CQQRS - Useful Resources and Links

CQQRS Newsletter

We put out a free newsletter after each of our weekly CQQRS slow CW practice QSO nets, to summarise what our team got up to. The newsletter also contains notifications and articles of interest to the slow CW community. See RagChew Newsletter for more information, including drafting guidelines.

CQQRS Report Form

Here's the link to the CQQRS net report form. Please send me a report for the RagChew newsletter after each week's net - even if for some reason you didn't hear anything, please let me know that you were there. bit.ly/CQQRSNET

Weekly Schedule

Here's the weekly schedule for the CQQRS net: Weekly Net Schedule

RagChew Articles

If you'd like to submit an article or ten for our free weekly RagChew newsletter, please see the RagChew Newsletter section of this website. Email articles to Mark Bosma VK2KI / VK6QI at cqqrsnet@gmail.com .

Magazine Articles

Links to magazine articles will be added when they have been published.

For Very Beginners - A Visual CW Chart

From Nic VK7WW:

For those who may want to try their hand at receiving (and decoding) a message in CW. I’m contemplating running an introduction to Morse code using the following chart, on-air on the QRS nights, perhaps at the top end of our fx range? I’ll have to find the reference - it came out of AR magazine in the 1980s.

How to use the chart

Simply place your finger on the START box.
Let’s say Di-Dah is received
Slide your finger up to the Dit, then across to the right till you find the Di-Dah
Yes! Congratulations! You’ve just decided the letter ‘A’ ! …and you haven’t even learnt the code!

Of course this CW will need to be sent very slowly.

I think this may open a doorway for those ops who are curious about CW.

Just an idea. Any thoughts from readers? cqqrsnet@gmail.com

73 Nic

VK7WW

NTARC On-Air Morse Training Net

Our team member Nic VK7WW runs an excellent Slow Morse training net every Wednesday at 7pm EDST on 3580 for 30 mins. He uses the callsign of the Northern Tasmania Amateur Radio Club VK7TAZ on that net.

Many of our team learned Morse code with the support of Nic, and the weekly training session comes highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn the Code, or simply brush up.

Everyone’s welcome - 3580kHz at 7pm Eastern time every Wednesday; you’ll hear lots of the CQQRS team on that net. The

NTARC also feeds the CW live via the Discord phone / computer audio stream, and Jordan VK3ACU transmits the sessions live via YouTube. The complete sessions are now available at any time afterwards via Jordan's YouTube channel - click on the icon to the left.

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

CW Tips

See the Net Details section of this website for a link to some operating tips for CW.

SKCC Oceania Slow CW Saunter

The SKCC Oceania QRS Saunter will takes place on the third Saturday of each month from 00:00 UTC until 11:59 UTC - a 12 hour event. The saunter is not a contest - it's simply an opportunity to encourage amateurs to have a go at QRS.

And, it's not just for SKCC members - all are welcome to join in.

All the details for the Oceania QRS Saunter (OQS) can be viewed on the SKCC website at:

https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/oqs/

Please make use of the SKCC Sked Page https://sked.skccgroup.com/

and the CW Club RBN Spotter https://rbn.telegraphy.de/

The manager for the monthly event is Garry VK2GAZ/VK2ZP SKCC #5460C, another of our CQQRS team.

VBand - Virtual CW Band

The VBand project was created by two friends who wanted to (re)learn CW, but didn't regularly have great propagation between them to practice, and were a bit embarrassed to get on the air at their current skill level. While it allows code to be sent with a keyboard as either a paddle or straight key, it really shines using USB paddle interface.

The goal was to make a fun way to practice sending and receiving CW with a buddy, without worrying about a radio, an antenna, a license, good propagation, or RF noise. For more information, click here

VKQRP Club

The VKQRP Club is also known as the CW Operators' QRP Club.

Do you enjoy QRP, Homebrewing or CW ?

The VK QRP Club exists for those who enjoy low power amateur radio. It has grown strongly since startup in 1983 and we now have nearly 300 enthusiast members worldwide. Membership will be of benefit if you are interested in QRP using any of the modes (not just CW) or homebrewing.

Lo-Key Magazine

Members receive four issues of our journal Lo-Key each year. This is a major link between members and contains a range of articles on simple theory, operating and homebrewing projects, most aimed at people interested in building (and operating) homebrew gear.

Contests

We encourage members to participate in and enjoy the range of on-air contests available worldwide and to prove that QRP works well with your homebrew rig or wound-down commercially built radio.

Have a look at the Contests page to see what's coming up next.

Awards

Obtaining the new MPK Award (Milliwatts Per Kilometre) is a great achievement. You may already be able to claim it and join a small but growing group. Consult the Awards page for full details.

On Air Activity

The club encourages members to be active and to meet on air. Check out the Nets and Frequencies page for details on where to find members to contact.

Join

Annual membership is very modestly priced and includes access to all member services. Learn how to join at the Membership page.

VKCW.net

The VKCW.net website has a bunch of information about CW Nets (including the VKCW Net's weekly 40m and 20m skeds popular with a number of our team members) the CW Calling Frequency, CW Bash and Emergency Communications as well as Message Handling, QRS slow speed activities, help for beginners and returnees and more. The VKCW.net URM doesn't seem to work, but you can access the site via this link

VK Slow CW Facebook Page

Georg VK2DLF runs the VK Slow CW Facebook page here

You'll find all sorts of information of interest to fellow QRS fans - lots of nice images too. Thanks to Georg for supporting the CQQRS net and also for posting our net's schedule on Facebook each week.

NZCW Net

The NZCW net operates on 80m every night of the year. The net's aims are to:

encourage CW operation
provide training and experience in CW net operation
provide training and experience in CW message handling

Information on frequencies and times can be found here: https://zl1.nz/about-amateur-radio/new-zealand-nets/nz-net/

CWops

CWops brings together Amateur Radio operators who enjoy communicating by Morse Code. CWops encourages the use of CW in amateur communications, and it supports CW activity through planned events. CWops promotes goodwill among Amateurs throughout the world, and it fosters the education of young people and others in matters related to Amateur Radio. We also offer free CW training to those who

want to learn this special skill that reaches back to the very beginning of ham radio and remains vital today.

To promote and encourage CW in our part of the world, Chris VK3QB runs a monthly Zoom session to discuss all things Morse Code.

The plan is to have guest speakers covering all manner of topics from:

the basics of a QSO
contesting - the pros and cons and why?
chasing DX
improving code
using bugs
using apps
Head copy

Perhaps just as important, is a forum for building a sense of community, putting faces to callsigns and hopefully an environment where people can obtain support to help them overcome whatever hurdles face them in their pursuits to be active on-air.

So the events will be on the 3rd Monday of month at 0830Z with Zoom details here

FISTS Down Under

FISTS Down Under (FDU) is the VK & ZL Chapter of the International Morse Preservation Society.
The group has three simple goals:

further the use of CW
engender friendship among members
encourage newcomers to use CW

The group's website is https://www.fdu.org.au

FDU is running the Friday night Summer QSO Party until March 28th 2025; see https://www.fdu.org.au/events/ for more details.

Reverse Beacon Network

FDU has offered grants to VK & ZL clubs to establish more Australasian stations in the HF Reverse Beacon Network; see https://www.fdu.org.au/reverse-beacon-network/

The RBN network is a web-based propagation tool which can be accessed here: www.reversebeacon.net

VK5 CW, QRP and Portable Amateur Radio group

The VK5 CW group is special interest group for CW, QRP homebrew and portable Amateur Radio operation in South Australia. The website is here: https://groups.io/g/vk5-cw

The group used to have a regular news email, a weekly net on 80m on Wednesday evenings and regular social get-togethers. I haven't seen any information on the group for a while - anyone know if it's still running? Please let me know by email to cqqrsnet@gmail.com

SOTA in the VK1 (Canberra) area

SOTAvk1area is a discussion forum primarily for radio amateurs interested in Summits On The Air (SOTA) who live in or near the VK1 area. Membership is not limited to that area. Topics discussed are SOTA-related site information (including recent road closures etc), social events, group purchases, activation days, technical questions and more. The group's website is here: https://groups.io/g/SOTAvk1area

BOM Space Weather Service Ionospheric Prediction Service

The Australian Bureau of Meterorology's free ionospheric prediction service can be accessed via the website here: https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/HF_Systems/7/1 The HF prediction system is aimed at Australian aviation and terrestrial spectrum users, but can be used for world-wide HF prediction (short-path only though).

VOACAP - Ionospheric Prediction Service

The Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program is a free service that allows graphical world-wide HF prediction, that can be easily tailored for specific situations. Long path and short path prediction is available, and the capabilities of the stations at each end can be specified (eg antennas, transmit power, etc). The graphical predictions in the Ham Radio version of the software (here: https://www.voacap.com/hf/ ) provide simple liklihood predictions for each of the HF bands across the 24 hours. Other information such as grey-line data, space weather, etc is also available. For more information, click here: https://www.voacap.com

Making Sense of Solar Indices

VK3FG's website with explanations of what the Solar Indices mean.

https://3fs.net.au/making-sense-of-solar-indices/?srsltid=AfmBOor8yJHjrLZAI578Rvjw_rGxIT3D2sitpRduYgaI6MhlRRCxwhPv

Thanks to Jordan VK3ACU for the link.

BALUN and UNUN Designs

Peter VK6YSF has an outstanding website that includes a huge amount of technical reference material that he's accumulated. For example, on this page https://vk6ysf.com/balun_choke_balun_hf_reisert.html Peter has discussed the design of an HF choking UNUN - but if you scroll down to the bottom of the page - you'll find links to design of a myriad of other BALUNs and UNUNs!

Noise Cancellers

Switch mode power supplies have become the bane of most amateur operation on the lower HF bands. The best solution is to track down the noise sources (phone chargers, and solar inverters, airconditioners, hot water controllers and just about every domestic electronic device may be among the sources of noise at your place) and install various filters, shielding etc. The Radio Amateur Society of Australia has lots of good information, kits etc available on the QRM Guru site https://qrm.guru/.

However, if all else fails... or you haven't been able to make the time to deal with the noise... there's another solution. Enter the phasing-type noise canceller - a little box in your antenna feedline that feeds in an anti-phase noise signal and allows cancellation of the offending noise. With care, an S9+ noise level on 80m or 40m can be reduced to S0. It's not perfect, but for under $100, you can buy one of the VK5TM Noise Canceller kits, or even a pre-built Chinese copy.

For more information, see the RagChew newsletter 41/2024 here https://mailchi.mp/f431ceee06bc/cq-qrs-ragchew-reminder-for-next-tuesdays-group-10332490?e=282909cbd8 and scroll down to This Week's Topic of Interest - Noise Cancellers for the details.

No5nn.org

If you believe in quality over quantity, the NO5NN.org website is a refreshing corner of the hobby.

NO5NN.org is the online home of the QTT (Quality True Telegraphist) movement. It's a community-driven initiative that encourages thoughtful, meaningful CW QSOs—moving beyond the rapid-fire "5NN TU" exchanges. Instead, it promotes genuine conversations with honest signal reports, operator names, QTHs, and even equipment details. The goal is to revive the slower, more personal style of CW operating that many feel is fading in today's fast-paced digital age.

What You’ll Find

Guide to Quality Telegraphy Time (QTT): A comprehensive manual on how to engage in meaningful CW conversations, including etiquette, recommended frequencies, and tips for newcomers.
Blog: Regular posts discussing various aspects of CW operating, including commentary on modern contesting, the use of CW decoders, and advice for new operators.
Mailing Lists: Discussion lists like QTT Anon offer a platform for CW enthusiasts to share experiences and advice in a supportive environment.
Resources: Information on CW calling frequencies, propagation beacons, and tools to enhance your CW operating experience.

Why It’s Worth a Visit

Whether you're a seasoned CW operator or just starting out, NO5NN.org offers a welcoming space to deepen your understanding and appreciation of quality CW operating. It's a place to connect with like-minded individuals who value the art of CW and wish to keep it thriving.

So, if you're looking to enrich your CW experience with meaningful exchanges and a supportive community, NO5NN.org is definitely worth checking out.

Lots of interesting information there, plus links to other good CW sites.

Boat Anchor Manual Archive

Why pay to download a manual for your latest boat anchor restoration project? Boat anchor manuals are available from the Boat Anchor Manual Archive for free!

https://bama.edebris.com

Head Copy Practice

For those who would like to start progressing beyond hand-written copy of CW - or for those interested in developing or refreshing their head-copy skills, here’s a really interesting idea from Peter VK3WOW and John VK2RU.

Here’s a link to the software for different operating systems, and an optional graphical user interface:

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

And now more from John VK2RU:

I have used ebook2cw a bit. I use books like Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Aesops Fables etc which I have saved as txt files.

There's no limit to the books available, but how could you not like Winnie the Pooh, particularly when it contains simpler words that are easier to copy.

When I want something new to convert to Cw, I go through the txt file and change any strange punctuation to . or , . So the only punctuation is , . ? / If I notice any words spelt differently to what I would expect then I'll change that as well.

Then I put a space before all punctuation so that it doesn't immediately continue on from the previous letter.

The way I use it is to read the txt file, play the MP3, rinse and repeat.

I've set the mp3 to 20wpm, tone 550. Too fast? There is a way to use the converted file that makes it a bit more useful for someone trying to increase their cw copy speed. When I play the cw file on my pixel 7 phone, I can choose to play it at 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x or 2.0x the original speed. Android devices also let you change the playback speed in 0.25 increments. That probably works on ios as well. So that 20 wpm file could have been replayed at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40wpm. The only problem with that is the 5 wpm increments, which I find is too much of a jump up in speed.

That's why I thought I should try 12 wpm file which allows the playback speed to be changed by 3 wpm each time. Say I decide to convert the text file to 12 wpm cw. Depending on which playback speed is chosen, I can play the original 12 wpm cw file at either 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 wpm. So if you find you're copying easily at one speed, you can move up 3 wpm without having multiple files all at different speeds.

To download the text and audio files, find John's articles in the RagChew newsletter, starting from Edition 23/2025 and continuing on:

More to follow..

To get more editions, email to cqqrsnet@gmail.com

The Wordsworth Technique for Head Copy

In RagChew Edition 26/2025, John VK2RU discussed the Wordsworth technique for head-copy practice - a very interesting approach to learning. See RagChew Edition 26/2025 for more.

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