New Zealand Net News Nr 2, 20 April 2019

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

The NZ NET is growing!

It’s been four weeks since we kicked off the NZ Net, which runs Monday-Fridays at 9pm on 3535 kHz, and we’re hearing lots of new check-ins. So far this month, we’ve had 15 stations check in, and as many as six stations in a single session.

We’ve also had many stations stick around after the net for a QSO or two, so 3535 is becoming the place to be!

But there’s room for lots more check-ins, so please help spread the word, for example by forwarding this email to any NZ amateurs you think might be interested.

At the end of each month I’ll do a report listing how many times each station has checked in, and I will send this as a QNC (message to all stations) on the Net in early May, as well as including it in the next newsletter.

The net is fully prepared for formal traffic handling, but you do not need to be a traffic handler to join in. All we ask is that you follow the directions of the net control station. There’s lots of info about net operations on the NZ Net webpage. If you don’t recognise some of our abbreviations, however, just send “?” and we’ll explain. We aim to be the “formal, but friendly” CW net.

NZ Net on the other net (the internet)

We have two new sections of the NZ Net website:

• Frequently asked questions
• An archive of these newsletters

Just click on the links at the bottom of the main NZ Net webpage.

Net control

The usual Net Control stations are:

• Mon-Wed: ZL1NZ (Neil, Auckland)
• Thu-Fri: ZL4LDY/2 (Dave, Blenheim)

but we’re quite flexible, and if one of us isn’t there, the other will step in.

It would be great to have more stations capable of assuming Net Control, so please let me know if you’re interested.

Net tip: QNG

Most CW ops are familiar with at least some of the Q signals, such as QTH and QRZ. On NZ Net we also use QN codes, developed by the ARRL many years ago for net use.

One that you will hear quite often is “QNG” which means “Please take over as Net Control.”

For example, if Net Control is experiencing high noise, or gets called away urgently, they might send:

ZL3XYZ PSE QNG

ZL3XYZ would immediately assume the role of Net Control for the duration of the Net.

An interesting variation, which you’ll hear quite often, is “QNG1” which means “Please take over until you have made ONE unanswered CQ as Net Control.” This could be because Net Control isn’t sure they can hear as well as other stations, or just to give other people some practice. (Net Control can be very devious, like that!) For example, Net Control sends:

ZL4XYZ PSE QNG1

ZL4XYZ would then call CQ as Net Control. They would continue doing this, picking up checkins for the net, UNTIL they have made ONE call without getting any response.

They would then send “NIL” and the normal Net Control Station would immediately resume control, and acknowledge any station that had checked in during the temporary handover. Net Control might need to ask the temporary net control station to QSP (relay) if Net Control is having trouble copying.

Want to learn more? Here’s a list of Q Signals.

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!