New Zealand Net News Nr 9, 27 July 2019

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

Highlights

Maybe it’s the cold weather, but this has been a great month for check-ins to the New Zealand Net. This past Wednesday we equalled our monthly record of 100 check-ins – with five days of NZ Net remaining in July.

I will transmit the July Net Report as QNC (Message to All Stations) during the NZ Net on Thursday 1 August. But if you’re not on the Net Thursday and would like to receive it during a subsequent session, you can just ask me (or any other station that copied it) to repeat it.

By the way, our record for check-ins to a single session remains at 8. Can we beat that by the end of July?

Nice to have Bruce ZL1BWG joining the net recently. This past week, Bruce took third-party traffic for Whangarei from Dave ZL4LDY in Dunedin. That was also a first, as all previous traffic on the Net has been amateur to amateur, so thanks to Dave for generating the message.

After more than three months of daily nets, I think most ops are pretty comfortable with how the net works. So perhaps it’s time to introduce a new wrinkle. See the end of this newsletter for the latest Net Tip: “The Recheck.”

New Net Control Station

Grant ZL2GD, who has filled in as Net Control Station a couple of times before, is now the regular NCS on Tuesdays, so let’s keep him busy!

Dave ZL4LDY has sorted out some technical issues with his PC, which controls the remote station in Blenheim, so we hope to have Dave appearing regularly again as NCS on Thursdays and Fridays.

There are still opportunities for more stations to become Net Control, so if you’re interested please let me know. Or maybe you have questions? I’d be happy to try and answer them.

And, as mentioned in the last newsletter, if NCS doesn’t appear by 9.01pm, any station can (and ought to) take charge. This is the sort of decentralised resilience that makes amateur radio so effective.

NZ Net survey closes today

If you haven’t already done so, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to complete our short online survey, which will close today. There are only 10 questions. The survey is at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/33NYHX6

I plan to share the results with you in the next edition of NZ Net News.

Net tip: The recheck

Sometimes a station may wish to make a second call into the net, in order to ask a question, provide information or make a request. This is quite acceptable, and is sometimes referred to as a “recheck.”

For example, suppose I (ZL1NZ) am checked into the net and I hear ZL4ZZZ check in. I’d like to have a chat with ZL4ZZZ, but instead of waiting to take my chances on catching him after the net, I can use a recheck to book my QSO with him. I would wait until NCS is listening for calls, then it might go something like this:

ZL1NZ: ZL1NZ

NCS: ZL1NZ

ZL1NZ: QSO ZL4ZZZ U2 AFTER NET PSE
Translation: I request a contact with ZL4ZZZ, up 2 kHz from net freq, after the net.

Note that this is not strictly correct usage of “QSO” which means “I can communicate with (station),” but I think the meaning is clear enough.

NCS: R didit didit ZL4ZZZ QSL?

ZL4ZZZ: QSL U2 AFTER NET
Translation: I acknowledge the message and agree to go up 2kHz after the net.

Note that “QSL” alone simply means “I got the message.” It needs to be followed by something to indicate acceptance of the request. A traditional way of sending this is WILCO (meaning “will comply”), but for the sake of a few more characters it makes sense to repeat the important details “U2 AFTER NET” so there is no doubt.

NCS: R

Alternatively, if I had heard ZL4ZZZ check in before I had checked in, then I could include my QSO request as part of my check-in (instead of the usual QRU).

The recheck can be used for many purposes. One of the most common would be if a net station hears a signal that NCS cannot hear. Again, the first thing is to get the attention of NCS by sending just your callsign once. After acknowledgment from NCS, you could send something like “QSP WEAK STATION = QRZ? DE ZL1NZ”

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