Reminder: Wednesday Evening 40 and 80 meter Nets

When: Wednesday, 28 October 2020, 20:00 to 21:00, (GMT-05:00) America/Chicago

Where:40 and 80 Meters

View Event

Organizer: jomatlock@...

Description: The 40 Meter Net will be at 8:00 pm central time  on 7.122 +-. QRM
NCS is WQ5RP/ACØBQ 

Wednesday evening 80 Meter CW Net. will be at  (8:30PM Central Time Wednesday). 

The 80 meter net will be called on 3.564 MHz +/- QRM.
Net control operator is Johnny ACØBQ 

* NEW *  Wednesday evening DMR Voice Net will be at (Thursday) 0300 UTC (9:00PM Central Time Wednesday/)
Four States QRP has a Brandmeister DMR Talk Group (TG31654). Join us to discuss QRP, ask questions, or just ragchew. The Wednesday net is a directed net  but any other time you may use the Talk Group to chat with other QRPers.
Net Control operator is Bert NØYJ.

The following files have been uploaded to the Files area of the main@4SQRP.groups.io group.

• /1916 Telegrapher magazine/The Northwest Telephone and Telegraph Review Magazine October 1916 Edition Zip Folder.zip

By: Cliff Fox (KU4GW)

Description:
This is a Zip file version of Roy AC9DN,s Upload titled 1916 Telegrapher magazine. I rotated the photos 90 degrees so they appear upright with each image containing 2 pages each from the October 1916 Edition of The Northwest Telephone and Telegraph Review Magazine. I edited the images a wee bit to sharpen the text slightly and then renamed and compressed them all into this 41.06 Mb zip file. Very 72 de Cliff, KU4GW 4SQRP#536

Some Ops need to pause often to collect their thoughts --- looking back, a "triple" was pretty common to hear in a Novice transmission --- I wonder what the record is in one string? Perhaps 10 or 12. 

I was just browsing our files on the group.io area and noticed one file titled "1916 Telegrapher magazine" and has a large number of jpgs - one for each page in the magazine.  Ouch. A bit of a PITA.  Has anyone gone to the trouble of downloading all of the files and converting them into a single pdf file?  If not, I think I will go ahead and do so - because, why not!

Bob Groh, WA2CKY

As far as the prosign  _..._  it's the CW prosign for BT  according to this list of CW Prosigns at http://www.kent-engineers.com/prosigns.htm it defines the prosign BT to mean----- Pause; Break For Text. That's how I've always interpreted it the past 24 years in the hobby and I hear quite a lot of operators sending it several times during a QSO. I've used it that way as well. 

Very 72/73 de Cliff KU4GW
Proud Member of the ARRL A-1 Operator Club (*Elected to Full Membership April 11, 2012)  4SQRP # 536

* On 2020 24 Oct 20:03 -0500, Nate Bargmann wrote:

* On 2020 24 Oct 14:33 -0500, Dale Holloway, K4EQ wrote:

-...- is not an equal sign. It is a double dash.

You are correct, Dale. I goofed in agreeing is was the equal sign and
Wikipedia is incorrect also on this point.

Nope, I am mistaken, it is the equal sign what no less of an authority than the ITU
calls a "double hyphen":

https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/m/R-REC-M.1677-1-200910-I!!PDF-E.pdf

Dale, the character I think you're referring to is the "em-dash" (--)
that is also used in print to separate thoughts. It does not appear as
a separate character in the ITU list. I suppose if it was needed it
would be sent as two successive hyphens.

72, Nate

--

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true."

Web: https://www.n0nb.us
Projects: https://github.com/N0NB
GPG fingerprint: 82D6 4F6B 0E67 CD41 F689 BBA6 FB2C 5130 D55A 8819

* On 2020 24 Oct 14:33 -0500, Dale Holloway, K4EQ wrote:

-...- is not an equal sign. It is a double dash.

You are correct, Dale. I goofed in agreeing is was the equal sign and
Wikipedia is incorrect also on this point.

72, Nate

--

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true."

Web: https://www.n0nb.us
Projects: https://github.com/N0NB
GPG fingerprint: 82D6 4F6B 0E67 CD41 F689 BBA6 FB2C 5130 D55A 8819

Terry,

With your call, you are obligated to send the zero correctly.  If you are in a contest sending serial numbers, you can send "T" as zero, but not in your call sign.  Interesting that you *must* send your call in international Morse code, but for example, if you know landline code, you can carry on the rest of your conversation quite legally in landline Morse, provided the other station can copy and send it.  The call sign is a different matter.

The "=" is used typically in conversation instead of a period at the end of a thought.  I rarely send a "period" when I am on the air unless I am sending a URL.  Even the message handlers use letter "x" instead of a period.  You will also hear "=" when someone is thinking.  You might hear two or three consecutively while someone gathers their thoughts.  As an alternative you might hear the single dash ( _...._ ). 

72,

Chas - NK8O

-...- is not an equal sign. It is a double dash. A single dash (hyphen) is -....- (4 dots) but is rarely if ever used.

Dale Holloway, K4EQ
www.k4eq.net

* On 2020 24 Oct 10:53 -0500, Terry S. Clevenger via groups.io wrote:

Just getting active on-air and have questions:1) I've heard that 'T'
can be used in place of the number 0; is this true? Thats part of my
calls and want to be sure.

As others have noted, cut numbers should only be used where others might
expect them but never in a callsign as my call is N0NB not NTNB.

In certain contests with serial numbers and some other exchanged
information where that part of the exchange is numeric, cut numbers are
often employed. This would include the replacement of 9 in 599 with N
as in 5NN. That is quite common.

T as a replacement for 0 is more rare. There may be an event where a
serial number must be a minimum of three digits or it is customary to
send three digits as a minimum. In the case where the serial number
must start with 1, sending TT1 is much shorter than 001, for example.
But note that use of T here is rather unambiguous. Some ops might send
100 as 1TT, for example.

2) I hear the code for the '=' sign (-...-) fairly often and wonder if
it's also used for something else? It seems odd I'd hear it so much.

It is often written as the combination of BT with an overstruck line as
aforementioned. It is also the = sign as punctuation. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code#Letters,_numbers,_punctuation,_prosigns_for_Morse_code_and_non-English_variants

It's usage is to separate thoughts instead of using proper punctuation.
It is arguable if it really is that much shorter than a period by one
dah or a comma which has one less dit and one more dah. I suppose that
if handling many messages that time added up. Of course in messages
all three are replaced by X!

72, Nate

--

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true."

Web: https://www.n0nb.us
Projects: https://github.com/N0NB
GPG fingerprint: 82D6 4F6B 0E67 CD41 F689 BBA6 FB2C 5130 D55A 8819

For second question. That prosign is often used to kill time during a QSO. Provides time to think of next thought to send.

"T" is often used for 0s in serial numbers during certain events or operations.  It saves time during an exchange.  Do not recommend using it to replace the 0 ( zero) in your call.

Dahdidididah is the prosign BT (which when handwritten is. BT with a line over the B and the T. Its meaning is “double dash.” Source: ARRL.  KD4MSR, Scott

Terry . . .

1)  The cut number for zero is a T.  It should never be used in a call sign.  It has relevance in CW contests and occasionally in QSOs but, in my opinion, all cut numbers should be used sparingly.

2)  You have hit upon a universal error.  What you hear on the air for a hyphen (dash) is dah-di-di-di-dah.  That is incorrect because, as you rightly state, it is actually an equals sign.  The correct prosign for a hyphen (dash) is dah-di-di-di-di-dah which no one knows or uses except a few old timers who teach Morse Code classes.

73,

Kent  K9ZTV

 

Just getting active on-air and have questions:

1) I've heard that 'T' can be used in place of the number 0; is this true? Thats part of my calls and want to be sure.

2) I hear the code for the '=' sign (-...-) fairly often and wonder if it's also used for something else? It seems odd I'd hear it so much.

Thanks. Good to be getting involved. 

Terry Clevenger

KE0VFI

On Fri, Oct 23, 2020 at 03:39 PM, Michael McEwen wrote:

Hello all...please suggest some Web sites where I can find "getting started" info to this mode which is totally new mode.

 

72/73 Doc K5OSA 

Hello Doc,

Hello Doc,

You are on the right track already.  The 4 States gang is very good about slowing down to help newcomers to CW.
Try joining in to the activities that they offer and don't worry about the speed.

Another group that is very good at accomodating operators of various skill levels is the Straight Key Century Club.
https://www.skccgroup.com/  They have a lot of activities to participate in and the operators are of a wide range
of experience and operating speeds.  Learn how to send "QRS pse" so that if an operator is too fast you can easily ask
them to send slower.  The most basic SKCC QSOs are generally RST QTH NAME SKCC_Number.  For instance, I'd
send "599 MN CARL 1883T".  These basic QSOs are nice in their predictability of the pattern and offer a mix of numbers
and letters.  You can anticipate that pattern more often than not.  It makes it easier for guys returning to CW or those that
are new.

The ARRL CW code practice is also good.  They send at various speeds.  I have had luck with recording it and then
repeatedly trying to copy as much as possible.  Each time through you can pick up more..  It takes time but it can feel
very rewarding.

Another method is to arrange a scheduled contact with somebody willing to work with you on the air.  You might try emailing
club members to see if you can arrange a compatable schedule to meet on the air.  With email as a backup, you can contact them
during a QSO in case you get lost.

Both the 4 States and SKCC have a SPOTTIN option.  You can spot yourself and in the comment station say that you are looking
for slow speed practice.  It is a bit hit or miss that way but I have known people that had success doing so.

72/73 ( = 0.98630136986301369863013698630137 ?)
Carl WB0CFF 

 

From Eastern TN...40M was totally dead.  Noise level was decent but no signals.  80M was better with Johnny coming in very strong at times but the QSB took his signal to the very low levels.  I could hear most of the other stations calling and working him.  After a few good weeks from E. TN, I guess we all get nights like last Wednesday night.

John N4KV