New Zealand Net News Nr 10, 10 August 2019

This is a fortnightly newsletter about the New Zealand Net.
If you would like to subscribe, please contact ZL1NZ.

Highlights

First of all, let me just say that this issue will have lots of content about traffic handling, partly by coincidence and partly as a result of our online survey. But if you’re not a traffic handler, please don’t be put off. All CW ops are welcome on the NZ Net!

In the past few days we have welcomed Rob ZL1RD to the Net. Rob is in Dairy Flat, north of Auckland and has been an amateur since 1957, making him perhaps our most senior operator!

July was a record-breaking month for the NZ Net, with total check-ins of 134, well ahead of our previous record of 100. Here’s the monthly Net Report , in case you didn’t copy it during the 1 Aug session.

NR46 R ZL1NZ 33/30 AUCKLAND 0900Z 1AUG19
=
NZ NET
=
JULY QNI ZL1BWG 9 ZL1NZ 22 ZL2GD 17 ZL2JU 1
ZL2LN 10 ZL2WT 18 ZL3RX 8 ZL4CU 7 ZL4KX 13
ZL4LDY 10 VK3DBD 2 VK3DRQ 17 TOTAL 134 QTC 11
=
ZL1NZ

Congratulations

…to NZ Net stalwarts Barry ZL2LN and Grant ZL2GD for excellent results in the Sangster Shield QRP contest. You might have heard Dave ZL4LDY congratulating them via formal messages during the Net on 29 July.

JOTA

The annual Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) for the Scouting movement is 18-20 October. ZL4LDY is exploring the possibility of incorporating radiograms into the event. If you’re interested in helping or have ideas on how that could work, please contact Dave.

Survey results

Thank you to the ops who provided feedback about the Net in our online survey. Here are the key results:

Reasons for participating in the Net (people could choose more than one answer):
88% – Use/practise CW
50% – Like net structure
50% – Like traffic handling (although many commented that they were just getting started)
25% – Meeting up with friends

When asked specifically about traffic handling and what they would like from the Net, ops said:
38% – More traffic from Net Control
38% – Help in generating traffic
13% – Help in copying traffic
25% – No interest in traffic

Most people did not want “Theme Nights” or “More Interaction during the Net.” In other words, keep it simple!

Most ops preferred a speed of 20wpm (the approx current speed), so no change there either.

Net tip: Training for traffic handlers

Since the survey shows substantial interest in learning how to generate and exchange formal traffic, I’m pleased to announce a little training programme.

If you’d like to participate, here’s how to get started: Send me a formal message during the Net with some information about yourself, and you will then receive a weekly message from me – until you decide you’ve had enough practice! Some of my messages will ask a trivia question, so you’ll need to generate a message in reply. I might also be ask you to create and send messages to other participating stations, if we have enough of them. And we’ll exchange feedback (off the air, generally) based on our experience.

Here’s a suggested template for your initial message to me:

NR1 R {Your callsign} 25/23 {Your city/town} {time of message} {date of message}

=

ZL1NZ

=

MY BIRTHDAY IS {day} {month}

{year} STOP I WAS LICENSED

ON {day} {month} {year} STOP

MY PREFERRED SPEED IS {speed}

WPM STOP 73

=

{firstname}

Notes about the template:

NR1 means this is your first message of 2019. If it’s not, then adjust the number accordingly. Each year starts with NR1.

25/23 is the check, i.e. there are 23 words in the message text, plus 1 in the address and 1 in the signature for a total of 25. If you change the message, then be sure to recalculate the check numbers! Notice that writing 5 words to a line makes it easy to add up. We try to limit messages to 25 words of text if possible.

STOP indicates a full stop. In messages we always spell out STOP, COMMA and QUERY, instead of sending “.” “,” or “?”

= is the double dash, i.e. dahdidididah, which is used to separate the four parts of the message.

If you’d like to write your message on a traditional message form, you can download some at https://maritimeradio.org/resources/message-forms/

To send me your first message, check into the Net, but instead of sending “QRU” send “QTC1 ZL1NZ”. Net Control will ask you to wait and will then tell you when to call me with your traffic. If you don’t understand anything, just ask. You are also welcome to contact me after the Net with any questions, or ring me on 09 625 0048.

Suggestions?

If you have suggestions on how to make the net better, or things you’d like to see covered in these updates, please contact ZL1NZ. You might even like to write something for the newsletter.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon on the NZ Net!

—

Neil Sanderson ZL1NZ, Net Manager
New Zealand Net (NZ NET)
3535.0 kHz at 9pm NZT Mon-Fri