New Zealand Net News Nr 25, 21 March 2020

This is a fortnightly newsletter about the New Zealand Net.
If you would like to be notified by email message when a new edition is published, please contact ZL1NZ.
You are also welcome to browse our newsletter archive.

Highlights

After a slow summer, it is great to see the NZ Net picking up steam again with check-ins and traffic.

When I typed ‘NR25’ at the top of this fortnightly newsletter, it struck me that this is a milestone not just for NZ Net News but also for the Net itself. The NZ Net has now been operating for one year.

I remember our first NZ Net on 25 March 2019, when I wondered if anybody would check in. But they did, starting with Dave ZL4LDY/2, followed by Manny VK3DRQ, Grant ZL2GD and Mike ZL4OL during that first session.

One year later, we’re still doing it, so thanks so much for your support.

Bob ZL1AYN checked in a few days ago with a very weak signal. It turns out Bob’s antenna is down, so we look forward to hearing him back at full strength as soon as possible.

Rob VK2MZ checked into the Net on 19 March and must have thought he was back on watch as a ship’s radio officer, what with all the traffic being exchanged that evening. Hope to hear you on the Net again Rob.

Welcome back Gil ZL4CU who has been away travelling in his motorhome for several weeks. Good to hear our southern-most station again.

That virus

I’m sure we’re all feeling stressed by COVID-19 these days. Virus news is everywhere, and we even had some on the Net. Here’s a recent QNC for those who missed it:

NR20 R ZL1NZ 17/14 AUCKLAND 0800Z 19MAR20
=
NZ NET
=
DUE TO COVID-19 NZART HAS CANCELLED THIS YEARS CONFERENCE AND
POSTPONED AGM UNTIL SEPTEMBER
=
ZL1NZ

One of our NZ Net members told me recently they had never encountered a hyphen in CW, so I was pleased to be able to include one in the message above. 🙂

Amid all the distressing news about COVID-19, I hope our NZ Net members are taking good care of themselves. If you are spending more time at home these days, practising “social distancing” and helping to “flatten the curve,” I hope you’ll make NZ Net part of your daily routine. And I’m sure all of our ops are ready and willing to support each other in whatever ways we can during these difficult and uncertain times.

Radio operators – practising ‘social distancing’ for over 100 years

NZ Net honours a Silent Key

Our Thursday/Friday net controller Dave ZL4LDY writes:

I recently learned that my friend Scott Summers KB8EEO became a Silent Key on 3 December.

I decided we should give him the memorial that is often practised on SSB, but I’ve never heard on CW. So I did it that way during the NZ Net on Friday 13 March, and it was well received.

What they do on SSB is announce the name and call of a Silent Key, then pause for one minute while we reflect.

The way I did it was similar. I briefly said it was going to be a special net, that would make sense later.

After I had collected the QNI, I did a QNC, explaining that I wanted to observe a moment of silence for my friend KB8EEO.

Then I set a 1-minute timer on the Google Mini.

When the timer went off, I did another QNC that explained what we had done.

Here’s more information on how amateur radio nets honour their silent key members. Good to know, but I sincerely we will not be needing this information any time soon!
– ZL1NZ

NZ Net in Branch 22 newsletter

Thanks to Dave ZL4LDY (pictured at right) for getting a brief item about NZ Net into the March 2020 edition of Interface, the Branch 22 (Marlborough) newsletter.

The item is at the bottom of p 8.

Net tip

Here’s another Q Signal that is good to know in a net situation:

QUA? means “Do you have news of (callsign)?”. For example:

QUA ZL4CU?

and a reply:

QUA ZL4CU GIL IS AWAY IN HIS MOTORHOME FOR A FEW WEEKS

Want a list of Q Signals? Check out this one.

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 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