The ESS Bulletin

April totals: QNI 313, per session 10.4 (Mar 10.2); QSP 42, per session 1.4 (Mar 1.7). Thanks to all for a pretty good month, although we can sure use some more traffic; hopefully, checkins and traffic will improve when we make the seasonal migration again to 40 meters. I’m looking toward the end of the month, and will put the word out in an email to our checkins and on the .io group a couple of weeks ahead of time. Although the QRM is worse on 40, the improved propagation will probably make it a net positive. Our nominal 40-meter frequency is 7110 kHz, plus or minus QRM. Special thanks to AA2YK and N2PEZ for covering W2ITT’s Sunday NCS slot during Rob’s travels; he’ll also be away this Sunday (Mother’s Day) and on June 1st. Congratulations and thanks for their support of ESS to W2RBA, W2ITT and N7RMP, this month’s net-certificate recipients. It’s great to hear Jan, K1NN, with a fine signal from Vermont. A good friend of W2WSS, he ran the short-lived Radio Relay International East net by allowing stations to check in one after the other instead of acknowledging each station individually. I’ve never heard anyone else do that, before or since, but with QSK all around it was an amazing time-saver (RRIE met at 8 pm, and was occasionally over in time for the Eastern Area Net at 8:30). With thunderstorm season upon us, I’ve found the real-time lightning map at http://www.blitzortung.org/en/live_lightning_maps.php?map=33 quite useful even when I’m not debating whether or not to throw the big switch; https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/radio-communications" NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center page, also provides a good idea of what to expect and why. Canada’s https://spaceweather.gc.ca/forecast-prevision/cond-en.php has easy-to-understand graphics depicting geomagnetic activity. Birthdays: May—None, to the best of my knowledge. June—EAN manager KW1U 8. Additions and corrections, preferably by radiogram, are always welcome!

Q and QN signals, properly used, can do a great deal to facilitate a traffic net; neglected, used improperly or misunderstood, they can delay a net or bring it to a grinding halt. There are a lot of both signals, but being proficient in using just a few can take you a long way in traffic-handling and on CW in general.

Q signals are used worldwide and date back to amateur radio’s earliest days, when international Morse code was the only mode available for spark-gap and—later—continuous-wave (CW) operation. What we know as “QST English” is the use of Q signals by two (or more) stations who lack a common spoken language. The first Q signal learned by most new CW operators is QTH (My location is … ). A question mark after a Q signal makes it a question: QTH? (Where are you located?); in most cases, omitting the question mark makes it an affirmative answer.

QRM, QRN and QSB are short for interference, static and fading, respectively. When a station wants to send you a message, they’ll ask QRV? Your affirmative answer (QRV) means that you’re ready to copy, and you acknowledge receipt when you’re done with QSL. A net-control station may ask if you can handle traffic for a particular location—QSP POUGHKEEPSIE? for example (incidentally, you may hear Poughkeepsie shortened to Poke for obvious reasons).

QSY indicates a change of frequency, within a band or to another band. QRZ is what you send (or should) when a station is trying to check in from, say, the Buffalo area and the NCS doesn’t hear them. Follow the Golden Rule!

Never, ever be embarrassed about asking a station to QRS (slow down); it’s preferable by far to garbling a message for a hapless delivering station. QTB is very useful when the text you’ve copied doesn’t agree with the check in the preamble. When your recipient questions the check, send QTB followed by the first letter of each word in the text; they’ll break you while you’re doing so, or ask for a fill in the usual manner when you’re done. If you want to cancel a message, you QTA it.

QN signals are a somewhat different animal, although with some experience you may find them sloshing around your brain along with the Q signals you’ve learned. The important thing to remember is that our QN signals (think “net”) were developed by the ARRL for CW net use only; their use elsewhere can lead to confusion, if not worse, since the same letter combination may have a very different meaning in another radio service. The first QN signal most traffic-handlers hear is QNI, the invitation from an NCS to check into a net. When you’re checking in, however, it’s certainly not necessary (and wastes time) to send QNI; your call, a brief greeting and your traffic list (QTC … or QRU if you have no traffic) are all that’s needed.

The QN-signal list has gradually become streamlined, with some signals replaced by plain language for simplicity. A few are used only by the net-control station, who may ask for a relay (QNB) between two stations or for the entire net to stand by (QNE). If you’re receiving traffic on the net frequency, the NCS will ask you to QNR (call the sending station). Since it’s thunderstorm season again, send QNO STORM before you go QRT if you can, but safety first!

QNJ (Can you copy me, or another station?) and QNP (I can’t copy so-and-so) are self-explanatory. QNT, followed by a number, is used less often than it should be; the number is the number of minutes you need to be absent from the net for a phone call, coffee refill or whatever. QNZ, usually reserved for high-QRM situations, is a request by the NCS to zero-beat the net frequency—their frequency, which may differ from the “official” net frequency; local noise may require a net control to slide up or down a bit.

Oopsies sometimes happen, due perhaps to an errant elbow or a cat on the desk; if the net frequency changes for any reason, checkins are expected to follow the NCS. All stations, especially the net control, should set their filters as wide as possible while a net is in session and directed (QND); when you zero-beat a station off frequency to clear traffic, a narrower filter avoids QRM. Sometimes, however, a station outside the NCS’ passband tries to check in. (Make sure your RIT is off!) QNH advises a station that their frequency is above the net’s (high), and QNL tells them that their frequency is below it.

QNV is a helpful time-saver, often used when the NCS can’t copy (or be heard by) half of a traffic pair; compare QNV WI2G DWN 3 ELMA 1 with TAKE WI2G DWN 3 ELMA 1. It’s crucial, however, to call your traffic partner on the net frequency before moving off!