CQQRS RagChew Newsletter 16/2026.

05/05/2026, 09:49

CQQRS RagChew
Edition 16/2026

Thanks this week to Jordan VK3ACU for this great image. Apparently there was a time when:
a. electronic things were built by hand, component by component, and
b. that there was a time when electronics was actually built in Australia.
Love to have witnessed the smoke test.

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Past Issues

Logs and Reports from Tuesday’s Net

Post Morsum Report

Translate v

e Hey, Eye Candy - AKA Al at Work
e

Points of Orser

e A Quick 160m Loop
e

QRZ? IU4FLS

e CW Practice
e Anzac Day Morse Demonstration
e

Best Time for Listening to Shortwave Radio

Morse Training Net

e The Word War of 2026
e

Position Wanted

e There’s No Such Thing
e

Prosign of the Month

Di-dah-di-dah-dit - including this week’s smile-maker

e About the CQ QRS Group

Dah-di-dah-di-dah

Wasn't Tuesday’s propagation on the low bands interesting? Signals up, signals
gone, US stations thundering in on the 40m grey-line, thunderstorms causing havoc
in WA. It was all happening - and being enjoyed by at least 44 of our family.

Please

enjoy the reports below.

Searching RagChew Newsletters

This week in the background there’s been frantic effort by our RagChew indexing
team who are trying to find a practicable way for past issues of our RagChew
newsletter to be searched for that illusive article on left handed floggle-toggles |
remember reading some time back. Thanks to Nigel, G4RWI, Lance VK7TO and
Peter VK3WOW, progress is being made - and hopefully a solution will emerge. In
the mean time the team are learning lots and hopefully, having fun. Thanks gents.

Our newsletters are composed of both text and images of text - and the search
function built by the team for our our website requires Lance to manually save PDF
versions of the newsletters on a Google drive. We need something that just happens,
rather than relying on the the goodwill of our team. Finding something that doesn’t

cost real money is a challenge.
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Past Issues

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There’s No Such Thing (ie select Embedded Files when prompted) - you may be
lucky and find the issue number of the newsletter. From there you could go across to

the RagChew Newsletter page on the website, and scroll down to the RagChew
Archive, from where you can open the required back-issue. Alternatively, you could

try Peter VK3WOW’s prototype also described last week in Where Did | See It?.

But if they don’t come up Trumps (sorry), don’t give up - there’s one more option: you
might try doing a search in your own email application. If you try your email search
function, use likely labels, callsigns or other likely word... you may just have some
luck. Depending on your email application, you may be able to use Boolean syntax in

your search to find several words, or you might be able to enclose the text in inverted
commas (“search terms”) - it all depends on your email application. To find out, go to
Google and type in “How do | search for multiple words in email folders using ?”. The Al will tell you how your email system can be asked

to do what you’re after.

Venus & Mars in the Ham Shack
This week, I'd like to welcome Jordan VK3ACU who joins the editorial team as the

resident joker - Jordan is going to have a go at continuing the series of Venus & Mars
in the Ham Shack when he has time. So if you have any ideas for future Venus &

Mars in the Ham Shack cartoons for our readers’ amusement, please let us know via:
cqgrsnet@gmail.com

New Team Members

Welcome this week to Mark VK2KLJ who lives in the Blue Mountains at Lawson. I'd

also like to welcome our new visitor, Jay W6JY who Jordan VK3ACU pointed in our
direction. Jay was on the net on Tuesday operating from Shoalhaven South of
Wollongong and is at he end of his visit to Australia, operating on his now found
passion - CW.

Welcome to our happy family Mark and Jay.

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.
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So here we go - on behalf of the CQORS Editorial team, please enjoy the newsletter.

dit-dit

Mark Bosma
VK2KI / VK6QI

Patrick

Beautiful South Bowning

VK2Z2IOW

NSW

John
VK2RU

Milthorpe NSW

on a track somewhere

cqgrsnet@gmail.com
non impediti ratione cogitationis

Nigel

Richard

Lance

G4RWI

VK6HRC

VK7TO

our other grey nomad

Padbury WA

Margate TAS

Reports & Comments
Here’s this week’s reports.

Last Tuesday’s Group
With thanks to Nigel G4RWI’s clever software, and John VK2RU’s clever spreadsheet
work, here’s the 44 stations heard by 67 members of our team on Tuesday:

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DL3YZ

Worked 20m | VK3DRQ

DL3YZ

Heard 20m | VK3DBD

IU4FLS |MONNK

DL3YZ

Tried 20m

VK2KI

MONNK

Tried 20m

VK3DRQ | VK3MJ | ZL3TK

MONNK

Tried 20m

VK3DRQ | VK3MJ | VK3TK

VK/G4RWI | Worked 40m}

ZL3TK

JIZMED | VK3JFR

|VK3DBD] VK2ALC|

VK2TM | ZL3TK | VK2KI

VK/G4RWI | Heard 40m | VK/W6JY | VKSGG

VK/W6JY | Heard on air
VK2DI

Heard
on air| VK3ALC | VK3JLR | VK2RU

VK2GAS

Worked 40m | VK/W6JY

VK2KI

Heard 20m | VK3DRQ |

DL3YZ

VK2KI

Worked 40m | VK/G4RWI| VK/W6JY| VK4BRO

VK2KI

VK2KI

Heard 40m | VK3BWN | VK6HRC

VK2KI

Worked 80m | VK3ACU | VK6NW | VK6KD

VK2KI

Heard 80m

VK3KLE

VK7TO

VK2KI

Heard 160m | VK2WF

VK7TO

VK2RU

Worked 40m | VK2DLF

ZL3TK

VK2RU

Heard 40m | VK3BWN | VK3DRQ | VK2GAS]|

VK2WF

Heard on air

VK3ACU

Worked 40m |

VK3XU

VK3ACU

Worked 80m

VK2KI

VK3ALC

Heard on air

VK3BWN

Heard on air

VK3DBD

Heard on air

VK3DRQ_ | Worked 20m}
VK3DRQ

MONNK |

VK3JFR | VK2TM | VK6GX

Wo6JY

VK6IX | DL3YZ

Heard 20m | IKAWKU | VK3DBD | VK4DRK]|

VK3DRQ_ | Worked 40m|

VK3ALC}

VK6GX | VK7TA | VK6FN

IU4FLS | VK2UN

VK6MITF | ZL3ABX

VK3DRQ

Heard 40m | VK/W6JY | VK6MTF | VK3JFR | VK6GX

VK3JFR

Heard on air

VK3KLE

Worked 40m |

VK3FB

VK3KLE

Tried 40m

VK3TIT
VK/TO

VK3KLE

Worked 80m |

VK4BRO

Worked 40m | VK3BWN |

VK4DRK

Heard on air

VK4IM

Heard 40m | VK/W6JY |VK3BWN|VK6MTF|

VK2KI

VK3JFR |VK3DRQ} VK7MT | VKSET | VK7TA

VK4IM

VK40LB

Heard on air

VKSAO

Heard on air

VKSAV

Heard 40m |VK/G4RWI|

VKSET

Heard 20m

VKSET

VKSET

Heard 40m

VK6NW | VK2KI

DL3YZ
VK7TA

VKSKFG

Heard 40m | VK3KLE

VK6DSM

Heard on air

VK3FB | VK5AO | VK2KI |

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VKSII

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VK6HRC

Worked 40m | VK6MTF | VK6KHZ | VKONT

VK6HRC

VK6HRC

Worked 80m | VK6KHZ

VK6HRC

Heard 80m | VK6NW | VK6KD | VK2KI

VK6JDM

Worked 40m |

VK6JDM

VK6JDM

Tried 40m

VK6KD

Worked 80m | VK6NW

VK6KD

Heard 80m

VK6KD

Tried 80m

VK6KHZ

VK6KHZ

Worked 80m | VK6HRC

VK6MTF

Heard on air

VK6NQL

Heard on air

VK6ENT

Heard on air

VKENW

Worked 40m | VK6KHZ | VK6NQL|

VKENW

Heard 40m | VK2DLF | VK2RU

VKENW

Worked 80m |

VK6QI

Heard 20m | VK3DRQ |

VK6QI

Heard 40m |VK/G4RWI] VK3DBD | VK6KHZ|

VK6QI

VK6TX

Heard on air

VK6XC

Worked 40m | VK6JDM | VK6KHZ | VK7TA

VK6XC

VK7TA

Worked 40m | VK/W6JY | VK6GX | VK6XC | AA1K

VK6XC

VK6GX

VK2KI

| VK6HRC | VK3KLE | VK7TO
VK3KLE

VK6KD

VK7VV | VK2DI

VK2KI
DL3YZ

VK7TA

Heard 40m |VK/G4RWI|VK3BWN|VK3DBD

VK7TO

Worked 40m

VK5GG

VK7TO

Worked 80m |

VK3KLE

VK7TO

Worked 160m|

VK2WE

VK6FN | VK2KI
VK2KI

VK7WW

Heard 40m | VK/W6JY

VK7WW

VK7WW

Tried 40m | VK6JDM

ZL3ABX

Worked 40m | VK3DRQ | VK3MJ

ZL3ABX

Heard 40m |VK/G4RWI|

ZL3TK

Tried 15m

ZL3TK

Heard 20m | VK3DBD | VK3DRQ

ZL3TK

Tried 20m

ZL3TK

Worked 40m |VK/G4RWI| VK4GUE | VK2RU

ZL3TK

Heard 40m | VK/W6JY | VKT7TA | VK6NW | VK7VV

ZL3TK

Heard 40m | VK2DLF | VK3ACU | VK3ADC}

ZL3TK

Tried 40m

VK3ALC | VK7TA | VK2KI

DL3YZ

MONNK |

IU4FLS | DL3YZ

VK3ALC|VK3DBD]}

VK3JFR | VK5SET | VK6GX

VK6KD

Comments:

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7s

Translate v
rrSe

—t

in the team members’ reports follow. The comments were compiled for us by the

clever software built by Nigel GARWI and the layout was perfected by Patrick
VK2IOW.

Thanks again to Nigel, Patrick and John for the work, and to every team member who

submitted a report -

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[20m]
Road conditions were poor after some days of rain here, so

| did not go to the hut with the big antenna out in the
meadows. VOACAP told us to try later on the day for the 15
m band. But the SFU was only about 99,, so we didnt have

great DX condx for the shorter bands. The most reliable
band seems to be 20 m. But we keep experimenting.

Thanks to Manny for our QSO. 73 Mike

From Ross MONNK portable near Exeter UK

[20m]
It's been a dirty morning for radio here windy, 10° C, continuous rain. Fortunately |
got set up before the rain started, and found
shelter in one of these football dugouts...
20 watts into a quarter wave vertical with two
elevated radials in a V-shape facing southwest (the Long Path to VK). | heard ZL3TK,
VK3MJ, and VK3DRQ but couldn't manage any loggable QSOs.
This location (a rarely-used sports field out in the countryside) is a great location for
Portable DX because there’s no QRM - less than S1 on the G90’s signal strength

meter and minus 128dBm...

You might also notice that AGC is Off and the
headphone Volume is cranked all the way up,

pe anne :

oo <<

to catch those elusive DX signals. And the

ve 87 .830,08

band is unusually quiet for a Tuesday

eo wi

morning.
Sa

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ete ee usecase”

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Past Issues

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[40m]
Had my longest (as in | copied the most | ever had) QSO with

Mark tonight - thank you so much mate! Writing it down instead
of just trying to head copy definitely helped.

Ketut appreciate

the shorter QSO too mate - was just a little too much QSB
SOITy.

From John VK5ET at Hope Valley

[40m]
Very noisy, better luck listening on Ironstone range
SDR than home station. Signals were S5 then faded

out being just audible, Ironstone range SDR same after
10:00Z.

[40m]

It appeared 40m was open and working to
the east but 20m was dead. EU stations had
fallen off the edge of the planet.
[80m]
Lovely to catch up with Mark and David on

80m for a chat.

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[40m]
Earlier in the evening 6pm AEST lots of stations from the US

heard...

[40m]
Unfortunately 40m activity could not be heard from my QTH

this week. A test from WA to SA using the Ironstone SDR
proved the band was open when | called on 7020.5 (to avoid

none CW stations on 7020).
[80m]
High level of QSB was heard which resulted in me using the Ironstone SDR receiver

in SA to hear stations. 80m was open from Ballajura WA to VK5 so | gave it a go.
Mark VK2KI responded, also experiencing QSB. More and more regular splatters
and crashes were appearing on my waterfall display which encouraged me to check

the lightning report in Perth. Yep, just north of me crazy stuff in the air so | shut down
my station and disconnected the antennas due to lightning. 80m was well and truly

open to the SW of WA from Perth. Wayne (VK6NW) sounded like he was parked
next door. 73s

From Stephen Coote ZL3ABX at Nelson, New Zealand
[40m]

| unintentionally sabotaged my QSO with Manny,
VK3DRQ.

My power supply generates wandering

interference and it did this while | was listening to Manny,

so | switched off the power supply and continued listening
using the transceiver's internal battery.

But! forgot to

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power automatically reduces to 2.5 Watts.

I'd been using 9 Watts, and the drop in

power must have made me inaudible at Manny's end.

Sorry about that Manny.

Your RSN was 552. Also... thank you Mark, VK3MJ, for our QSO. Cheers.

From Donald VK6JDM at 20 km west of Esperance
[40m]
Had a quick QSO with Ben VK6XC. Mainly listening
while working on a circuit. The band was less

crowded but quiet and reasonable signals earlier
on SSB from all over VK. | have noticed a new
variant of the Bosma Effect; There are a lot more

slow morse stations popping up during the week

Paraset

since Mark gave us all the encouragement to
display our lack of skills on air. | shall call this the

type 2 Bosma Effect, the other one being the crowded conditions on 40 metres on
Tuesdays nights.

From Stan ZL3TK at Waitarere Beach
[15m]

Nothing heard on 15 m
[20m]
All three EU stations detectable but QNP, identified only
by frequencies specified on Mike's monitor webpage.
Fausto came the closest to success.

[40m]
Very asymmetric propagation between New Zealand and the east coast-to-central
Australia, in west-bound favour. All three QSOs had to be abandoned due to deep

and enduring QSB.

Three VK6s heard rather well without QSB, but my attempt to

answer VK6KD's CQ was overridden by a more local station.
[80m]

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makes me wonder if the band is no longer legal here.

One might well ponder the

criteria which could lead to authorities reallocating an amateur band to a different

service in light of obvious long-term lack of use by the incumbent? Privileges are
rarely valued until they're gone.

From Lance VK7TO at Hobart

| dropped down the band a

little and answered VK5GG

and enjoyed a QSO with Graeme. Not quite QRS, but
a lot of fun working him with his melodic bug.
[80m]
After getting no joy on 40 m, then calling on 80 m

still with no answers | kept going

down to 160 m, where | enjoyed a QSO with Adrian, VK2WF. He puts out a huge
signal on top band, but unfortunately my antenna isn't really designed to operate that
low. Despite each over starting with a SWR or 1:1, after a minute or so of
transmission it was pushing 1:3.

| guess there was a fair bit of heat being generated

in the QFHW transformer which was pulling it out of resonance.
| then moved back to 80 m, and again had no answers to my calls, so moved up the
band a bit where | found Paul, VK3KLE calling. We enjoyed a short QSO, but QRM

overran us in the end so we 73’d each other and | called it a night.

From lan VK7TA at Latrobe

[40m]
| must say that | am now confused by VK/callsigns and
callsigns/VK. Conditions favoured more distant stations,

with good signals from VK6, and even further away from
AA1K.

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Past Issues

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[40m]
Yet another QTH, this time a house sitting high in the hills

above Palm Beach. A steeply sloping property so ran the
EFHW from the deck, across the pool to the lawn. Not
sure the salt content of the pool made much difference,

but every little helps on 10 watts. | think it's the first time
my antenna has been below me!

Band seemed nicely

open with most sigs easy to copy, but Stan ZL3TK
managed to find a nice spot of QSB. Before we had really got going, he was gone.
Finished off working Japan, which was fun with a limited setup

From Paul VK3KLE at Stawell

[40m]
Poor conditions, very weak copy with QSB and high

QRM . VK3FB might try using a low current reviving
tube on his home brew TX, 6AU6.

| have even used a

6EJ7 Frame grid pentode with good success. Please

copy CCT from Johnson Viking II. It works with new
HC49 low current xtals which are meant for a FET
oscillator. Otherwise buy a real FT43 rock from USA.

QRP me has brand new wafers for FT 243 on his
website. | have bought lots . They are in the low end of band and need hand finishing
to frequency .
[80m]
| was using my Drake twins, did a recent realignment on the R4C . Station working
very well.

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[15m]
Nothing heard from Edi DOZEMR or Mike DL3YZ on

15m this week.
[20m]
| was having so much fun on 40m that | was again late
to the party on 20m.

| saw on Mike DL3YZ's status

page that Ross MONNK/P was calling, so | tuned up a bit down the band and landed

on his frequency; as | did, Ross posted on Mike's page that he was now QRT!

slipped down to Mike DL3YZ's frequency but | couldn't hear a peep from him. On the
Snowline KiwiSDR, Mike was RSN 521 and he and Manny VK3DRQ were coming-in

ok to the VK6SEG KiwiSDR near Northam.
[40m]
| was pleased to hook up with Jay VK2/W6JY who was visiting Shoal Haven - 150km
East of me on the Pacific coast. Welcome to the team Jay. After Jay, another
complicated call - this time VK/G4RWI at the Gold Coast called me at around 0800z.

Just as | was about to reply to Nigel, there was a knock at the door - my neighbour
returning my log splitter. Luckily | knew that Nigel would be monitoring WhatsApp, so
| was able to flash him a quick note that | would call later, and he was able to have a

chat to David VK3DBD at Yakandandah.

| stopped for a Lychee Cider with my

neighbour then picked up the QSO with Nigel. We were both coming through to WA.
| was dinner batching on Tuesday, so | was able to disconnect headphones and

listen to Ron VK6KHZ chatting to Richard VKGHRC while | was in the next room
having dinner - luxury. When | returned, Ketut VK3BWN was very weak, but Scotty
VK4BRO had a good solid signal; after their QSO | said g'day to Scotty. One

interesting secondary effect of our WhatsApp groups is that we get to know our QRS
family members - so | was surprised to see that | hadn't actually worked Scotty on air

before.
Through the evening, 40m opened up to all sorts of exotic DX locations. At one
stage there were US stations that may as well have been locals - they were so strong

on the grey-line. Several people noticed the challenge of digital VFOs - multiple CW
signals on exactly the same frequency and effective receiver AGCs can make copy
very difficult!
[80m]

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about every week when he and Pauline were travelling around Australia with their
caravan, but since his return, QSOs have become rare.

| blame his nice new IC-

7610, and keep suggesting that he send it to me! Anyway, David gave me RST 599
but my report to him was RSN 321. However later via WhatsApp, David told me that
he was listening on Paul VKSPH's Ironstone Range KiwiSDR - which explains things!

After David | was getting tired and spent a few minutes starting my weekly report
(which | use Apple Notes - which shares continuously with my phone - to compile).

was listening on the CQQRS net's 3555kHz calling frequency while typing, and |
heard "di-dit" - the distinct sound of someone knocking their paddle while moving
around their desk.

| responded with "?", and a QSO with Wayne VKE6NW followed;

as suspected, Wayne had knocked his paddle with a glass of red while settling down
at his desk.
| was well and truly ready for bed at around 1300z when | heard a huge signal from

Jordan VK3ACU - also up late on a work night. Jordan was RSN 591 - a very rare
signals strength on my old TS-120S which is way out of alignment.
[160m]

Lance VK7TO at Margate posted on WhatsApp that he was calling CQ on 160m. He
was RSN 531 into the Snowline KiwiSDR, and he hooked up with Adrian VK2WF up

the road at Tallong, whose nice low-band set up produced a very strong signal into
the SDR.

Also from your editor Mark VK6QI at Beautiful South Bowning NSW listening via the
Southern Electronics Group's KiwiSDR at Hoddys Well near Northam.
[20m]

Manny VK3DRQ and Mike DL3YZ were coming though to

the VK6SEG KiwiSDR at Hoddys Well when | listened.
[40m]

Joondalup)’

> Perth
|

> Rockingham

At around 1100z my signal was weak into the VK6SEG
KiwiSDR, and there was nothing from Scotty VK4BRO. Yet at 0810 signals from
here and VK4 were a lot stronger into WA.

weak, but by 1200z | was RSN 551.

Later at

1130Z my signal was again

Interesting to have such nice tools at your

disposal these days!

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Unlike 40m, 80m propagation across Australia is usually a bit more predictable.
From here at 1130z, my 50 Watts into my 106m long double-extended Zepp was SO

into VK6SEG near Northam. However, once the D-layer faded and the Absorption
Limiting Frequency dropped, | was S4-5 when | checked at 1200z.

From John VK2RU at Linville
[40m]

We moved camp back out to Linville on Tuesday, and
it was a bit of a rush to get the rig and antenna set up.
When | checked the SWR on both 20 m and 40 m on

the vertical antenna it was very high, which is a bit of
a problem given that my wires are all cut to the middle
of the CW end on the bands. | tried changing a few
things with no success, so | gave up on using the IC
7300 and pulled out the 40 m QCX+ and amp that |

built a year or so ago but have never used on air.
| answered VK2DLF, and George gave me an RST 5/79 into Sydney, which | thought
was pretty good considering the power | was running. It also confirmed that the

previous SWR problem with the IC 7300 was most likely in the radio, not the
antenna.

After finishing with George, | heard Stan — ZL3TK calling me which came as a bit of a

surprise. The signals were low — Stan gave me RSN 512, | sent RSN 322 wid QSB
back. Unfortunately, we only had one more over before | lost Stan completely.

| then heard VK6GX calling me but the signal was even lower than Stan’s was and a

QSO would have been very difficult, so | didn’t answer.
It was good to be on the air with the QCX+ . Nothing fancy, no waterfall, just spin the

dial and see what you can find.
And it was made better because | was using a new, old key that | recently obtained.
It’s a Hi-Mound HK-707 (see photo). Instead of having small rubber feet, there is a

continuous rubber strip around the circumference of the base. This, along with the
500 g weight, and the base that extends out underneath the knob, makes for a very
stable key and a pleasure to use in my very cosy quarters.

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From Richard VK6HRC.
Eight on the VK6RLM rptr and AllStar/Echolink hub this morning.
VK6NW

Wayne

VK6KD

David

VK6QI

Mark

ZL3TK

~=Stan

VK6FN

Max

VK6BQQ Reg
VK6HRC
VK6MRBB Mulligan swl and others.
Wayne worked six on 40m and two on 80m also made use of Kiwi sdr nodes to

listen out for our Northern Hemisphere friends. He also let us know that he might

be active at various times this week when time allows.
David worked two on 80m, listened out on the Ironstone range Kiwi sdr until the

approaching electrical storm made it advisable to disconnect and go QRT.
Mark heard Mike DL2YZ and Manny VK3DRQ on 20m, set up to try and work
Ross MONNK unfortunately Ross had gone QRT. Worked five on 40m and three

on 80m heard two on 160m. We had two VK/ stations on VK/W6JY Jay and
VK/G4RWI Nigel.

Stan was able to get his antenna back up in the air as the threat of the cyclone
had passed by. Conditons not great, QSB causing problems on 40m. Now that
there is some activity on 160m he is interested to see how the new antenna

performs there.
Max still busy on the farm had time for a contact with Ron VK6KHZ on 40m and

then went into listening mode until meal time.
Reg let us know that the storm was still active in Jandakot with rain and hail

pelting down !
Only a mix of thunder and lightning, 3mm rain in Padbury this morning. Managed
to catch up with Morgan VK6MTF on 40m, now in Esperance prepping his boat
for the crossing to VK7. Was lucky enough to catch up with Lin VK6NT on 40m
for a rag chew alsow worked Ron VK6KHZ on 40m and 80m.

Thank you to all on last night and this morning 73 Richard.

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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 lWWCQQRSNET

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:
cagrsnet@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.

Hey, Eye Candy!
Writing a RagChew Article with a Free Artificial
Intelligence Tool
by Ross MONNK

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From Ross MONNK

As promised last week, this is my first attempt to use the free Google Gemini Al to

knock a RagChew article into shape. Let’s see how it goes...
Ross:
Good morning, Gemini. I’m an Amateur Radio operator, particularly keen on CW and
Morse code. | want to write an article for a newsletter read by a couple of hundred or

so other hobby radio operators but I’m not good at expressing myself. If | give you
the subject and some of my brainstormed ideas, could you draft an article for me? |
think an informal (but not patronising) style in the first person would be appropriate,
and the length should be about 300 or 400 words. It should use gender-neutral and
ethnically-sensitive terms. Please don’t just list my ideas - | want to entertain my

readers rather than bore them to death. Can you do that for me?

Gemini:
Good morning! | can absolutely help you draft that article. Turning brainstormed
notes into an engaging, entertaining piece for your newsletter is exactly what I'm here
for.
| will make sure to write it in an informal, conversational first-person style that

resonates with your fellow Amateur Radio and CW enthusiasts without sounding

patronizing. I'll also strictly follow your guidelines to keep it right in that sweet spot of
300 to 400 words, use inclusive and mindful language, and weave your thoughts into
a cohesive story rather than just reeling off a dry list.
Whenever you are ready, what is the subject of your article, and what are the

brainstormed ideas you'd like me to work with?
Ross:

Great. The subject is “Why | love my Xiegu G90 radio”, but it would be good to have
a better title than that. The ideas I’ve had are: it looks good; | operate solely portable
so it’s about as heavy and as bulky as I’d want to go; the head unit is detachable
which means the heavy and bulky part of the radio can go on the ground and the
head unit on my lap; it has a small screen but | wear reading glasses so that’s okay;
the screen has a spectrum and waterfall display and just the right amount of other

information; it has a nice big tuning knob and a smaller volume knob; it has an SWR

scanner that’s useful because setting up portable can bring problems with antennas;

it has a great tuner - there’s a YouTube video showing a guy using all sorts of metal
things as antennas, including a shopping cart; it covers a lot of bands; it has more

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that a 5000 mAh battery lasts for two hours easily, that there have been several

firmware updates, and it also does SSB although I’ve never plugged in the hand mic.

HF TRANSCEIVER
—_ 11.6

v2 57> apt :
Po1—
8 —

Gemini:
CW, Reading Glasses, and a Shopping Cart: Taking the Xiegu G90 Portable
As an operator who sets up exclusively out in the field, | have a confession to make: |

am hopelessly attached to my Xiegu G90. Let’s be honest, it is a fantastic-looking
piece of gear. For a purely portable setup, it sits right at the upper limit of the weight
and bulk I’m willing to haul into the wild. Yet, it earns every single ounce of its place in

my pack.

One of the greatest design triumphs of this radio is the detachable head unit. When
I’m settled in a comfortable spot, the heavy, bulky main body can rest down on the
ground while the control head sits perfectly on my lap. It is an ergonomic dream,

anchored by a wonderfully sized, smooth tuning knob and a sensibly placed smaller
volume control. Now, the screen is undeniably small. But armed with my trusty

reading glasses, it is absolutely fine. It gives me a brilliant, vibrant spectrum and
waterfall display, delivering exactly the right amount of information without ever
feeling cluttered.
When you are setting up portable, antennas can be notoriously temperamental. This

is where the G90 truly shines. The built-in SWR scanner is an absolute lifesaver for
troubleshooting wire issues on the fly. And then there is the tuner. The internal

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Online of a ham tuning up an actual metal shopping cart! It covers a wide array of

bands and will seemingly load up almost any random piece of metal you throw at it.
Having a bit more power than a traditional QRP rig makes a noticeable difference
when chasing DX through the noise. Despite that extra punch, it is surprisingly

time. Plus, the manufacturer has kept the radio fresh with several useful firmware
updates over time.

Technically, the G90 does SSB too. | know this in theory, though my hand mic has
never actually seen the light of day. For me, it is all about the CW. If you are looking
for a capable, forgiving, and thoroughly enjoyable portable companion, this radio is
incredibly tough to beat.
Ross:
Thank you. That’s perfect.

Gemini:
You’re very welcome! I’m glad it hit the right notes. It sounds like you’ve found the

"Goldilocks" rig for your portable CW adventures—just enough power to reach those
DX stations, but flexible enough to work with a shopping cart in a pinch.

| hope the newsletter readers enjoy the piece. Good luck with the article and your
next portable activation!

Well, I’m certainly impressed. What do you think? Worth a try?

Points of Order

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From stan ZLSIK

In Parliamentary debating chamber terms when things goa little wrong, a ‘Point of

Order’ is called usually by a member of the ‘offended side’. This triggers the
Speaker’s duty to halt debate and facilitate the hearing of any complaint with the goal
to find a resolution, not infrequently by demanding the issuance of an apology from
the offender.

Getting back to AR QSO reporting, in this context ‘Points of Order’ have a different
meaning.

What is the purpose of the ‘Points of Order’ shown in image 1, when the

listed data does not follow the numbering protocol?

Here’s what | mean, using the

report worksheet header row:

CQQRS Team

Member

Qsol

creel

Readers are given the impression by these eight column titles QSOs are reported in
chronological order, the responsibility lying with the reporting operator to correctly fill

in the Google QSO report form. Why else would the columns be numbered
consecutively?
I’m now raising a ‘Point of Order’ in this ‘AR Parliament’, because evidence has been

around for quite some time that the expected reporting protocol is not, and indeed in
a lot of cases simply cannot be followed.

What happens to the carefully planned sequence of chronologically-listed QSOs in

those eight columns when more than eight QSOs have been reported?

It can easily

be seen that this method of reporting, if they exist, forces QSO 9 through QSO 16 to

occupy the same time frames as QSO 1 through QSO8 respectively.
But there are further detrimental effects evident in the collation. The first is manifest

by obvious inconsistency caused by collators departing entirely from the expected
sequence of QSOs.

The worksheet listings often do not mimic the operator’s report,

except perhaps when the report is very short.

Here is a perfect example, using an excerpt from my report for 07 April 26.

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Qso1

Qso 2

Qso3 | QSO4 | QSO5 | QSO6 | QSO7 | QSOs

ZL3TK

Heard 40m | VK4DRK | VKSAO | VK6NC | VK7TO

ZL3TK

Heard 40m |VK3WOW|

Under the category 'Heard 40m' (sic), on line 1 QSOs 1 ~ 4 are listed. There are no QSOs 5 ~ 8.
Then on Line 2 we have QSOs 1~ 4 listed again but with different call signs, followed by QSOs 5 ~ 8.
When presented using that column labeling protocol, how does the report make sense?

Asecond aspect to this flaw is more problematic if operators have actually gone to

the trouble of reporting their QSOs in strict chronological order, the reported order is
not being preserved in the QSO reporting worksheet.

How do! know?

Because since my first report years ago, | have consistently gone

against the tide by ignoring supposed chronology and have always listed call signs

on the Google report form in strict alphanumeric order.

Last week, my call signs

were again written into the Google form in this logical alphanumeric order:

ZL2DLF

VK2GR VK2IR VK3DRQ VK3ECH VK3JFR VK3KLE VK3WOW VK4DRK
VK5AO VK6NC VK7TO.

It cannot be claimed that collators have modified the call

sign sequence in order to fit any chronological order, because they have no way of
knowing what that order might be.

Observe the two lines in image 2 above. When considered alphanumerically, the first
four call signs are in fact the last four call signs | reported, while the following eight

have been shuffled like a pack of cards, with the first QSO coming in 7th place and
the second in 12th place (if we ignore the missing four places). Is it fair to say a
casino croupier couldn’t have done a better job?

Am| right in thinking that transferring data from Google forms to the worksheet is not
automated but is carried out manually?

Don’t get me wrong, regardless of obvious

non-adherence to implied column-numbering protocol, the report is still a grand
piece of work.

Maybe I’m a loner, but how many others would like to know what

actually goes on in the reporting team’s engine room?

How about an article from the

collators giving an insight into how the collation process is carried out and why the

call sign sequence is being randomised. Would it make interesting reading?

| think

it would.

Gratefully yours and 73 de Stan ZL3TK

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; for guidance on writing for
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—!-i—

—

On My Workbench
a Quick 160m Delta Loop
From Jordan VK3ACU

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lash up but if it works well I'll make it more permanent.

We just had a quick QSO with VK7 with 1 of voice 57
Pas

report 59+ on 5w but the day light and rain has beat

us.

| do have one more of

those little towers. My
plan is to configure it in

different ways. Maybe
turn it into a square at some stage... or a rhombic.

However, in an

afternoon this was the

quickest easiest thing
we could get up. It still
took some work and we had to put some bore water in

the IBCs.

Once we have found the magic antenna I'll make it a
little more permanent.

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last night before the rain started.
Planning on using the home-brew

balanced-L match the MFJ thing
was just for a super quick test.

The noise floor on the loop is non

existent.

Click to view a short video ->

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might be of interest to our readers, please let Mark VK2KI Know; email to
cggrsnet@gmail.com
For guidance on writing for RagChew, see Articles below.

QRZ?
Who’s calling me? Who’s on the other end?

Fausto IU4FLS from Bologna

Hi Mark, thank you for your very encouraging letter

and congratulations for your activity in keeping CW

alive.

I'm 77, and got my ham licence 10 yrs ago; but only 3

years ago | approached CW with other 5 friends selfteaching ourselves using LCWO.net .

My CWis

still very basic . | type slow trying to be correct sticking to a standard form:

call sign, rst, qth, name and little more. | loose myself with long QSOs.

Despite my limits, hope to be a useful member of the team. Thank you for adding me
to the CQQRS WhatsApp groups.

Just a few questions :
- ls there any difference between _ http://sdr.ironstonerange.com:8074/ and
http://sdr.ironstonerange.com:8073/?user=%20CQOORS%20Net ?
- On the Ironstone Range SDR there is a window with CQQRS NET, shall | leave it as

it is our have | to enter/add my call sign ?
- | Saw members' comments, how do | load them ?
- Are QSOs acknowledged on QOrz.com ?

Thank you for understanding, all the best.
VY 73
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[Hi Fausto and thank you for your comments, and in particular for telling us where you
are on the CW journey. Not very long ago | was at about the same stage (having
vowed to never use CW after passing my original CW test in 1973); nowI enjoy rag
chews - being able to standing back and let the slow CW wash over Is wonderful. So
of course, you will be a very useful member of the team - many many of our operators
are in the same position as you.... and | hope you will encourage more amateur
operators in Europe to join the fun with us as well.

On your questions about the IronStone Range KiwiSDR, I’ve copied them down to the
There’s No Such Thing section toward the bottom of this newsletter. Dit-dit]

QRZ? Who’s on the other end?

From your editor Mark VK2KI / VK6QI

Our net is afun get-together that people enjoy returning to each week. It’s really nice
to know who’s on the other end of the QSO. So, please share some thoughts about

yourself to cagrsnet@gmail.com for a future RagChew.

CW Practice
From John VK2RU

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 wpm and run for about 15 minutes. If 15 wom is a bit quick for you,

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>

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 has been removed.

This week’s fable is ‘The Bat and the Weasels’, and the MP3 and TXT files are
attached here -

If you prefer a different soeed or tone you can create your own MP3 files by
converting the text file with the Ebook2CW app —

httos://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cw.html.

You can either play the MP3 files in any media player, or load the text file into the
Ditto CW: 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, 1.5x, 1.75x).

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Utner NEWS
Other things we’ve received from our 250-plus readers.

ANZAC Day Morse Demonstration
From Jens VK4PE at West End

| will give a Morse code demonstration on ANZAC day in the Army Museum.

The Townsville Radio club is supporting AM and CW stations. There are less and less

ANZAC stations on the air because the people are getting old.

| built a little CB station but | don't know if somebody is listening, there are special
channels monitored in Townsville.

| will give a Morse code demonstration on
ANZAC day in the Army Museum.

The Townsville Radio club is supporting AM

and CW stations. There are less and less
ANZAC stations on the air because the people

are getting old.

| built a little CB station but | don't know if somebody is listening, there are special
channels monitored in Townsville.

If you like | can send a few pictures to you.
73 Jens VK4PE

When is the Best Time to Listen to Shortwave Radio?
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Click on the image below for Garry’s article on Grey-Line propagation.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO LISTEN TO
SHORTWAVE RADIO?
AMATEUR CLUBS, HAMRADIO, HELP, HOW TO

®
4

- WHEN IS THE BEST TIME —

~*~ TO LIST
TO
EN SHORTWAVE RAL
~

740

years—you

may

have

noticed

that

reception

quality

can

change

dramatically

depending on the time of day.
While it’s true that shortwave signals can be received both day and night, there's a

Morse Training Net

Our team member Nic VK7WW runs an on-air Slow Morse training net every

Wednesday at 7pm EDST on 3580 for 30 mins. He uses the callsign of the Northern
Tasmania Amateur Radio Club VK7TAZ on that net.

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Past Issues

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 Eastern time every Wednesday;

SLOW MORSE CODE COURSE

Learn Morse Code - Slow Morse

you'll hear lots of the CQQRS team on that net.

Course
¢3

by Jordan Vk3ACU

Jordan VK3ACU has ralso ecorded the complete set

D Play all

€

of lessons which you can now find here:

Contact Nic VK7WW for more info nicholaschantler@hotmail.com including how to
join the NTARC DISCORD group to follow the action, or just come along and join in

on Wednesdays.

WwW

Home ClublInformation Courses The Radio Bulletin YouTube Groups
k

Links

MemberLogin

Tait

y : ~> ¥ \"

Mii

Monthly Meeting - Things that go ‘Bang’ - Mike
VK3MDP

THE RADIO BULLETIN

Updating Articles

USB Rig

10th April Friday - Doors Open 7:00pm - Meeting Start 8:00pm - Club Rooms

14/10/2025 - 3:01 PM

Burwood & Zoom
Mike VK3MDP has over 40 years in Research and Development in the commercial

programming cables

(mining) explosives industry. He worked for ICI and Orica in South Africa, UK and

and Windows 11

Australia.
Mike will explain how explosives work and their importance to the Australian

21/04/2024 - 7:57 PM

Subaru Coax Install

Portable Power

economy. There will be videos of things being blown up!

EMDRC - Standard & Advance Course

15/04/2024 - 8:04 PM

10/11/2023 - 10:56
AM

Starts - Saturday 2nd May 1:00pm on Zoom
The annual Standard & Advance Licence Course is scheduled to start on Saturday
2nd May 2026 at 1:00pm on Zoom,

if you would like more information or are interested in attending the Standard &

EMDRC - IMPORTANT

DATES

Advance Course Link

MEMBERSHIP

EMDRC Talking FM Deviation Monitor

APPLICATION FORM -

A new 2-metre on-air information service has been implemented by the EMDRC

JOIN NOW

The Talking FM Deviation Monitor is an automatic, voice-announcing information

service permanently installed by the Eastern and Mountain District Radio Club, for

use by all Melbourne radio amateurs. It continuously monitors the 2-metre
frequency of 145.2SOMHz and measures the FM deviation of every transmission it

receives, then announces the result back in plain speech, immediately after you

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CLUB’S INTERNET
SPONSER
ZKermnWi-Fi

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The Word War of 2026
From Nigel G4RWI and Lady Josephine

It started with a simple grid, five boxes in a row, "Wordle on our phone is our morning
ritual!" our friends declared, "You've really got to give it a go!". We thought it was a
harmless gift, just a way to pass the time over breakfast.

But now our mornings vanish in a rhythmic, guessing crime.

At 7 AM sharp, the pings begin to fly, "Got it in three!" they boast to us, with a digital
wink and sigh. The breakfast toast goes cold and hard, the coffee starts to steam,
While we’re debating ‘A’ or 'E' to save our winning streak’s dream.

The competition turned quite fierce, a daily verbal duel, Where missing out on "knoll"
or "glyph" makes us feel like the fool.

So, in a fit of vengeance sweet, we found a brand new trap, To pull them from their
green-and-gold and put them on the map.

"Try Parsewords on your phone!" we suggested, with a grin both wide and sly, Where
cryptic clues and hidden puns make grown-up solvers cry. "An 'Anag.’ here, a
‘Container’ there," we whispered with delight, Now they're the ones stuck staring at

their screens well through the night.

So here we sit in stalemate now, two couples lost in thought, trapped within the wordy
webs that we ourselves have wrought. They're hunting for a "Hidden Word," we’re
stuck on "Yellow Square,” with nothing but a lexicon and a sense of shared despair!

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lp Parsewords?!

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Meaning: End of Contact

[Put it on a sticky note near your key as a reminder for Tuesday....
and tell us how you went!]

Di-dah-di-dah-dit
Here we go.

So back to the CQORS Slow CW QSO practice net.

Next Tuesday’s Net
Our CQQRS Group will be on as always on Tuesday from around 0600z until about
1200z; see hiips://bit.ly/COORSWebsite and navigate to the Net Details page for

details.

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CQQRS RagChew Newsletter 16/2026.

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Past Issues

Coordinated Universal Time

a
(Note - 20m DXperiments will start at a different time if required)

Australia

0600z to 1200z

Western Australia Time

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 0100

New Zealand

0600z to 0900z

20m

14039-14051kHz

Note - 20m times and frequencies will be allocated by Mike DL3YZ prior to the net.

sah gee aaa

40m
0600z to 1200z

3535kHz - 3560kHz

160m

1855kHz (-5kHz for QRM)

7000

7020

40m

ORO

3500

80 m =
160 m

Sle __ COORSNet

3560

Sle CO ORS Net =

Thanks to Lance VK7TO

—&

3535

ORO
l

7040

for the CQQRS band-pian

@
Wednesday (VK/ZL)

Post Morsum
Callback

2200z - 2300z
(Tuesday UTC)

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.

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—

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7

Reports & Photos
Please let us know via our Reports form bit.ly/CQORSNET who you work or hear on
Tuesday’s Group. The report form closes at 1pm (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: cqgrsnet@gmail.com

And of course, we’re 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. Email to cggrsnet@gmail.com please.

Oh and by the way, | recommend that you don’t keep the Reports Form website open
between submission of reports from one week to the next. If you’re unlucky, there’s
an undocumented 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 hitps://bit.ly/COORSWebsite and navigate to the Net Details
page for details of how you can connect via Echolink from anywhere in the world.

Articles

Could you write a short article or articles for RagChew? You bet! Writing not your
strong point? Don’t worry, I’m very happy to help as much or as little as needed.

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 ‘Creative Commons’ or
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CQQRS RagChew Newsletter 16/2026.

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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 how you might
even try using one of the new Artificial Intelligence tools), head to our website

bit.ly/COORSWebsite then click the menu on the top right and then click RagChew
Newsletter.

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.

Thank you so much to our team of 30 contributors: DL3YZ,
IU4FLS, MONNK, G4RWI, VK2DLF, VK2DLF, VK2GAS,
VK2RU, VK3YBX, VK3ACU, VK3DRQ, VK3KLE, VK4BRO,
VK4IM, VK4PE, VK5AV, VK5ET, VK5KFG, VK6HRC,
VK6JDM, VK6KD, VK6KHZ, VKENW, VK6QI, VK6XC, VK7TA,

VK7TO, VK7WW, ZL3ABX and ZL3TK. And a special thank

you to our editorial

team, Nigel G4RWI (software development and Wordle Department), Patrick VK2IOW
(reports coordinator), Jonn VK2RU (spreadsheet pilot), Richard VKGHRC (Post
Morsition), Lance VK7TO (archiving bit wrangler), Peter VKSWOW (Mister /t’s just a

simple search) and Jordan VK3ACU (head gagster). Great work all!

CU CW on Tuesday,

mb
Mark Bosma
VK2KI / VK6QI

Beautiful South Bowning NSW

cgqgrsnet@gmail.com
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CQQRS RagChew Newsletter 16/2026.

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Venus é Mars
— Ham Shack Edition ——

/ Are you comin

= i

to bed soon?

.-» CQ CQ de VK...
weak signal...

Yeah... just finishing pe
something.

I've been calling you

5 by divorced

for ten minutes!

2-4

Ate
’

-¥

if you keep
this up... |

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ADOUT the CY URS NET
Here’s where you'll find the details.

For the current schedule and more information about the CQQRS net, please go the
the Net Details page on our website:

https://bit.ly/COQRSWebsite

The opinions expressed in the RagChew newsletter are those of the individual contributors.

The opinions do not necessarily reflect that of the editors 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.
The RagChew newsletter is considered to be exempt from the Australian Government’s ban on social media for
under 16 year olds because it is a service that has the primary purpose of enabling users to share information
about products or services, engage in professional networking or professional development services or of
supporting the education of users per the Australian Government eSafety Commissioner FAQ webpage “Which
platforms have been excluded from the age restrictions” dated 10Dec25.

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CQQRS RagChew Newsletter 16/2026.

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Our mailing address is:

Want to change how you receive these emails?

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