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Featured key
Photo: VK2IXV
By Herman VK2IXV
Here’s a Morse key with wooden base, gutta-percha knob and markings P.M.G. 842 and, in a circle, the crown of Queen Victoria above V.T.S.
On 3 March 1854, Australia’s first, 17km-long, telegraph line went into operation between Melbourne and Williamstown to provide the city with early news of shipping arrivals.
The telegraph lines were rapidly extended to cover the entire Colony of Victoria. The Victorian Telegraph Service (VTS) ran between 1854 and 1869.
The other colonies also established their own networks.
In 1901, the colonies became independent from Britain and became states.
In the same year, the Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG) was created to take over all postal and telegraphy services in Australia and administer them on a national basis.
From the markings on the key, it appears that this Morse key was used both by the VTS and the newly formed PMG.
Photo: VK2IXV
* If you have an interesting key for this feature, please send a nice clear photo and a few words describing it.
New approach for net check-ins
Our Net Controllers are using a new preamble for the net, and it signals an important change which every net operator needs to understand.
In the past, we have tried to gently encourage stations sending or receiving traffic to check-in during the first five minutes, so we can get their traffic cleared quickly by sending them off frequency while the check-ins continue.
To enable this, we have asked QRU stations to stand by until the QTC stations have checked-in.
This has been only partially successful. In recent months there have been several very long net sessions, due to the inability to get traffic cleared efficiently.
And so, we are going to be more specific about check-ins. When we open the net now, we will be calling ONLY for QTC stations. The Net Controllers’ preamble will end with “…QND QNZ NW QTC?”
After a station with QTC checks in, Net Control will continue calling for “QTC?” until all stations with traffic, or who know there is traffic listed for them, have checked-in.
After that, Net Control will put out a general call, inviting other stations to QNI.
Please help us all enjoy the net more by following these directions from Net Control. Thank you.
Read more about how the net works.
Quick notes
The Commonwealth Contest (CW only) is next weekend, 8-9 March. The rules are complex. An interesting aspect is that you must correctly identify your call area. For hams in NZ, where call areas no longer apply, this means having to add a suffix to your callsign. For example: if you have a ZL2 callsign, but you operate from the former ZL3 area, you’ll add /ZL3 to your callsign. Get all the contest rules.
New President for Fists Down Under – Peter VK6IS has volunteered to fill the long-vacant position of President of FDU.
Photo flashback
JC Foster G2JF, Wye College, University of London, near Ashford, Kent, was a well-known VHF DX-er. Photo c1960s.
No noise is good news
By Manny VK3DRQ
You may have noticed that since 14 Feb I am not giving a report of RSN 357 or 556, but instead 351 or 551.
The reason is that I finished building the VK5TM Noise Canceller. I am still adjusting the Aux Antenna, but the result is already REMARKABLE. I cannot believe the difference with the unit on and off. A noisy signal has become a nice and clean signal.
For example, a signal RSN 565 with the unit off can become a RSN of 451 or 441 when turned on. Yes, there’s a small drop in the signal itself, but losing the noise is like a miracle.
Construction, once I had all the necessary components, was very straightforward, even with my very limited tools available nowadays. I must point out that I bought the PCB already assembled from Terry VK5TM. I had on hand an old metal box, which I marked and drilled.
They say the important thing is the location and size of the Aux Ant. It’s recommended to be as short as possible and very close to the ground. I just started with about 5 to 6 metres of #8 wire outside, about two metres from the ground. If I can find the time, I would like to start experimenting with different sizes.
I was a bit suspicious of this idea but, now that I have heard it myself, it’s amazing. To anyone who has high levels of noise like I do, I can highly recommend it.
NZ Netters do Field Day
ZL1XH Branch 77 during Field Day (22-23 Feb 2025). ZL1NZ (left) searches for a daytime 80m signal, while ZL1AJY fills another log sheet on 40m.
Video: Field Day 60 years ago
Net tip: QND
We continue our look at Q signals with one that you may hear used by the Net Control Station: QND.
It means: “The net is directed”.
Most CW nets are directed, i.e. under the control of a Net Control Station. So when NCS sends QND at the start of a net it is sort of like the chairperson at a meeting banging their gavel and declaring “the meeting will now come to order.” In our case, it means we are starting the formal proceedings of the net, and all stations must follow the directions of NCS.
Normally, you will only hear QND at the start of the net, but NCS could use it at other times if they needed to restablish order.
Or another operator, if they hear nothing on the frequency that sounds like an organised net, could ask: QND?
The opposite of QND is QNF (“the net is free” – i.e. not being directed by an NCS) which we send at the very end of each session.
The A-Z of Q Signals
A well-run CW net is a lovely thing to experience. Communication between stations is quick and concise, and the net business is conducted with minimal time wasted.
As CW operators, we have many techniques to communicate quickly and efficiently. And if we know and use these techniques, we can often match or exceed the speed and accuracy of voice communication.
One of our most important tools is the set of Q Signals (or Q Codes), and in this series we look at the “essential” ones, in alphabetical order.
There will be some Q Signals that we rarely encounter, so that’s where a list kept near the radio can be helpful.
Advertising archive
Boys’ Life (magazine of Boy Scouts USA), Mar 1920
Suggestions?
If you have suggestions on how to make the NZ 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 hear you soon on the NZ Net!
—
Neil Sanderson ZL1NZ, Net Manager
New Zealand Net (NZ NET)
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