Subscribe Past Issues Translate View this email CQQRS in your browser RagChew Edition 6/2026 Thanks this week to Nigel VK6NI who has responded to my request for non-copyright images. This one from his Cheyne Island 2007 Islands On The Air expedition. Link to our Reporting Form Custodian of the English Logs and Reports from Tuesday’s Post Morsum Hamclock Head Makes a Mistake Net Report No More? Copy of Write Dick Smith Future Language it Down? on Fly Podcast Shock? Islands On The Air Morse Training Night - Wednesdays Car Boot Sale Mobile One Founder SK Mind The Gap - Continued PARGFest This Saturday World Radio A Step in the Right Direction Day First Straight VBand Key QSO Explained | hear Tell Di-dah-di-dah-dit About the CQ QRS Group Great to see conditions returning to whatever Normal Tuesday’s CQQRS Slow CW stations heard or worked Practice QSO Net. by 45 of our team is at the moment on This week we had 66 members; amazing work v RSS everyone! Also this week Elizabeth and | had the pleasure of the company of Nigel G4RWI CEL (Custodian of the English Language and future film and television producer) and Lady Jo, who interrupted their Australian journeys to come say hello again. Anyway, Nigel set up his IC-705 in my shack and under adult supervision, enjoyed the net from my standing desk on Tuesday. | say adult supervision because although technically he did blow up my phasing noise canceller by transmitting into it, | have to admit | did the cabling configuration... which cleverly included my Pi Coupler and SWR bridge... and the noise canceller (which is usually controlled by my transceiver which tells it to bypass when I’m transmitting). But we had fun anyway, and now | have a nice case to build the proper VK5TM noise canceller that’s been waiting patiently in it’s kit form for a miracle to occur. Let’s hope the minor repairs to their motorhome that I’ve been involved in are a bit better. Nigel, Jo, Elizabeth and | also travelled down to Canberra on the weekend and had dinner with James VK7JZ, Hillary and Robin who were visiting. Very little CW was discussed of course - we were all under strict instructions about gentlemanly behaviour in the restaurant. Anyway, back to this newsletter. Once again our 42 contributors have excelled - | Know you'll find the newsletter a really interesting read again this week - huge thank you to our contributors. That said, I’d love to get more - if you'd like to have a go at penning something - please drop me a line. cqgrsnet@qmail.com You'll find information toward the end of the newsletter and our website about how to go about it. New Team Members Thanks to the efforts of several of our team new subscribers - however, members, we've had a jump in | haven’t yet had time to process the requests - so next week I'll introduce them to you. Website If you'd like to find out a bit about our net, or would like to pass information to others about our Tuesday get-togethers, here’s the link to our website. bit.ly/COORSWebsite So here we go - on behalf of the CQQRS Editorial team, please enjoy the newsletter. dit-dit Mark Bosma VK2KI / VK6QI Pee ta Bowning NSW cagrsnet@qmail.com non impediti ratione cogitationis a ; John Milthoroe NSW p VK2RU on a track somewhere Nigel G4RWI our other grey nomad Richard VK6HRX Padbury WA Reports Lance VK7TO Margate TAS & Comments Here’s this week’s Last Tuesday’s reports. Group With thanks to Nigel G4RWI’s clever software, and John VK2RU’s clever spreadsheet work, here’s the 66 stations heard by 45 members of our team on Tuesday: CQQORS Team Member cQ Qgso 1 QsoO 2 QsoO 3 aso 4 DL/MONNK |wWorked 20m} DL3YZ VK3DRQ MOKBJ VK2GR DL3YZ Heard on air MOKBJ Worked 20m| MOKBJ Heard 20m VK2GR MOKB]J Worked 40m| MOASN DL1BGR VK/G4RWI|Worked 40m} VK3ACU VK2NNW VK3JFR VK3ECH VK/G4RWI_ VKSCT VK4CRG ZLATE ZL1HJG VK4AEV VK2NNW VK/G4RWI | Heard 40m agso5 Qso6 Qso7 Qso DL/MONNK Tried 40m | VK3BWN VK1CT Heard on air VK2A0E Worked 40m| VK2A0E Heard 40m VK2IR VK2DLF Worked 40m| VKAPN VK2GN Heard on air VK2GR Heard on air VK2KI Heard 20m VK2KI Tried 20m | DL/MONNK VK2KI Heard 40m | VK2DLF VK5CT VKAPK VK/G4RWI | VK4CEG | VK2KI Heard 40m ZL1CJB VK4CEG ZL1HJ VK2NNW | VK2NAP | VK3ECH | VK4PN VKONW VK2NAP VK2GR MOKB] VK3MJ | VK3ACU | VK2IR VK2KI Worked 80m| VK2NAP Heard on air VK2NNW — [Worked 40m} VK/G4RWI | VK3TBR VK3KLE VK2DLF VK2NNW Heard 40m | VK3ACU VK4CEG ZL1HJ VK2NAP VK2IR VK2RU Heard 20m | JIZ2MED VK4PN | ZLICJB | VK3ACU VK2IR VK3JFR VK2NNW| VK3ECH VK2RU Heard 40m | VKA4ACEG VK3MJ VK3JFR VK2DLF VK3ACU Worked 40m| WK3JFR GARWI VK7TO ZL1PX VK3ACU Heard 40m VKLICT VK5A0O VK3WOW | VK2DLF VK3ACU Tried 40m | VK3PWG VK3ADX Heard on air VK3BWN [Worked 40m) VKS5SAV VK3BWN Heard 40m | VK3ADX VK2NAP VK4PN VK5A0 VK3CLD Heard 40m | VK3KLE VK7TO VK3JFR VK3ACU VK3DL Worked 40m| VK/TO VK5SAV VK3DL Heard 40m VK3KLE VK3DRQ VK5A0 VK4EV VK3DRQ Worked 20m| DL/MONNK VK3DRQ Worked 40m ZL1HJ VK50A VK3KLE VK3ECH VK3DRQ Heard 40m VK1CT VK7TO VK5AV VK3ECH Worked 40m| VK3DRQ VK2IR VK/G4RWI VK3ECH Heard 40m VKS5SAO VK3KLE VKSCT VK3JFR VK3JFR Heard on air VK3KLE Worked 40m| VK3JFR VK7TO VK7TA VK4EV VK2NN | VK3DROQ VK3KLE Heard 40m VKS5SAO VK2TM VK3PWG Heard on air VK3ACU | VK3JFR | VK3TBR Heard on air VK3WOW § |Worked 40m) VK5A0 VK3MJ VK4EV Worked 40m] VK3KLE VK2DLF ZL1PX VK4EV Heard 40m VKICT VK2DRQ VK2IR VK2GN VK4PN Worked 15m|_ JHAWLU JLIHKG VK4PN Worked 20m] YL3PO HA8WY Fou GOVOW VKSPH ZLATE 8 VK4PN Worked 40m| ZL1CJB VK2DLF VK4PN Worked 80m VK2KI VK6NW VK3TBR VK2IR VK3ADX VK5A0 Worked 40m] VKS5SAV Worked 40m] VK3DRQ | VK3WOW VK3JFR VK2IR VK5AV_ | VK6KHZ VK5AO VK3DL VK5AV Heard 40m | VK3ADX VK5CT Heard on air VKSET Heard 20m VK3GR VK3DRQ VKSET Heard 40m | VK4DJS VK2CT VKSET Heard 80m MONNK VK5A0 VK2IR VK3NAP | VK3ADX | VK5FD Worked 40m| VK3JFR VKSFD Heard 40m VK2IR VK5PH Heard on air VK3MJ VK3DRQ VKSCT VKS5AO | VKSPH VK6FN Worked 40m| VK6WN VK6FN Heard 40m 0OPM VK6KD VK6KHZ VK6JDM Heard 20m | MONNK VK6JDM Heard 40m | VK6DRQ VK6JDM Tried 40m VK6GX VK5A0O VK3TBR VK6KD Worked 40m| VK2GDR VK6KD Heard 40m | VKONW VK6XC VK6FN VK6KHZ Worked 40m VK6OFN VKENW Worked 40m VK6FN VK6XC VK5A0 VK6NW Heard 40m VK7TA VKENW Heard 40m VK6KD VK2GR MONNK VK2KI VK6ENW Worked 80m VK2KI VK6NW Heard 80m | VK3ECH VKeal Heard 40m VK6GX VK6QI Heard 80m VK4PN VK3ECH_ | VK/G4RWI VK2KI VK2KI VK6NW VK6RR Heard 40m | VK6RR Tried 40m WK3KLE VK4EV VK6FN VK6KD VKONW | VK6WE | VK6XC VK6KHZ VK6WE Worked 40m] VKO6XC VK6WE Heard 40m VK6OFN VK6EXC Worked 40m| VK6WE VK6XC Heard 40m VK5A0 VK6FN VK6KHZ VK3DRQ VK6KD VK2IR VK4PN VK3ECH | VK3DRQ VK6XC Tried 40m VK2IR VK3BWN VK5SAV VK2NNW VK4PN VK6KHZ Comments: The spreadsheets above show the known stations heard or worked on last Tuesday’s CQQRS Net; the comments (submitted via our webform in the team members’ bit.ly/COORSNET ) follow. The comments compiled for us by the clever software built by Nigel G4RWI was perfected by Patrick VK2IOW. for the work, and to every team member who submitted a report - DL/MONNK at Exeter UK via Stuttgart Germany Mika's in Garmanyv [20m] Iwas isina radin were and the layout Thanks again to Nigel, Patrick and John HU From Ross reports over an i we Rg ee ee ey ew Ma internet connection. The first response to my "CQ VK" calls was so strong it overloaded the receiver and down. | had to turn the RF Gain right It was Mike DL3YZ calling QRP from Sy Pee only 1 km away! HI HI. Next up was Manny VK3DRQ, very weak Atl copy every word so his Morse must be excellent. Thanks, Manny. eee managed to Then another really strong station. More whirling of the RF Gain knob revealed it to be Simon MOKB4, an old friend of the DXpedition. To round off a good morning's work, | once again had to reduce the RF Gain for Allan VK2GR. His Yagi antenna really sends his signal booming around the world - you would think he was in Europe! From Jordan VK3ACU at Meredith [40m] Had a good night on 40m. My apologies to Peter, VK3PWG—you were very low in the noise, and unfortunately, every time you gave your name and call sign - QRM. Thanks for persevering; | finally caught the full call sign on your last transmission! I've been doing a few POTA activations lately. Thanks to everyone who hopped on for a QSO—I was really surprised to land 10 contacts in just 22 minutes during a weekday lunch time! From Mark VK4AW using KiwiSDR located north of Adelaide [40m] First time listening to the net and loved it!! From Tim VK5AV at Mount Gambier [40m] I was intn the shack lata taninht sn we er ee only grabbed 3 QSOs, erg re all with very good signals on 40m. From Dean VK3DL at Geelong [40m] As of Australia Day | have retired. Time to get on air a bit more! From David VK6KD at Ballajura WA [40m] High level of QSB was found around stations from VK2 making QSOs challenging. Even local stations in WA were being affected by QSB. Great to at last get some QSOs onto my 2026 log. [80m] 80m appeared to be absent of CW activity. Same antenna autotuner attached. From Donald VK6JDM at 20 km west of Esperance [80m] | sat aut ta canvy MONNK on 20 metres | could hear a | used for 40m, with an BO py tee ee weak but unreadable signal soon after 0800 UTC. 0900 UTC | could hear the signal during its QSB By peaks and over several cycles of the transmission could put together that the station was calling "CQ VK de MONNK". The signal by 0900 was readability 4. | concluded the 20 metre transceiver is able to receive MONNK, | just need to find the time to complete the transmitter stages and then hopefully a two way contact can occur with MONNK From Ron one of these Tuesdays.. Everingham VK4EV at Everton Park Brisbane [40m] Conditions seemed to be good with signals received at good strength. There was some QSB on the QSO with ZL1PX. | was running about 60 Watts from the IC 7300. All told a very enjoyable evening of radio. From Nigel VK/G4RWI at Bowning [40m] A very interesting experience, operating from CQQRS Bowning. HQ in My IC705 looked somewhat out of place against, shall we say, the more "mature" transceivers in the HQ shack. Conditions quite good on 40m, once the band had fully woken up. My unbroken run of confusing at least one person with the /in my VK/G4RWI callsign continued From Roy VK6RR at Geraldton z ai :-) [20m] Nothina heard fram our DX friands [40m] Again conditions were variable and no success with calls. From Daniel VA6WE at Cottesloe [40m] There were several stations active when them busy conversing. | tuned in; all of | sent out CQ and shortly got a reply from Ben. This was pleasing as it was a new contact for me. After our exchange of details, extended due to my slow sending, the other signals had gone and | didn't get any response from further CQs. It was still a satisfying session. From John VKS5ET at Hope Valley [15 & 20m] Mainly listened tonight, lronstone Range Plenty of noise my way. SDR and my FT891. Did not hear anyone on 15m. On 20, heard Ross calling CQ multiple times, heard Manny’s name mentioned with sig report. Also Simon with Ross, Simon VK2GR, (callsign not heard) came on had lower signal compared to Ross. After that Allan had a chat with Ross [40m] Heard a few ragchews on 40m, but not as many stations as previous nights. practice Rx and head copy. From Rob VK3ECH at Echuca [40m] Iwas a little lata nn the ORS Net after a dav ort fishing and All good Powe err eee er ee Nog ee er eer ke Me ye re rg wat was surprised to find outstanding conditions, on the 40M band here at Echuca, excellent signals and S zero noise floor. | had a really nice QSO with Manny and great signal from his station, then heard Tommy VK2IR calling CQ and had a quick chat and good copy from him. Then VK/G4RWI Nigel ; called in with a great signal and had a nice QSO Ten from Bowning. | was a little concerned that Nigel's reputation could become a little tarnished if he was to spend too much time associating with that other shady character that we all know from up that way.... Anyway was great catching up with everyone and certainly a fun evening. From your editor Mark VK2KI at Beautiful south Bowning ; NSW [15m] Unfortunately, nothing heard from Edi DO2EMR on 15m this week. [20m] Our avid readers (er, reader?) may have identified from previous weeks' reports, that | have some makes sometimes an hour early, sometimes sort of strange condition that me miss the start of the DXperiment - half an hour late... boy life can be so complicated! Well this week - | have a We terrific excuse - sorry - reason for being 45 minutes late.... had the pleasure of the company of Nigel G4RW1I and Lady Jo who were staying for a week or two while working on some of the hows and whys, motorhome maintenance. So irrespective and despite any protests you may hear - I'm going to blame Nigel. Never-the-less, when | listened in on the Snowline KiwiSDR Ross MONNK was coming through weakly from Mike DL3YZ's station remotely controlled, and Simon MOKBJ was there, but very weak; great to hear Simon again. Conditions improved elinhth: and 3211 ma Raee rama iin ta RGN hare hit eaiildn't haar | alen triad ta MURINE RL y SAPNA EN catch Simon; We a Nr he was RSN 411 ry on the SDR, RA ON A Re but there was no sign of him here. Thanks for trying guys. [40m] | listened early either over Nigel's shoulder on his IC-705, or via the Snowline KiwiSDR. We heard Georg VK2DLF calling CQ but by the time we'd adjusted the pi- coupler and given up trying to get the broken phasing noise canceller to work (there's a story there), Georg had packed up and gone. We heard Pete ZL4TE near Hamilton but with more adjusting of things that didn't want to be adjusted, we missed him despite twisting his arm via WhatsApp to sacrifice his planned back on air. Finally after much fiddling around at Meredith, then Adam By around VK2NNW up at Deepwater; great to hear Adam 1100z, the band was starting to open to WA and my mighty (mighty old) Trio TS-120S not a sausage. beer and come Nigel had a chat to Jordan VK3ACU on again. so we did the big swap-over was pressed into service. Lots of CQs.... Oh well - c'est la vie! [80m] | slipped down to 80m at around 1200z and was pleased to hook up with Sava VK4PN. Sava was suffering from a high noise level so his RSN exchange was relatively short. by Wayne VK6NW RSN 439. at Bridgetown; | checked 389 report meant the My plaintive CQ calls were answered again this week the band was nicely open but Wayne sent me back in my log and noticed that his previous reports were RSTs - so ok, there's a nice CW challenge for us both, let's see if we can clarify whether he intended it to be an RSN or an RST report. Well done Rob in picking up immediately what | was asking; so despite his confirmed S9 noise level and my mediocre strength three signal, we got it sorted; | listened in to Wayne great fun! and Sava's QSO before heading North East; pretty good that two gents with S9 noise levels could chat on 80m so far apart across the Australian mainland. Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning via the VK6SEG KiwiSDR. (40m wo At the start of the net | cranked up the Southern Electronics Group's KiwiSDR at Hoddys Well near Northam. Phil VK6GX was calling, calling, calling CQ, no doubt swapping from straight key to straight key as he'd done last week. However, all in vain | suspect - no-one was talking to him. In hindsight, | realise that | should have jumped on the Southern electronics Group's Remote at Jandakot, while Nigel operated from my shack on his IC-705. think of that at the time - who knows? Why didn't | Sorry mate - next time | hope my brain is fully functioning! Around 1100z the D-layer faded and 40 opened Hopefully there were fruitful QSOs VK6SEG KiwiSDR up nicely to WA from here in VK2. as a result. [80m] At 1200z, 80m was starting to support East-West propagation - all dressed-up but no bananas, apart from Sava, Wayne and me (B1, B2 and B3 perhaps... or perhaps I'm taking the mixed metaphors a tad beyond the Black Stump’). From George VK2AOE at Kogarah/Sydney [40m] | was busy building the transmitter section of a new 40m "Frankenstein's monster" homebrew rig. As it was a school night | was retiring early but thought "why not see who is out there" and lo and behold Chris VK2NAP was busy with some CW aided by 300% ABV ginger beer. Had a rag chew then off to bed. 73 de VA2AOE From Simon MOKBJ at Wolverhampton, UK [20m] After workina a coinle of statinne an 40m | alancred at Fee ee ene ee a ee yee Oe the clock and thought about my VK friends, so moved up to 20m to hear Ross DL/MONNK calling without replies. | jumped on and we had our first QSO (nice fist Ross). After | finished, | waited to see if Ross picked up any others and | was delighted to hear Allan VK2GR with the clearest signal I've ever received at my =< Putikeeg MCT20 long lever home QTH from Australia. | tried putting out a CQ call 500Hz up the band but didn't get any takers. The temperature here isn't far from zero, so it's amazing to hear many VKs coping with 40+ in the shack. ee From Ben VK6XC at Toodyay WA [40m] Vv | Hard work. eset | is ial aad itlasiaaelt des leieiliin eeaieieeenial From Peter ZL1PX at Waiuku, New Zealand [40m] Tough condx. A temporary slip into an alternate Earth. No sigs at all. But then | was back with you. Then at O600Z, | managed gentleman to bag Jordan VK3ACU. A right he was. He offered me his previous OQSO buddy, Chris VK1CT, but Chris had gone or wasn't hearing me. Back to an alternate reality again... From Paul VK3KLE at Stawell [40m] Rettar conditinns this week There Mer re er er re were plenty of stations on air which were easy to work with. Propagation faded later in evening from VK2 to VK3. From Sava VK4PN at Mount Ommaney Brisbane [15m] After checking the Rag frequencies Chew for EU DXperiment | went straight to 15m. Band was almost empty, a few feeble JA stations barely readable. Regardless calling numerous CQs | was close to advertised frequencies but no trace of our EU contingent, RBN somewhere in Japan with a normally work EU much reported just one decode fairly poor SN ratio. 15m was obviously not open as yet, | later in the evening around 11 UTC. [20] 20m seemed a bit more active but | couldn't hear anyone working or calling in the QRS slot. | did however hear VK3WOW calling CQ DX much lower in frequency as well as VK3DBD/ZL working a booming nothing in the QRS Italian station. Still segment so | just kept calling CQ. RBN did not return any decodes for quite a while and then it lit up like a Christmas tree, decodes all over EU. A number of EU DX came back but none of those | was looking for. | am not sure which long path was being used. | have no directional antenna so whichever way it goes. By RBN reports | must have been going over the north pole as distance to decode in Finland was just over 14000 km and the decode in Italy was just over 16000 km. [40m] This time | decided to spend a bit more time on 40m, QRP with a total of 5 QSOs of course. Well it paid off for the evening. Two stand out though. VK2IR had a massive signal into Brisbane and also gave me a 599 report so | enquired as to his rig. Well he came back with 400W and 13 element Yagi!! | asked him if he was kidding but he said he wasn't. To my comment Yagi must be awfully big he replied you should see my 80m vertical. | would definitely like to see both (Tom should post some pictures). QSO with Tim VK3TBR was also interesting, | was very happy with 449 from him for my puny 5 W but he went QRP Buried in noise but readable. who as well and to my surprise he was 367 at my end. | am also grateful to ZL1CJB, VK2DLF and VK3ADX made an effort to dig me out of the noise. [80m] Slim pickings on 80 again just the regulars VK2KI and VKGNW. My noise level on 80 (and 40) is just off the scale but this Tuesday | observed something strange which | have to think about. QSO with Mark was a usual struggle, | gave him RSN 389 but by the S meter it should have been N9 + 10dB. | copied my RSN and a few words but it was hopeless. So the QSO was not too long and after we finished Wayne Mark and | stayed on frequency struggling to copy Wayne. noise. For whatever reason called He was way down in | disconnected one leg of my balanced feeder and the noise dropped to S7 and | could copy both Mark and Wayne quite well. | knew that | can use either side of my OCF as an end-fed long wire but did not pay attention to noise. After adjusting the tuner for minimum reflected power noise did come up a bit but both signals were readable. The night finished with another QSO with Wayne well after 11 UTC. So | need to do some work on my antenna before next Tuesday, it will be pulled down this weekend. From Lance VK7TO at Hobart [40m] After being away for the past five weeks, it was nice to be back operating from home again, but did miss the SO noise floor whilst on holiday across numerous national parks. Reporting After next Tuesday’s Group, please remember to send me a list of who you worked and / or who you heard using our web form here: bit. ly/CQORSNET Even if you didn’t hear anyone, we’d still like to Know that you had a go. And to make your report more interesting, please consider sending a photo to be attached. If you have a photo (compressed if possible) that you'd be happy to include, please email it to: cqarsnet@gmail.com So, please help attract new and old team members to have a go by submitting your report each week. Submissions close 1300 (Eastern Australian Summer time) on Thursdays. VIMIIIIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV Post Morsum 4" February 2026 From Richard VK6HRC. Six on the Echolink hub this morning. ( AllStar link down ) VK6NW Wayne VK6FN Max VK6QI Mark VK6KD David VK/G4RWI Nigel VK6HRC and swl VK6MRB as ret ) q GS Mulligan, Wayne caught up with Max on 40m, monitored 20m for a while and heard Ross and Mark. Worked Mark on 80m, not an hour long session this time ! Max enjoying the better conditions worked Wayne VK6NW Ron VK6KHZ before going into swl mode. David VK6KD and Mark was only just hearing Ross on 20m, nothing of Edi on 15m and heard fifteen on 40m. On 80m worked Sava and Wayne not a bad score considering he was sharing his antenna with his visitor Nigel. David now retired managed to get on earlier had a contact with Max and Wayne on 40m. As conditions improved to the East managed to get some decoding practise in from the stations over there. Nigel had a fun evening in Mark’s shack but has to get busy sorting a few issues on the motorhome before continuing the walkabout. | got on fairly late in the session hearing locals to start with and as conditions improved signals from the East started coming in. Thank you to all on last night and this morning. 73 Richard. This Week’s re RIF _ | no more? ew APSIATI = == = = SS = = SS >= = Topics of Interest HamClock SS i = From NIgél G4hHivvi Hamclock, is a popular, highly customizable, open-source dashboard for amateur radio operators that provides real-time, kiosk-style data, including space weather, propagation models (VOACAP), satellite tracking, and solar information. It is designed to run on a Raspberry Pi or other devices, often displayed on a dedicated monitor. As of late January 2026, the original developer has passed away, and the supporting data servers are expected to shut down in June 2026. So if you use this, or are planning to use this, it may well stop working later this year. There is a very active, community driven and open source project to provide an alternative. OpenHamclock is a reinterpretation of the original Hamclock using modern web standards. It can run on a wide range of platforms, including a raspberry pi. The display is via your browser. It is entirely free. You can try it here https://openhamclock.com/ You will need to enter your callsign and location. All the settings are stored in your browser, so as long as you return with the same browser, it will remember you. 18.100 0B7GE BELC ts Pkt Td) LLL) 2a “ae _< ea a ee re eT a ac Ca ace} Pattee) FO-27 (JAS-2) ey CD 2 6 6 6 EE ee If you want to run/customise it yourself, everything you need to know is here https:// github.com/accius/openhamclock Head Copy, or write it down? - Get Off and Push From Ross MONNK | have a bicycle - a small, wobbly folder. But I’m not much of a cyclist. Being the wrong side of sixty and terribly unfit, whenever the path is rough, slippery or steep, | get off and push. Life is just easier and safer that way, albeit less exciting. My Morse is like that too. When conditions are good and the sender is slow, standard and accurate, it’s very pleasant to stare out of the window and let the code spool across my mind. But when a VBand learner is making a right hash of things - stopping in the middle of words, making lots of mistakes and sending those damn EEEEEEEE strings - | have to resort to the decoder for some assistance. It’s the same on radio. In my experience, conditions are rarely good, especially on the DXpeditions. And European operators often either have poor English; send too fast and won't slow down; or else send 'characterful' Morse which is hard to copy. So | almost always write it down, and then try to make some sense of the scattered letters at the end of the over. It’s all part of The Guessing Game. Head Copy is a wonderful skill but it’s best not to cling to it out of some pointless sense of pride. Sometimes it’s just easier and safer to get off and push. If you have an article or two that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let me know so we can share more thoughts and ideas. And what’s going on on your workbench? If you have an article or two that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let Mark VK2KI know; email to cgqqrsnet@gmail.com For guidance on writing for RagChew, CW see Articles below. Practice This year we’re using Aesop’s Fables. These are short moral stories, often using talking animals, that illustrate simple truths about human behaviour and character. Aesop’s Fables originated in ancient Greece, traditionally attributed to the storyteller Aesop who is thought to have lived around the 6th century BCE. The fables are generally smaller files of two to three hundred words that have been recorded at 15 wom and run for about 15 minutes. If 15 wpm is a bit quick for you, load it onto your phone and set the playback speed at 0.75 X or even 0.5 X - whatever works for you. 0.75 X will play the MP3 at a bit under 12 wom. It is suggested that you read the text file before listening to the audio file. That will make it easier to follow the audio file and prepare you for any unusual words. Any punctuation that is not usually used with CW This week’s fable is ‘The Wolf and the Crane’, are attached has been removed. and the MP3 and TXT files here - If you prefer a different speed or tone you can create your own converting the text file with the Eoook2CW MP3 files by app - https://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cw.html. You can either play the MP3 files in any media into the Ditto CW: player, or load the text file Morse Player app - https://dittocw.andro.io/. Both options work well, however Ditto CW gives you complete control over all Morse settings, while a normal media player only allows changes to playback speed, and does that in steps (e.g. 1.25x, Other 1.5x, 1.75x). News Other things we’ve received from our 230-plus readers. Dick Smith on Fly Podcast From Rob VK6LD in Albany I've been doing a bit of driving the last couple of days and listening toa few podcasts on my travels. An interesting one was with Dick Smith, who spoke quite a bit on some of his business ventures and riskier flvina adventures in his life Nefinitely worth a Perna oye J ee a ee J we listen if podcasts are part of your day. The podcast is titled Fly and is hosted by Richard De Crespigny, a former air force and Qantas pilot, who FLY with Richard De Crespigny - landed an almost disabled Qantas A380 Airbus QF32, SE ete Ream a Smith's secrets to resilience after one of the jet engines blew up shortly after take pe off from Singapore in 2010. Slightly amateur radio related, as Dick Smith holds an AR licence and Dick Smith Electronics used to stock Yaesu. Future From Shock? Will VK6UU Hello all... This from AR magazine 1936. In the age of FT8 etc etc..... this was a prediction about amateur radio in 2036. Just happened sooner. “Everything VIS2, is in the now." said etec.; “it’s from some my old rig. Now technical details? one unit all auto- how Tube about line- matic, and econtrolled from _ this panel.” “T gee,” said Jim. ‘‘How different up and all that kind *As a matter of what’s inside the of thing.” fact, box. I don’t know It’s sealed down, and can only be opened by an Amateur Station Service man, in the employ of the World Government.” He pressed the buttons. “The eall is going out now with a thousand kilos behind it. It lasts about 15 seconds, and switched on the transmitter auto- matically switches over to the receiver as it signs “K” at the end of the call. See that light that just panel? That answered, around the tion calling light over By at means The the bottom gone out; that pulling the switch we over,” the band mnntil it finds a staus. Now you'll notice the has and of an EA station has receiver swings we're getting means back to give him FB Will VK6UU Reprinted from the WAHAMS Email Group with thanks. Islands On The Air From Nigel VK6NI from Denmark he's him. an | reag your plea TOr pnotos In tne latest newsietter ana attacn some. They are pictures from the various IOTAs Not being a CW | did with Wally VK6YS operator | stuck with SSB but Wally was a keen (SK) and others. CW operator. He usually did not use a key, preferring to receive by ear but send from the keyboard. It helped with logging and to put a key on when camping it was often difficult to get a stable surface in a remote spot. The expeditions were as follows: Breaksea Island VK6BSI (2001) The first IOTA we did Wally (VK6YS), Nigel VK6NI along with Bruce VK6CX and Dan VK8AN (SK). Off the coast at Albany and a National Park and therefore restricted entry, we had to get special permission. We spent the weekend sharing the hut on the jetty with large native skinks, harmless but a bit unnerving when they appeared next to the operating position. TH3 Junior lashed to the end of the jetty was the main antenna. VK6BSI Breaksea Island January 2007 Dirk Hartog Island VK6DHI (2005) Wally (VK6YS), Nigel (VK6NI) along with Dan (VK8AN). Lovely spot and an adventure to get onto. Nearly blown away whilst camping. Low number of contacts (582) as we were near the sunspot minimum. Cheyne Island VK6CHI (2007) Wally (VK6YS), Nigel (VK6NI) along with Bruce (KD6WW). A small island off the WA south coast. A nice location and with easy access by small boat. Spiderbeam and Force 12 Sigma 5 band vertical. Woody Island VK6WDI (2012) Wally (VK6YS), Nigel (VK6NI) and Reinhard (DF4TD) assisted by Nigel’s XYL Jane (VK6FJPD). Off the coast near Esperance, WA. Erecting the Spiderbeam in the bush was fun! Every wire seemed to snag on branches as we tried to put it up! Houtman Abrolhos VK6IOA (2010) Wally (VK6YS) and myself (VK6NI) along with Bruce (KD6WW) spent the weekend on the Abrolhos (off the coast at Geraldton, WA) and nearly got blown away again. 3200 contacts with half of them CW. | Cape Naturaliste We (VK6NI and VK6FJPD) also regularly spend - the Lighthouse Weekend in August at Cape | Naturaliste (near Dunsborough, WA) along with Michael (VK6TU). It is more a meet the public and explain what AR is about than a contest or contact gathering exercise. In the early days we used the Spiderbeam with lots of queries about “what’s the oversized Hills Hoist for?” In line with the article, Copyright for the Photos remains with me but you are free to use them for our newsletter © Cheers, Nigel VK6NI Morse Training Our team member every Wednesday Net Nic VK7WW at 7pm runs an on-air Slow Morse training net EDST on 3580 for 30 mins. He uses the callsign of the Northern Tasmania Amateur Radio Club VK/7TAZ 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 - 3580kKHz at 7pm time every Wednesday; CQQRS team on that net. Eastern you'll hear lots of the Jordan VK3ACU has recorded the complete set of lessons which you can now SR Ree Reel Learn Morse Code - Slow Morse find here: Course https://www.youtube.com/playlist? list=PLHSQmZz6fBXO/swAfbTmutrbbELl 7fUQL Contact Nic VK7WW for more info nicholaschantler@hotmail.com how to join the NTARC DISCORD including group to follow the action, or just come along and join in on Wednesdays. SOUTHERN ELECTRONICS GROUI Pe coer Saturday 7" March 2026 + 11.00am—- 3.00pm (Sellers from 9.00am) + Frost Park (Mt Barker Racecourse) McDonald Ave, Mt Barker Entry: $5.00 for buyers & sellers. * Sellers reserve your table by emailing reservations(@hamradio.org.au before 28 Feb 2026 ‘* Food & Drinks are available at local Mt Barker cafes & bakery (900 metres) and support local businesses. Callin on VEGRAA Mt Barker 70cm repeater — 439.950MHz (-7.00MHz offset) southern Electronics Group ince. | wwwhamradio.or.au Just a brief update on the upcoming | vk6sr@hamradio.org.au Mt Barker Car Boot Sale. Seller registrations are starting to come through and thank you to those who have registered. If you’re planning on having a table to sell, please register by email to reservations@hamradio.org.au aS soon as you Can. Steve VK6S] from Comtek Radio (https://comtekradio.com.au/) will be attending, including Flex Radio & TET-Emtron products. Tables & chairs will be available for sellers and the venue is under cover, SO we Can proceed no matter what the weather throws at us. plenty of parking at the venue. There is Sellers will be able to park 25M - 50M from the undercover area. Tea, coffee & water will be available at the Car Boot Sale. at local Mt Barker cafes & the famous Food is available Mt Barker Country Bakery, just a short distance away. Please no selling before the 11.00am start time, to be fair to everybody attending. On the day, please monitor VK6RAA Mt Barker 70cm repeater on 439.950MHz for any information or updates. Southern Electronics Group looks forward to seeing you there. Regards, Rob... VK6LD Mobile One Founder Greg Ackman - Silent Key From the Wireless Institute of Australia via the WAHAMS email group. Two men died in a light plane crash north of the Gold Coast shortly after taking off from a private airstrip at about 6am small town near Tamworth on Tuesday en route to a in NSW. Police have confirmed the 73-year-old pilot from Beenleigh and his male passenger, believed to be from Sydney, died at the scene. They were the only occupants of the plane which came down just after take-off in bushland in Jacobs Well, near the Heck Field Airstrip, shortly before 6am on Tuesday last week. The Pilot? VK4BBX Greg Ackman Greg was founder of Mobile One antennas. He built the business from a garage-based He became a ham operation during the 1970s. late 2021, VK4BBX was a familiar face in the Australian amateur radio community, often showcasing Mobile One products at field days and events. Vale VKABBX. HH MOBILE) ONE Om pe ii’: yw sant or the a if ae Eastern & Mountain District Radio Club Inc experimentation and enjoyment of amateur radio! ONST Pam tae esdOd GY (ee Merry, et TAL eaten Ecieeetia Christrias and a Ge d brosp i LA, . | Bay araA ne RADIU @ Updating Articles BULLETIN 14/10/2025 - 3:01 © : IHE “f PM £ Use Rig + programming cables and Windows 11 V/s a 21/04/2024 - 7:57 PM * tye ce Subaru Coax Install 15/04/2024 - 8:04 PM thee * Portable Power 10/11/2023 - 10:56 AM Mi nd The Ga p . Conti nu ed This Week’s Topic of Interest A Gap in my Knowledge 1 From . H | When | R joss MONN' ith Morse, | Mike DL3YZ O S S , ji i f gh to have the Sewn big (er, more accurately, ‘how small) the contact gap on my ‘we. key should be. His pee (and probably, that of the Navy) was is it See oe . . Just read your gap article, and its funny how our . personal preferences differ. | measured a vied ch ets 5 pri paper, which is typically 0.1 mm thick (equivalent to 100 microns, or 0.0039 inches if you’re oldfashioned enough to still be working in Imperial units). norte abo them a nice poli whilst applying me, Toh crocntrtcon e eee one pri paper through the gap hve, began by setting my gaps with printer paper. However, we each develop our own style and th ds, and so, later on,| d g ill furth my preferred gap to be 3 pieces of paper, so about 0,3 mm. Too tight feels strange for me. Some “The smallest gap that gives reliable keying’ does vary across my three straight keys though: e the Marconi Maritime 365 has the smallest gap; ® the Ediswan W392E (shown in the photo above) has the largest; and the WTS A here in bet months ago | restored a German was surplus from the trash-bin. paid. military version of a Junker key. It The condition was very poor for the price It was from a friend who wanted to start CW but never did (so far). After bringing it back to life, | really liked it. Finally | found a normal (ie not military) one In grey on an amateur radio flea market, and couldn’t resist to get one for myself... OK, now comes the interesting part : The difference between these keys (besides the colour) is that the military version has the range of that specific gap-adjust screw limited in movement. They even did quite some mechanical effort with this topic. adjustment add-on includes a The military little ball and and a spring, as well as slots on the under side of the thumbscrew to have defined ‘clicks’ within that one-turn range. So there seems to be a ‘military acceptable’ gap range within which the operator has the possibility to have his or her own personal click setting. They must have taken into account that it’s a personal thing they have to allow. Within a certain range, that is accepted lt seemed by every OP. so important to the military that they have specified for the Junker company to add this feature... and surely pay more for the key. Unfortunately | didn’t measure that original gap. On my restaoration back then, | had to disassemble the whole key for replacing the rotten (FUBAR) contact. A spare contact Is in fact build-in and comes with the key - | used the secondary release contact instead - HI. After that, the blocking feature kept constantly falling apart and | decided to free that key from any military restrictions. So I’m sorry | can’t provide a photo. :-) 73 Mike. And More Mind The Gap From Phil VK6GX - Continued Hi Mark, Sorry for my lack of participation In recent times, too much other stuff getting in the way! Re Ross's (MONNK) article about setting straight key contact gaps, | agree with him, the smallest gap for reliable operation - for experienced operators that is. Newer operators will probably prefer a wider contact gap, but reduce it as they progress to higher speeds. As well as cleaning contacts by pulling a strip of printer paper through the contacts, under light tension, some key contacts benefit from being cleaned with a strip of thin cardboard, impregnated with a drop or two of inox MX3, or similar lubricants such as CRC 5.56, Selleys RP7 or WD40O. It reduces oxidisation and lengthens contact cleaning intervals. Begali set their straight keys tension with a 100g weight on the knob, so that it just causes the contacts to close. | have set up all my keys using that method, as | found that it equates very closely to my preferred tension. | made my 100g weight with a stack of AU coins, which according to my XYL's digital kitchen scales, AU$4.30, consisting of 3 x 50c, 4 x 20c and a $2 coin taped together = exactly 100g, or for our imperial measure friends, a fraction over 3-1/2 ounces. | mentioned entertaining myself a From Phil VK6GX at Gidgegannup few weeks ago, whilst sending CQ [40m] | The CME virtually wiped out 40m. NO VK6 QRS to no avail for 1/2 hour on stations 40m, during the big geomagnetic , storm. | was using my TS-890S, W h C h keys C U rre atta Nn tly C h ed 2a h a S n d S ix 2a S l st ra wa g ae heard at all! Late arvo a few weak eastern VK stations ; heard. Called CQ for 1/2 we VKSAG replied, He wes only S5 courtesy of my east Beverage. To relieve the boredom, | amused myself by alternating between six straight keys every character or two (Begali Sculpture Arrow, Hi-Mound HK-802, GONVT PB213, RA1AOM Swedish key, 11QOD Swedish key, Ht S NATO Swedish key). It's manageable at QRS without losing flow and spacing. sending at about 10 - 12 WPM, | could send each character from an adjacent key, without loosing flow or character spacing. | made a very amateurish iPhone video of it, which includes views of the various keys, rig, HDSDR screen and the propagation disturbance on the NOAA space Wx, SolarHam and BoM sites. | had some Perth tonogram rather loud music playing in the background, sidetone is just audible. Unfortunately, but the it's a 102.5MB sized file, just a bit of fun, but I'm willing to share it, if you are interested and have any upload Suggestions.| remember a variation of the pro sign , words, wait, | need to take a nature break! it's P...... In other | heard that from an operator at Portishead Radio GKL, whilst at sea, many years ago. If possible, | hope to be on the net on Tuesday arvo, solar flares/storms and other distractions permitting! CUL, 73, Phil VK6GX. Peel Amateur Radio Group ARGFEST Swap-Meet saturday 7“ February 2026 Mandurah Bowling Club 89 Allnutt Street, Mandurah WA. Doors Open: 0800 — Exhibitors & Sellers 0900 — 1250 Buyers Entry Fee - $5.00 per person See you there amongst the raffles and bargains Please check www.parg.org.au/whatsnew for last-minute updates. Call-in to VA6ARG in PARG1 — AllStar & 146.850Mhz with 91.5Hz sub-tone For more information call Peter 0432718026 or email parg_secretary@qmail com World Radio Day - February 13th How will you be celebrating? A Step in the Right Direction From Wayne VK6ONW from Bridgetown Hi Mark lam testing the CW setup for the next Camping trip. The radio will be the Barrett 4050 in the vehicle and the antenna will be (at this stage) a mobile whip. The CW setup is a K1O Keyer kit | built from a kit sourced from K1EL about 20 years ago and Galbraith GK11 years. paddle that | have also had for many Thanks for the newsletter, greatly appreciated. Regards Wayne Douglass VK6NW James VK7JZ’s First Straight Key QSO From Jens VK4PE My station for the first straight key CW contact with James VK7JZ. | tried many kind of different antennas with the Elecraft KX1, but it works best with the wire antenna and counterpoise and build-in antenna tuner. The lengths for counterpoise and antenna wire are given in the manual. With the good conditions we have in the moment | can work all over Australla. You can use one length of antenna wire for all three bands also the length of the counterpoise Is not altered. This makes it very easy to set up. | use a 5m fishing pole to get the antenna in the air. The transceiver is a little bit higher on a brick to avoid the antenna wire touching the ground. This might be interesting to think through. We all agree a resonant antenna works well for QRP BUT a concept with an automatic antenna tuneris that it can calculate all the factors in a mobile setup automatically. You end up with the optimal setup any time regarding the place you setup your antenna. Interesting question! | heard good feedback from users of the Elecraft product line but the transceivers are expensive. The bands are 20, 30 and 40 m. In my experience this bands are very popular for QRP because it will work day and night. QRP and CW Its a good combination. Cheers Jens VK4PE If you've read something that you think might be of interest to our readers, please let me know. below. For guidance on writing for RagChew, Please email material to Mark VK2KI: There’s see Articles caqrsnet@gqmail.com No Such Thing... This week’s | think the first lesson in Teachering questions. 101 Is to always tell students “There's no such...” (I’m sure you know the rest) and “...the only dumb are the ones not asked”. Jonn VK2RU out there among questions reckons that there’s lots of questions both our new and our experienced operators - about CW, amateur radio operating and about theory. So John didn’t step backwards quickly enough when asked to volunteer to compile readers’ questions; thanks mate. So here we go... VBand There’s no such thing... This week’s questions. In a previous RagChew, a reader asked about VBand - what It was and how is it accessed. — a ee nen etreme rman eo Reem Pn et eee We've been flooded with responses... well, two actually. So over to those with knowledge. This is VBand From Dave VK5PL VBand Is a way of sending CW over the internet. You can talk to anyone anywhere VBand channel as you. in the world if they are on the same You don't even need a radio or even a licence. Go here https://namradio.solutions/vband/ to find out about it. Dave VK5SPL VBand From e Part 1 Ross MONNK If you're a radio operator who does Morse code, raise your left hand. e lf you’re a Morse lover who does radio, raise your right hand. Thank you for participating. All those of you with just your left hand raised are strongly advised to leave the room now as you may find the following article uncomfortable reading and possibly offensive. |Ham Radio Solutions Virtual CW Band - VBand @areiaces Channel Settings Store | Welcome to VBand, the internet Virtual CW Support About Band. Now that those chaps/YLs have left, | can safely state the blindingly obvious - VBand is not radio. VBand is a website https:/hamradio.solutions/vband/ where chaps and YLs who love Morse code can chat with fellow Morse code lovers using Morse code. The radio operators (who have now left the room) might call this “ragchewing”, but that is a radio term and VBand is not radio so | won’t use it here. In the early days of Morse code, its use was split more-or-less equally between radio and wires (with lots of enthusiastic lamp signalling by the Navies of the world). The modern equivalent of wires is fibre optic cable, so internet Morse code has a direct lineage from the telegraph networks of old. Thus, there’s no need to feel ashamed of doing Morse over the internet (if that was a concern). Anyway, at a molecular level, it’s all electro-magnetic radiation whether it goes down a wire, through a cable, or bounces off the temperamental lonosphere. Before | get into how to use VBand, here are a couple of interesting things about it: Firstly, while there are plenty of amateur radio operators on there - they typically identify themselves with their radio callsign so they can be looked up on QRZ.com there are also lots of other users, some of whom are very competent (they identify themselves with some sort of made-up “handle”, akin to the CB radio operators). The level of competency does vary greatly, from the teenager in their bedroom who wants to have a go because it sounds cool and, hey, how difficult can it be; to the “ham” who’s struggling to get past 10 wpm; to the ex-professional getting back into Morse; to the keen enthusiast who wants to give something back to the mode he’s spent half a lifetime enjoying. Me? | just enjoy chatting using Morse. And, fortunately, so do all the other VBand users. Secondly, there are no rules and no stated protocols on VBand. In theory, it’s a Freefor-All. But Morse would be terribly confusing if there weren’t some agreed methods of working. Radio worked out those methods long ago and the radio operators on VBand encourage the use of a few of the basic ones purely because it’s sensible and avoids anarchy. VBand is not radio so there’s no messing about with callsigns each over (use first names if you want to address someone directly), and there’s no messing about with meaningless signal reports either (propagation is always 599 on the internet!). But and are useful. And most people sign off with a cheery “73 73 ee”. An interesting departure from strict radio protocols is Multi-Operator chats. (Lobby (23 users) (Practice Channel Channel 1 (1 user) LiIDRS| Channel 2 (2 users) I5JU Channel 3 (6 users) (HAM-547 (LID/JA)|[M@NNK - ROSS)[HAM-677-- 76)(GRIG|[BG7RUG)[YOSWSR Channel 4 (Channel 5 (ND) (2 users) These are spontaneous and occur frequently. Being ad-hoc, they never have a “Net Controller” - it’s understood that each participant will get their turn (some just want to listen), but if the conversation naturally bounces between two people for a few overs then that’s fine too. This system works because VBand users are polite and sensitive to the needs (and weaknesses) of others. Yes, believe it or not in this day and age, it’s not like typical Social Media - almost all VBand users are polite and sensitive despite the many cultural differences on this world-spanning platform. | hope that’s given you a feeling for what VBand is. Why not have a look at the website? There’s no registration and no log in. You will automatically be allocated an anonymous default callsign(for example, HAM-753), so no-one will know who you are. There’s a lot to be said for just listening to what’s going on (like an SWL on radio). I'll be back soon with some practical advice on how to be active on VBand. [Thank you so much to Dave and Ross for filling in the gaps. | suspect Ross has identified that some of us don’t actually have Morse keys or even paddles built in to our computers... so I’m hoping that he has a/some solution/solutions. Ditto, some of us use Macs, LINUX, RaspberryPi, etc in preference to PCs, and indeed some have tablets and phones only... so is life destined to be sad for those of us in those categories | wonder? I’m looking forward to learning more from Dave, Ross and some of our many other VBand users. ] [Do you have a question or two that are worth sharing? discussion-starter? How about a Please let me know cqgrsnet@gmail.com and I/’// pass them to John VK2RU for compilation each week. ] Prosign/Character/Sig nal of the Month See if you can use this one on Tuesday! Prosign: Meaning: Stand = ee by [Suggestion - put it on a sticky note near your key as a reminder for Tuesday. Tell us how you went!] | Hear You No Names, never know Tell... who’s listening! No Pack Drill G'day Mark, no wonder | didn’t hear anything. wrong day, will try TOMORROW, TUESDAY..... Please disregard my log.... Dohhh 73's [name and callsign provided] [Makes me feel a little better about my DXperiment timing!] [lf you have some intel about other team members... or even yourself... that’s worth sharing, please let me know cqqrsnet@gmail.com / Di-dah-di-dah-dit Here we So back to the CQQRS Next Tuesday’s Slow CW QSO go. practice net. Net Our CQQRS Group will be on as always on Tuesday from around 0600z until about 1200z; see https://bit.ly/COORSWebsite and navigate to the Net Details page for details. Coordinated Universal Time OPA Dd, Pee en ee ed dk eee 0600z to 1200z (NOE = 4UIT WV APEIIMENtS Australia StI al a ONPeErent UME i required) UTC + 8 Hours 1400 to 2000 Central Australian Time UTC + 10.5 Hours | 1630 to 2230 Eastern Australian Time UTC + 11 Hours 1700 to 2300 Queensland Time UTC + 10 Hours 1600 to 2200 NZ Time UTC + 13 Hours 1900 to 0700 New Zealand wx WI Western Australia Time Time Frequency 0600z to 0900z 20m 14039-14051kHz Note - 20m times and frequencies will be allocated by Mike DL3YZ prior to the net. 0600z to 1200z 4om TO20KHz - 7O40KHz — 3535kHz - 3560kHz 160m 1855kHz (-SkHz for QRM) 7o00 7o20 I 40 mis = I ORO = l l 3500 l l l l CO ORS Net l | 3535 80 m EF 1800 le 7O40 ] ORO | | CO ORS Net 1655. | Thanks to Lance VA7TO for the COQRS & 3560 le | ! | = 1875 | band-plan e 22002 - 2300zZ (Tuesday UTC) Wednesday (VK/ZL) nae WA FM AllStar Network (Use AllStar to connect to Node 42482 or use Echolink to connect to VK2KI-L) 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. There's usually people around until after 1200z - so keep calling in the segment of the band designated someone. in the table below until you catch | 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 Reports respectively. Hope to hear you there. & Photos Please let us know via our Reports form bit.ly/COORSNET who you work or hear on Tuesday’s Group. The report form closes at lunchtime (Eastern Australian time) on Thursday. And how about helping to make the reports even more interesting by sending a photo? If you have a photo that you’d be happy to include, please email it to: cqarsnet@gmail.com To make it even easier for our Reports editor Patrick VK2IOW, see if you can reduce the size of the image (to less than 100KB file size by preference). No problems if your computer or phone can’t do that - just send it through anyway please. And of course, I’m always on the lookout for more photos for the newsletter, so if you have something that might be of interest aside from the reports, please send it through as well - | always enjoy the photos that our readers send - and I’m sure our readers do too. cggrsnet@gmail.com Email them to please (reduced size if possible - but whatever you send will be great). Oh and by the way, | recommend website open that you don’t keep the Reports Form between submission of reports from one week to the next. you’re unlucky, there’s an undocumented If feature in the software that could cause your current week’s report to be combined with your previous report - it’s happened to your editor several times - much to the chagrin of our Reports editor 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). See https://bit.ly/COORSWebsite and navigate to the Net Details page for details of how you can connect via Echolink or even possibly via your local FM repeater. Articles The newsletter is interesting to readers because of the material contributed by so many people - be it the reports each week or the various articles. Could you write a short article or articles for RagChew? Writing not your strong point? much You bet! Don’t worry, I'm very happy to help as or as little as needed. Here’s a thought - although our readers will much perhaps have a go at using a Large Language tool such as ChatGPT, prefer your own writing, Model Artificial Intelligence Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini to check your writing or even to actually draft the whole article in a relaxed easy-to-read manner! You can find out more about how to do that on the Newsletter page on our website bit.|ly/COQORSWebsite. Our website also includes a suitable prompt (the command want). you feed to the Al to make it do what you Please remember though - you must fact-check anything that an Al tool drafts for you because Als ‘hallucinate’ - ie if an Al can’t find what you're looking for, it will make up an answer and present it as a fact! This is one of the dangers of using Als - it’s quite probable that the tool will create a very readable and convincing draft that is 100% wrong! the submitter are responsible for fact-checking. You as But it’s a learning experience - please let us Know how you went if you had a go with this new generation of tool. And by the way - | am very concerned about our future in a world of Al - but I’m pleased to see that school and university curriculums now focus on understanding the risks - for instance, kids are now learning critical thinking something that used to be taught mostly at post-graduate level. When the typewriter was invented, handwriting; when the word people predicted the downfall of processor was invented, the art of writing was thought to be on the way out - ditto for the spreadsheet and arithmetic, AM, SSB and FT-8 for amateur radio etc. We can ignore Al and hope that it just goes away... or we can learn to handle it through experimentation and USe. Oh, and one more thing (actually two) - copyright material: e please use your own images - don’t use images copied from the internet unless you have the producer’s permission, or they’re marked e ‘Creative Commons’ or similar; if you include other peoples’ written material, unless you have permission, you may only include small snippets (unless it’s marked ‘Creative Commons’ or similar), and you'll need to site the source and author. For more guidance on writing for the RagChew newsletter (including help with using an Al), head to our website bit.ly/CQQRSWebsite then click the menu on the top right and then click RagChew News/etter. Material A reminder; if you send me any information by email, our report form or WhatsApp - unless you specifically state that material is not to be published, I'll assume that you're happy to see your thoughts in the RagChew newsletter. Teamwork Thank you so much to our team of 42 contributors: MONNK, VK2AOE, VK2DLF, VK6HRC, VK2NNW, DL3YZ, G4RWI, MOKB}, VK2RU, VK3ACU, VKSBWN, VK3CLD, VK3DL, VK3DRQ, VK3SECH, VK3KLE, VK3WOW, VK4AW, VK4AW, VK4EV, VK4PE, VK4PN, VK5A0O, VK5AV, VK5ET, VK5ET, VK5FD, VK5PL, VK6FN, VK6GX, VK6JDM, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VK6LD, VKONI, VKONW, VK6UU, VK6WE, VK6XC, VK/TO, editorial team, Nigel G4RWI VK2IOW and ZL1IPX. And a special thank you to our (head of software development), (reports coordinator), John VK2RU (Post Morsition) and Lance VK/TO VKORR, Patrick (researcher), Richard VK6HRC (technical editor and bit wrangler). Great work all! €U CW on Tuesday, mb Mark Bosma VK2KI / VK6QI Beautiful South Bowning cqqrsnet@gmail.com NSW non impediti ratione cogitationis Alhaitt tha Th f“rAABC AlaAt FAWUUL LITT Here’s where For the current schedule and VY WR INSEL you’ll find the details. more information about the CQQRS net, please go the the Net Details page on our website: https://bit.ly/COQQORSWebsite The opinions expressed in the RagChew newsletter are those of the individual contributors. The opinions do not necessarily reflect that of the editor or of the CQQRS Group members. Any material and images received from members by the editor or published on the CQQRS WhatsApp groups may be published in this newsletter unless specifically requested otherwise. 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