Heard on air. Worked 40m Heard on air. Heard on air. Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard on air. Heard on air. Heard on air. Heard on air. Worked 40m Heard on air. Worked 40m Worked 40m Ana Screenshot Qso8 WRQEI ned +i VALLI VAZAOD VINZVVE VAZIVUVV VAQOU NLS VAQUAO VAOKnU VAFULLVV Heard 40m Heard on air. Worked 80m Heard 80m Tried 80m Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard on air. Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard 40m Tried 40m Worked 40m Heard on air. Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard 80m Worked 40m Worked 80m Worked 40m Heard 40m Worked 80m Heard 80m Heard on air. Worked 40m Heard 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard 40m Heard 40m Worked 80m Heard 80m Heard 40m Heard 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard 40m Worked 40m Heard 40m Heard on air. Masthead Image Thanks to Nic VK7WW for sharing the shot of his accommodation while visiting Amelup WA in the Stirling Ranges, where he listened-in to our Group on Tuesday. Reports As always, after next Tuesday’s Group, please send me a worked list of who you and / or who you heard using our web form here: bit.ly/COQRSNET Submissions close lunch time on Thursday. If you hear or work one of our team on a different band on Tuesday, just use the 80m And when you enter the list of callsigns worked, append please report area and annotate which bit applies to which band. heard or missed, please an ‘@band’ to each callsign without a space (eg VK2KI@20 VK6QI@15 etc). Please help attract new and old team your report each week. members to have a go by submitting 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 follow: From Stan ZL3TK at Waitarere [40m] e Unusually weak signals out of Australia tonight. A huge number of lightning storms reported over NW NSW causing QRN havoc into SA, yet the band showed no sign of them From lan VK5CZ here. at Clare [40m] e Thunderstorm came back QRN was really bad.. [80m] e QRN was even worse on 80m. From Andy VK5LA at Winkie [40m] e If it's not Aurora, it's Lightning! Condx were very tough for me in VK5 with S9+ static crashes, struggled with most stations, tried very hard to copy Ross VK/MONNK but just a bit too difficult. We will get there! 2 firsts, busted out the straight key (WT Key 8 amp No.2) and purely pad and pencil tonight (in hindsight probably the worst night to begin weaning ae Ea’ F ae ; , off the phone decode app) for copy as | need to get better at head copy without assistance. David 3RU was a good signal for QRP. See you next week! | 1000 km | From John VKS5ET at Hope Valley [40m] e NOISY, & SOME VERY WEAK SIGNALS. Plenty of QSB. [80m] e No one home on this band. From Jordan VK3ACU Shut shop 10:00 Z. at Meredith [40m] Jordan VK3ACU Clarke e Just a few contacts tonight, Started late with all the storm and lightning activity so wanted to wait till that had disappeared. | was trying out a little Venus SW-6B QRP rig. | was sent a video from WA from a friend who Bley) shir something newthioisaripper! waar had a little pocket world band ro receiver receiving my signal, Despite all the lightning static, lots of strong signals. From Ross VK/MONNK at Exeter UK via Perth WA [40m] e | was on the VK6SR remote access radio in Perth WA. VK5LA made truly heroic efforts to copy my callsign despite QSB at his end, for which | thank him greatly. | tried to call VK2ASB heat of the moment) but VK6IS jumped in (it's easy to do in the so | had a brief QSO with him but couldn't copy much. A good morning's work. From Nic VK7WW at Amelup in WA [40m] e Using a Digitech AR1780 RX near the Stirling Ranges at The Dutch Windmill and DC3 (www.thelily.com.au) for a family birthday and wedding Sneaking out from the birthday to listen to CW on 40m wire! luncheon. with 3m length of ‘< he fi ’ 5 \ - f = é Ht \ AS ot fo fie} Ny \ ’ i i Accommodation www.thelily.com.au From Richard VK6PZT at Bunbury [80m] e No luck on 80m , but | did contact VK6KD/4 David working mobile from Sarina in VK4 on 20m. | was all set up for the Dx experiment on 20/10 m with two squid poles set up as driven Richard VK6PZT & Shelley Ayre element and reflector for a bit of gain on the Long Path to the UK and Germany. But alas | didnt hear Ross or Mike. However, | did call CQ and gota responce from AC7GG in the USA. Also, in preperation for this evening | managed GQ] ASAT er son aretecor ora my first CW contact to DL while testing the antenna at the weekend. So in all, lots of progress!!. From David VK6KD/4 at Sarina QLD [40m] e Report from vk2ki said my squid pole mobile ant was making it into vk6 from vk4 on both 40m and 80m. Very happy with performance of ant. Now to work on my CW, hihi. 73. [80m] e | was reaching vk6 from vk4 but conditions were more favourable on 40m.. From Keiran VK3BTV at Lilydale, VIC [80m] e Got on late after a hectic night - had no idea that I'd worked the same joker twice in WA and NSW - you were a pretty rough copy from WA, From Wal [40m] VK2WP at Bathurst N.S.W Mark! e A large electrical storm in the far west and north gave steady S5 static. A couple of ZL stations tried to call in but were swamped by the static. Otherwise conditions were quite good with strong signals at times.. From Wayne VK6NW at Bridgetown [40m] ¢ Good conditions here in Bridgetown. From lan VK7TA at Latrobe [40m] e Unfortunately | have missed the last two weeks. | had usually heard a couple of ZL's early on, and VK6's later on. Tonight neither. | hope | copied VK4pnw correctly, signal was very weak just above the QRN.. From John VK2RU at Brisbane [40m] e No contacts tonight. A band of storms came through so | took the antennas down. | put one back up after the storm had passed but there was far too much QRN. | heard a few QSOs but it was very difficult to copy through the noise.. From Peter VK7KPC at Evandale Tas [40m] e Attempted copying QTC from VK3DRQ and Nr 146 from ZL3TK. | think | copied enough to make an answer attempt next week.. From your editor Mark VK6QI via the VK6QS KiwiSDR near Brookton and the VK6SR Remote at Bedfordale [40m] e | was in and out during the early evening, but at the start it sounded to me like the static crashes from the band of thunderstorms through North Western NSW had driven some of our team to look for other things to do. Later in the evening there were more signals on the 40m waterfall as the band opened between the West and the East.. [80m] e After a late dinner, | had a listen on 80m; the band was open nicely to the East and there was some evidence of Auroral noise, but luckily, not too much in the way of static crashes.. e | cranked up the Southern Electronics Group VK6SR Remote at Bedfordale which easily matched the Marconi-Tee this time, and performed nicely. had a late night chat with Keiran VK3BTV at Lilydale who had a nice Q5 signal East-to-West, but was struggling to hear me; crashes, or one-way-propagation... I'll blame the static but my poor keying may have had | something to do with it too. ¢ | also heard Sava VK4PN near Brisbane at 1245z on his usual late-night fishing expedition after the ZL net, and we rounded out the evening nicely with a late-night chat.. From your editor Mark VK2KI at Beautiful South Bowning [40m] ¢ | heard Andy VK5LA first-up chatting to Wal VK2WP. several people who were around through VK2GAS, Georg VK2DLF, Partick VK2IOW, It was good to hear most of the period - Armin Arthur VK2ASB, and so many others.. ¢ After a late dinner, | had a go transmitting on air but | was getting pretty tired and my keying reflected that. with David VK6KD/4 at Sarina! So many mistakes in my chat Come on boz... concentrate... right hand on the key base, left hand fingers at 10 and 1lam, tiny bit of pressure on the underside of the key knob with the thumb, wrist-action... that's better! Then next thing, I'm not sure whether | sent VK2KD typing on WhatsApp instead of VK2KI when | was in parallel or listening to who else is on the band. Sorry David - I'll try harder next time.. « I've been amazed at the performance of David VK6KD's antenna on both 40m and 80m on his journey around Australia - consistently heard in the West and usually heard in the Lower East as well. I'm hoping that David can send us a photo of the arrangement using his helically-wound squid pole and mobile whip.... and amazingly, just the vehicle capacity to earth as his ground. Yet so many other people struggle to be heard from their home station; good to see there's still some mysteries to be explored in amateur radio.. [80m] ¢ The band was open to the West nicely when | slipped down to 80m at around 1115z. VK6. Everyone that | could hear here in VK2 was also coming through to Nice to work Peter VK6IS, David VK6KD/4 and Keiran VK3BTV... to give his ear-strain a rest after he struggled to hear me from VK6.. From Manny VK3DRQ at Blackburn [40m] ¢« Even after my Monday hospital procedures, | managed to have some little fun. Thank you all.. From Richard VKGHRC at Padbury [40m] * Good signals but the Metro hash made for difficult copy.. [80m] « Managed to listen in on VK4PN From Greg VK5KFG at Willunga Sava and VK6QI towards the end of net.. [40m] e David VK3RU, coming QRP from Burwood, in loud and clear at Willunga. [80m] e Crickets on 80. From Roy Jones VKO6RR at Geraldton [40m] e Due to other commitments unable to go on air but great to listen to you all Nnaving fun! From Peter VKO6IS at wundowie [40m] e it's still ratner quiet until ~1700 WST., e when the action will start. [80m] ¢ some activity om 80m this week,. e thanks to Max & Mark.. ¢ and an bit more during the week. From Allen VK5FD at Blakeview [8Om] e Lots of static crashes on 80m. Not sure if Max VK6FN couldn't hear me or if ne was gone before | called.. From Mathew V VK3AFH at Wantirna [40m] e The Oceania DX CW contest recently was a fun experience - | did manage to find someone sending at a reasonable speed that | could copy and gota contact logged though, so mission accomplished! Some stations | managed to copy the callsign of (after enough repetitions) but it just took me too long. The abbreviations TU and TEST are hopefully well embedded in my memory after that hihi. ¢ Heard a few QSOs on Tuesday in between work - was interesting to see which Stations | could hear on my radio vs see on my SDR (I will nave to note these down next time, that way its not just playing around, It's science) as well as the intermittent interference.. e With regard to feedback/comments, | am unlikely to take any offence myself. I'm relatively new to the hobby and although | may Know some thing5§, | assume any feedback is genuine advice from someone who likely knows more than me until proven otherwise. either gives me something It | hadn't considered, something to research further or confirms what | thought | knew is actually correct! | can see how others with more years of experience may not have need of such feedback and see it differently though, so it's certainly a balancing act.. [Thanks Mathew - great report. And thank you for your comments about receiving feedback and my green Editor’s comments. I’m keen to hear others’ thoughts as well, so! can adjust the RagChew so it’s seen as something that motivates participation and teamwork. ] From David VK3RU at Burwood Victoria [40m] e This week we had visitors and | was chief BBQ cook trying to balance our 40m QRS net with a couple of very nice lamb backstraps. Typically | started off looking for Manny VK3DRQ his very long message. but by the time | arrived, he was sending So | tuned off looking for stations of which there were not as many as | expected. | managed to work Andy VK5LA before retiring to consume my slightly overdone returned to the key. | found Greg VK5KFG for the first time and we had a very long QSO, backstrap but when finished | probably the longest in my time using CW which was very pleasant and plenty of mistakes my end but by that time, | expect everyone had migrated to 80. | do not have an 80m antenna available to my house Shack.. e Since we began with QRS | have been using a home built QRP Labs QCX but during winter, | decided to build another QRP Labs rig, this time a QMX. Its a great little rig, | am truly amazed just how for we get on just 5W and the reports are really encouraging.. ¢ Thanks Mark and the QRS Gang.. [Excellent report David; tough to exchange QRS practice for over-done lamb. See David's advert below if you're after a QRPLabs QCX.] From Patrick VK2IOW between Bathurst and Orange [40m] ¢ The 40m band was a bit noisy due to storms to the west. Signals were pretty good.. Post Morsum Report from Richard VK6HRC Hello Mark, However most Six on the VK6RLM VK6QI Mark VKE6ENW Wayne ZL3TK Stan VK6KD/4 David VK6FN Max VK6HRC Richard and AllStar/ Echolink nodes this morning. and our shortwave listeners, Bob VK6KRC regulars checked and Mulligan VK6MRB our in before the net. Mark joined the net a little while after the net started but wasted no time spotting on WhatsApp and having fun on the key. Also reported hearing Wayne and Peter on 40Mx early on. Wayne got on using his squid pole / vertical antenna and was not hampered by QRN his regular SES duties after a while. reported by the Metro stations. He had to head off to Stan had a successful exchange with Manny VK3DRQ receiving part two of a previous message and sending part one of another. Stan also worked ZL4BDG whom has had the honour of being a visitor to the ZL3TK shack in the past (rewarded with tea and bikkies). David, being the co-pilot in the mobile shack on their way to Yepoon out of Rockhampton) from Sarina Beach checked (just in and let us know how he got on. A very successful evening using his squid pole antenna from the local caravan park. Max also had a successful evening, working four stations on 40Mx and one on 80Mx. | managed to work Wayne on 40 Mx and do some tuning around go QRT as my son came by to check up on me! in on the late-night exchange between Mark but had to Was lucky enough to listen VK6QI and Sava VK4PN on 80 Mx right at the end of the net. Thanks to everyone on last night and this morning. 73 Richard VK6HRC © Traffic Report for 15 October 2024 From Stan ZL3TK Three stations met at the new time of 0820Z and did the business as well as possible. awful, Signals into VK5 were not crash-hot, more like static-crash while eastbound signals were much stronger and easy to read, RSN 552. OM Manny's signal was solid RSN 582 for his sending the second half of answer to NR 143. QNC CT ZL3TK NR 40 R VK3DRQ CK 24/22 BLACKBURN ANSWER TO YOUR NR 143 STOP 0432Z 130CT24 = = SECOND ANOTHER STRUCTURE WAS FOUND WITH SAME PURPOSE RED NUMBER 8 = VK3DRQ QRU AR COMMA QSL? K BUNKER FOR CAMOUFLAGE AMMUNITION And finally another from the 'Focus on Australia’ series, this time VK7land. This QTC was delayed by a week due to bad conditions on O80CT24. QTC CT NR 146 R ZL3TK 24/18 WAITARERE VK5ET VIACQ CRS FFA NAME HIGHEST PEAK IN TASMANIA SECOND COMMA = COMMA ELEVATION COORDINATES AND AIR-LINE DISTANCES ZL3TK 0015Z 80CT24 = AR QRU FROM VK7TA AND VK7KPC = K All are invited to answer the compound question in NR 146 on Tuesday 220CT24. 73 de Stan ZL3TK This Week’s Topic of Interest QCX-mini Why did Build Part I choose the From MONNK Ross QCX-mini? Al aN k ~ yo gheeemiaee hcal l nicW BLL luaaer ts (er. ni 1 _ aabverer Many CW operators have this fantasy where they walk into a wild area and find a pleasant spot on the top of a gentle hill. The weather is fine and the views stretch out in all directions. A perfect location for some CW work. So they take off their small backpack and extract their radio gear. For the next hour, they work contacts all across the continent, just like the guys on YouTube. They have a great time. I’m not immune from such fantasies but | have the advantage of quite a bit of Portable operating behind me now so | have my own opinions. But that still leaves the question, “Can one have an enjoyable time by working lightweight portable QRP?”. Part of me wants to say, “No”. But another voice in my head (I have several) says, “You can’t say that until you’ve given it a good trial.” So | started to gather together some gear for that trial. | have a straight key - the excellent WT 8 Amp. But do | take a camp chair - the single heaviest and bulkiest item I’m likely to carry? But what a difference it makes. Hmmm. For the antenna, there’s a lot to be said for a resonant single band wire non-resonant antennas require a tuner, and multi-band antennas can add unnecessary complication. Getting contacts with QRP can be a challenge so the best place to look for them 20 m band seems is where there are lots of operators. The pretty busy here in Europe so that was the obvious choice. An End Fed Half Wave for that band is fairly easy to put up but | have a compact and lightweight cheap Chinese 6m “carbon fibre” mast which is ideal for a quarter wave vertical. From the UK, most CW activity is to the east so | could pair it with a couple of elevated radials in a Vformation for some useful directional gain (although supporting those radials does involve additional gear). Next, the radio. This is just a fun project idea so it needs to be inexpensive. A kit would down be nice, as I enjoy a bit of soldering and it would (why pay 45 dollars to have someone keep the cost else to take the fun away from you). That ruled out the expensive waterfall radios like the ICOM-705 and the Xiegu X6200, and the likes of the less-expensive Mountain Toppers and the SW-3B. And you take a bit of a risk with the Chinese clones. | considered the cute little (tr)uSDX httos://dl2man.de;/ ... ...but came to the conclusion that it's a complicated experimenter's radio and | wanted something simpler, less clever. QRP is hard enough as it is without struggling with a development device. Years ago, | built a QCX (for the 30 m band) from QRP-Labs. Ue nya At that time, | was too inexperienced for QRP so it wasn’t a success. But | was impressed by the build instructions and its simplicity. Their latest radio is the QMX multi-bander and that looked quite tasty. httos://qrp-labs.com/qmx.html Digital modes, CAT control, 1Q out and all the modern bells and whistles. But the sensible voice in my head told me that | didn’t need a complicated multi-band radio - | already have one in the form of my wonderful Xiegu G90. And so the QMX would be an unnecessary expense. That brought me to the single bander QCX-mini. It’s been around for a number of years now and is a development of the original QCX, so it’s a very mature device. It’s highly regarded who have one. It’s cheap, simple to operate, compact, by those robust and draws little power. For an all-round radio, | have the G90. But for this limited trial application, the QCX-mini would be all | need. So | clicked on “Buy Now” and here | am, in the Man Cave, winding my first toroid! [1 just couldn’t wait until next week for the next episode Ross... so here we go with the build...] QCX-mini Build Let the soldering Part 2 begin! From Ross MONNK As the manual says, “FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!! Don’t try to be a hero and do it without instructions!” So the first thing to do is to read the Introduction and general guidelines. They’re very well written with copious diagrams and photographs, so this is not a chore. The manual encourages you to “work in a well-lit area, with peace and quiet to concentrate”. With that arranged, your first task is to wind the Transformer. (Rakreatt olesiaLiadola For this, you need steady hands and sharp eyesight. | have neither so another requirement is Patience with Yourself. After a strong mug of tea to steady the nerves, it’s time to heat up the soldering iron. The holes in the circuit board are all very close together so you have to be careful you get the eight wires in the right holes. Half an hour later and the job is done. The Primary Winding is the middle of the three smaller windings. This isn’t going to be a boring component-by-component story so I'll spare ¢ e e)(e) e (i ott e e you the installation of the ic socket and the (brown) capacitors. A SPS S SES S S Ee oD ae Le ms i lads a = Mg “(Me But get ready for the next exciting episode - The Low Pass Filter Toroids! Crackers Electrical Abbreviations from Ross Some electrical abbreviations make MONNK perfect sense. But others have always driven me absolutely crackers because they don’t make sense. Here’s a list of the ones in most use by radio hams: Current == | == amperes (A) Voltage == V or E or U == volts (V) Resistance == R == ohms Power (W) == P == watts Capacitance == C == farads (F) Charge == coulombs (C) Q == Inductance == L == henry (H) Reactance == X == ohms ([)) Impedance == Z But, having investigated with the help of Mike DL3YZ and the Google Al, it all (kinda) makes sense to me, now that | know the (hi)story behind those abbreviations... Current is | because the French got involved (those pesky French again). “I” stands for "intensité de courant" or intensity of electron flow. The unit of electrical current, the ampere, is named after the French physicist André-Marie Ampere who formulated Ampére's the magnetic field to the electric current producing Law, which relates it. Volts are the unit of Potential Difference or Electro-Magnetic Force. But what on earth is the difference between Voltage, PD and EMF? Beats me. Most normal people represent volts within a formula with the letter V. For example, V = IR. The European alternative, U, seems to be derived from latin "urgere", to urge. The German physicist, Georg Simon Ohm (who formulated Ohm's Law) used the letter "E" to represent the EMF, although his term "Electro-Motive Force" is less commonly have to be measured used today (as Mike DL3YZ says, “A force would in Newtons” and it’s now not regarded as a force as such). This unit of electrical potential is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta who invented the voltaic pile, an early form of electric battery. Resistance has the symbol the Greek letter OQ (omega). This symbol was chosen because it resembles the shape of a horseshoe magnet, which was used in early electrical experiments. Power has the unit of watts because it is named after the Scottish engineer James Watt who made significant improvements to the power output of steam engines, which played a crucial role in the Industrial Revolution. Capacitance is C because it begins with a C! The unit of electrical capacitance, the farad, is named physicist Michael after the English Faraday who was The Big Man in the early days of electrical discovery. Charge is Q because it comes from the Latin word "quantitas," meaning quantity. In the early days of electrical studies, scientists recognized that electrical charge was a measurable Quantity, similar to mass or volume. The unit of electric charge, the coulomb, is named after the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who formulated Coulomb's Law which describes the force between two charged objects. Inductance is L because it’s derived from the name of the German physicist Heinrich Lenz who formulated Lenz's Law. This states that the direction of an induced current in a conductor is such as to oppose the change in magnetic flux that produced it. The unit of electrical inductance, the henry, is named after the American physicist Joseph Henry who was a pioneer in the study of self-induction and mutual induction in electro-magnetism. Veering off course a little, but still relevant to electrical equations... The prefixes Tera (T), Mega (M), and Giga (G) have upper case letters because they represent numbers greater than one. Conversely, the prefixes deci (d), centi (c), milli (m), micro (u), nano (n), and pico (p) all have lower case letters because they represent numbers smaller than one. But Kilo (k) and Hecto (h) have lower case letters even though they’re greater than one. This inconsistency is because upper case K is allocated to the Kelvin temperature scale. And, yes, you guessed correctly centigrade is represented by an upper case C. It still makes my head hurt, but they do say that "Knowledge is Power" (or should | say N = P ?) [Thank you for the three terrific articles Ross. ] ws = Co rm conn On My Workbench From Jordan VK3ACU - | hope to get this back on the air soon. No CW sadly just am Peter VK6IS ts Scales Other Other things IARU 40m Band I’ve received Harmonisation News from our 200-odd readers. Submission This week on VKClassifieds was a link to the IARU Submission on 40m harmonisation from the Chairperson, IARU Region 3 HF Band band Plan Committee https://www.iaru-r3.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IARU_R3_19-ADM-0340m-Band-Plan-Proposal-document-for-IARU-R3-Conference-FINAL-V1.0.pdf SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter from Garry VK2GAZ The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will take place this Saturday, October, 19th 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. httos://sked.skccgroup.com/ httpos://ron.telegraphy.de/ | look forward to contacting you during the event. Best regards, Garry VK2GAZ/VK2ZP #5460C Manager - SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter SK Straight y Key SKCC CC Century OQs Club Straight Key Century Club Oceania Saturday, QRS Saunter 19th October, 2024 @ 00:00 UTC 12 Hours 00:00 - 11:59 UTC DXperiment from Mike DL3YZ Hi Mark. You did the right thing with cancelling this weeks DXperiment. Here the rain hasn’t stopped, and the road to the site has finally turned into a swamp during the week. If things are hopefully getting better, | will send a mail in time for one of the next Tuesdays. | plan to do at least one or two sessions, then it will be to cold to operate outdoors. Maybe our local HAM group can restore the hut which was victim of a landslide earlier this year. It doesn’t look good though. | will do some SWL on Tuesday’s Group instead. Mike. VK3ACU Portable on a Wheelie Cart. Jordan VK3ACU Clarke = on -37PM i uli oO a ho © oO iri ~ Oo " Jordan VK3ACU Clarke © CQ 7025 Looks like a motor vehicle accident there Jordan! Hope ™“ everyone's ok. 6:13PM / CQ roughly 7035 Working 2. come and find me VK3ACU’s Heathkit Hard- RELATIVE OWES [Those were the days!] QRP Hours Contest - Sunday October 20th From Garry VK2GAZ The VKQRP Club will again be running the QRP Hours Contest on 40 meters this coming Sunday, 20th October 2024. 40m only for one hour of CW then an hour of voice modes. Full contest details can be located at: https://vkgroclub.org/grp_hours/ORP_ Hours Contest 2024 Oct Rules.pdf | look forward to making a contact with you during the contest. Best regards, Garry VK2GAZ #121 VK QRP Club Contest Manager 160m From the CQQRS WhatsApp Rag Chew Group Jordan VK3ACU Clarke cq 1.825 7:54PM Is there an amateur band down there Jordan?? «9 8:41AM Y /@ Forwarded And way below that. | have put a few calls out on 472khz from time to time 8:41AM 4 I'd really like to do something to encourage more QRS activity on 160m but suspect we wouldn't have enough people able to operate there because of SMPS noise, antenna requirements and high Summer ALFs... and that it's not available to Standard and Foundation holders. 8:41AM / a @ Forwarded Much modern day equipment utilizing SMPS are replete of suitable mains filtering. In the community radio relhm | have found that mains noise also affects program function of PCs. 8:41AM / #@ Forwarded It can be lonely on 160m hi! 3:44am #@ Forwarded Especially when trying to get across Bass Strait with 5 W. :-( 8:41AM / Here's a pic of the ladder line when | was building it. 1.8mm solid copper antenna wire is 2mm solid core copper. Jordan VK3ACU Clarke 3:00PM > Forwarded My WSPR signals make it across Bass Straight. Hmmm 8:41AM Max VK6FN : & ¢. Faulkner Count me in on 160 m QRS...Anytime... 2:13PM Adrian VK2WF Van Der By! | normally hang around 1829.7 khz... Max VK6FN / 2:15PM Faulkner & What are your most often used times to setup a sked. Max. 2:18PM ¢: Adrian VK2WF Van Der Byl lam normally on around 10:00 to 12:00 UTC. | specialise in DX. But am free when there is no dx like the present time. What is your qth? 2:25PM Shocking photo For no other reason other than its what! had = 3:01pm Max VKG6FN Faulkner ce Hi Adrian Qth is Manjimup ,300 kms south of Perth... Name is Max. | was on 160 last night with great sigs.. t: Adrian VK2WF Van Der Byl Excellent. Max that should be a good challenge for my station. 2:46PM Max VK6FN & 2 3 Adrian VK2WF Van Der Byl Hi Ketut... look up vk2wf on QRZ.COM... 4:22PM £ 2:52PM Ketut VK3BWN Wiadnyana Thanks guys «=. Hey, what is the doublet length? Can you also tell me the ladder line length? Jordan VK3ACU Clarke Sure, | use a double extended zepp cut for 80m using a home brew double balanced L matching unit. About 22m at its highest point 2:54PM Jordan VK3ACU Faulkner Hi. Using three 60 ft masts supporting a 160m doublet fed with open wire. Palstar auto tuner. Rig is a Flex 6700 ,Maestro remote head. Amp is Acom 2000. That's about it for 160m Cheer’s. Max. 6fn 3:01PM Ketut VK3BWN Wiadnyana Can you guys briefly tell us about your 160m setups? @ Fed with home brew ladder line 6000hm 3:00PM o£ FYI mine can operate in 80m, but the doublet is abt 20.1m total and my ladder line is 15.5m (~450 ohm). With the tuner set to extreme, of course. 5:21PM 2:55PM Clarke Ketut VK3BWN Wiadnyana Adrian VK2WF Van Der Byl Hi Ketut... look up vk2wf on QRZ.COM... That looks super nice, Adrian c= Jordan VK3ACU Clarke Looks good Adrian, Old 5:26PM 6:01PM Arlie From VK3BTV When | first came up on air at the in 1977 Gemtronics GTX-2325 (as VK3NJO) | was using a SSB CB with an 80m transverter and an 80m helical whip on my Dad’s double carport - all loaned from the local radio club, apart from the carport, of course. Later, my grandparents gifted me a new FT-7 from Fred Swart at Chirnside Electronics and | concocted my first GSRV, hanging between trees on my parent's block. My power source was always a Clapped-out car battery on trickle charge from an Arlec 4 Amp charger to keep it alive - even while | was transmitting. A hefty battery works well as a noise cancelling capacitor, thank goodness. This Tuesday night | was operating “Off-Grid” using my new 75AH battery, unassisted. It was my first time on HF with battery power for about 40 years. | had been charging it from a second-hand solar panel and regulator in my garage. But | gave the battery a kick in the pants first, from my trusty old charger. Old “Arlie” - the first piece of ‘radio’ gear that | ever owned - still going strong, working faithfully after 47+ years! © Keiran VK3BTV. [Pleased to have worked you and Old Arlie on Tuesday mate. ] VBand from Patrick VK2IOW A month or two ago | had contacts with Ross, MONNK and Mike, DL3YZ when they joined our QRS net on 20 metres. After the QSO | checked Ross's QRZ page and read his info on VBand. | thought it might be interesting to give it a try. | followed Ross's instruction, adapting an old mouse the left mouse by soldering wires to button contacts and connecting a morse key to the mouse. However the latency inherent in my rural NBN sending difficult. internet connection made | figured | would have to use an external keyer and turn the computer audio off for my sidetone. My Picokeyer kit, ordered on eBay, finally arrived after a month in transit. While waiting | bought a suitable soldering iron and a few soldering accessories. Also watched some Youtube soldering videos for beginners, hi. yesterday. Luckily the kit went together without any problems By chance | even got to have a brief QSO on VBand with Ross, Mike and Ron, VK6KHZ. VBand It seems to work pretty well. also has a practice channel where one can just send code to a decoder. The decoder appears to work well on a straight key, | will have to see how it goes on my sideswiper! The photo shows my setup: Junker key plugged An old into the Picokeyer - a lead from the Picokeyer going to the mouse, which is plugged the computer. into a USB port on The internal speaker on the Picokeyer is very low volume but it drives a pair of headphones well. My headphones happen to have a build-in volume control which is also useful. Patrick VK2IOW [Terrific Patrick, thank you - any CW Is good CW!] A Survey by Stan ZL3TK Here is an ultra-short survey to examine Ragchew readers' perception and application of logic. Please examine the two versions below of Tuesday's FFA timetable. 0700z ta 0900z 40m 7020kHz - 7040kHz 0900z to 1100z 40m 7020kHz - 7040kHz 80m 3540kHz - 3570kKHz 0900z to 1300z 80m 3540kHz - 3570kHz Timetable Presentation l 07002 ~ 09002 A ane 7.090 MHz ~ 7.040 MHz oso0z ~ 11002 r 40 S 7.020 MHz 80m 3.540 MHz 09002 ~ 1300Z 80m 3.540 MHz Timetable Presentation i ~ 7.040 MH: ~ 3.570 MHz 2 ~ 3.570 MHz Please answer the following questions with a single letter for each, B a total of eight letters. This survey is not a test about empirical knowledge, meaning no opinions or comments are sought. A little research may be required so that no emotion or politics enters into it, your answers should be based on logic alone! 1. Is it important to have consistency in data delivery by following established international standards, 2. Y or N? Is amateur radio, primarily, a scientific and engineering discipline, Y or N? 3. Which presentation complies with the mandated scientific and engineering documentation, 4. In publications such as RagChew, SI Metric rules for A or B? which presentation provides the correct, therefore the best example, for readers to learn and follow, Aor B? 5. If writing a technical article, would you care enough about your readers to strive for the highest quality by using only correct SI Metric nomenclature, 6. Yor N? If you had the choice between writing/reading a mediocre or a high- quality document, for exactly the same time investment, would you choose high quality, 7. Which Y or N? presentation conveys the information more clearly, And now for the clincher 8. A or B? ... Looking at the Frequency columns, which presentation more-closely, or even identically matches the format of the digital readout on your transceiver, When Aor B? you have eight one-letter answers in question-order based upon pure logic, please email those eight letters to zi3tk@asl.net Squid pole ant - VK7JJ design - using the fence as a counterpoise, worked well. From Richard VK6HRC Pe i it . \ | From the DXing.com.au Newsletter: We are struggling to get ten CW participants for the 2025 CW DX Chaser of the Year. Exactly as I’ve predicted. So far, only 8 brave souls have put their hand up (depriving themselves of $29) which is still 2 short from the bare minimum of ten participants. | would like to think that it is the administration / prize fee that is preventing our most skilled form joining the fun. Surely they are not the last remaining Morse ops left in a county of 15,000 licensed operators? To get yourself on the list, send $29 to QSY599@gmail.com and notify us in writing SO we Can add you on to the list. For Sale from QRPLabs David QCX Portable QRP Transceiver VK3RU lf anyone is looking for a QCX, mine is surplus. During winter, | built a QMX which | now use during our Tuesday nights for the last few QRS sessions. | am looking for $100 for the QCX. built for 40m, It is In a case and was used in our earlier QRS sessions. Great little rig. Cheers David VK3RU atl ECE REEEEEETe , ee fem 0. cgeec a II CT rama See ee aa pean) a ee ee AA Ie). ee ee Morse Training Nic VK7WW ee BS SSA WRENS DEeean < SS 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. 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 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 do the terms horizontal, vertical and circular polarisation mean regards to antennas? The RMS value of a sine wave can be calculated by ® peak x 2 e peak + 2 e peak x 0.707 e peak x 1.414 Image interference in a superheterodyne communications caused e by an unwanted receiver is signal operating on half the frequency to which the receiver is tuned e the same frequency as the local oscillator in a dual conversion receiver e twice the frequency to which the receiver is tuned e twice the intermediate-frequency away from the desired signal frequency Answers next week. with Answers What from last week’s Quiz: is a BALUN? Answer: Matches balanced to unbalanced feedline to the antenna. The frequency of the local oscillator is e 910KHz © 3625KHz e 4080KHz e 4990KHz 3625 | R. “Fs 4roplifier kHz 4 hier: te | Lt: meteetor Audia Amplifier 1 455 kHz Local Oscillator Answer: I.F, Aroplifier Baise 4080kHz Spurious emissions from a amateur transmitter may be caused by ripple on the power supply under modulation oscillation of the RF power amplifier stage the antenna Answer: being too near the ground oscillation of the RF power amplifier stage How did you go? Di-dah-di-dah-dit Here So back to the Slow CW QSO Next Tuesday’s we go. practice Group. Net 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/CQORSNET who you work or hear on Tuesday’s Group. The report form closes at lunchtime on Thursday. Post 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 35 contributors this week: DL3YZ, VK/MONNK, VK2ASB, VK2GAS, VK2GAZ, VK2IOW, VK2RU, VK2WP, VK3ACU, VK3AFH, VK3BTV, VK3BWN, VK3CTM, VK3DRQ, VK3JFP, VK3RU, VK5AO, VK5CZ, VK5ET, VK5FD, VK5KFG, VK5LA, VK6BEK, VK6HRC, VK6IS, VK6KD/4, VK6NW, VK6PZT, VK6RR, VK6WE, ZL3TK. Thank you team. VK7WW, VK7KPC, VK7TA, VK7WW, The Joy of Daylight Saving There's usually people around until after 1300z on the Tuesday Group - so keep calling in the segment of the band designated you catch someone. in the table below until | should be on as usual from home in NSW or 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. Hope to hear you there. €U CW on Tuesday, 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 ThA bA mn eet) RAR AR RNR FR Ae the mn details. Triana Amn fA ARRAN Ren Ab AA Ine Lealhi Will VE Ol aYalr 1Or OUT UdSUd! e ar 1UeSUAay daivU/ ih Ge. CVETINMNY FIaCLICe QSO Group. Frequencies e,, and Times Yate al suggested om ay | | CQURS ~ o, opring Coordinated Ai Py I + L ioe eg gi t saving Universal Time Western Australia Time Australia r Vayl ~ Tim ~ 4 0700z to 1300z UTC +8 Hours 1500 to 2100 Central Australian Time UTC +10.5 Hours 1730 to 2330 Eastern Australian Time UTC + 11 Hours 1800 to 2400 Queensland Time UTC + 10 Hours 1700 to 2300 NZ Time UTC + 13 Hours 2000 to 0200 New Zealand Time Band Frequency 0700z to 0900z 40m 7020kHz - 7040kHz 40m 7020KHz - 7040kHz 80m 3540kHz - 3570kHz 80m 3540kHz - 3570kHz 0900z to 1100z 0900z to 1300z Wednesday (VK/ZL) Post Morsum a F i timetable 2200z - 2300z WA FM AllStar Network (direct or via Echolink) QRL? 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). And if you are already having a QSO and someone sends “QRL?”, respond with “R”, “C”, “Y”, “YES” or QRL to let the caller know that the frequency is in use. If we’re on 40m and you can hear that the band is open outside Australasia, perhaps consider calling 500HzZ 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? Rhythm? 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 participation and learning, not show how fast you can hammer the key. 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 perfect CW; how many it sound like the longer we go with our Group, the more | understand just 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’ reward you one day by coming good up on air to say g’day and thanks - how 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” PSE or “AGN? 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, Whose frequency before replying. is this anyway? The aim is to give everyone a go at contacting others - no-one owns their calling frequency in this Group. So unlike working someone DX, if you hear 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, 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 if 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. 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 Group Newsletter. CQ QRS. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences elon elas mailchimp members. or unsubscribe