WEBVTT NOTE CW Operating and Q Signals 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.071 Speed. 2 00:00:01.071 --> 00:00:08.431 Question. What is the best speed to use when answering a CQ in Morse code? 3 00:00:09.331 --> 00:00:17.238 Answer. The fastest speed at which you are comfortable copying, but no faster than the CQ. 4 00:00:17.838 --> 00:00:26.408 Two constraints, both important. Answering faster than you can copy produces a contact you cannot follow. 5 00:00:26.408 --> 00:00:35.958 Answering faster than the other station sent is presumptuous, they told you their comfortable speed by sending at it. 6 00:00:35.958 --> 00:00:42.638 Question. What should you do if a CW station sends "QRS?" 7 00:00:43.538 --> 00:00:46.522 Answer. Send slower. 8 00:00:47.122 --> 00:00:55.635 QRS is a request, not a criticism. Slow down and the contact works. Zero beat. 9 00:00:55.635 --> 00:01:02.395 Question. What does the term "zero beat" mean in CW operation? 10 00:01:03.295 --> 00:01:09.793 Answer. Matching the transmit frequency to the frequency of a received signal. 11 00:01:10.393 --> 00:01:22.516 Two CW signals on slightly different frequencies produce an audible beat note between them; identical frequencies produce no beat, hence "zero beat". 12 00:01:22.516 --> 00:01:36.022 Being off frequency by a few hundred hertz means the other station hears you at a different pitch, and if they are using a narrow filter they may not hear you at all. 13 00:01:36.022 --> 00:01:43.833 Modern radios provide a spot tone or a CW pitch indicator for exactly this. Full break-in (QSK). 14 00:01:43.833 --> 00:01:51.297 Question. Which of the following describes full break-in CW operation (QSK)? 15 00:01:52.197 --> 00:01:58.941 Answer. Transmitting stations can receive between code characters and elements. 16 00:01:59.541 --> 00:02:17.597 The receiver comes back on between the dits and dahs, in the gaps, thousands of times a minute. In practice you hear the other station the instant they start transmitting, even mid-word. That changes how a contact feels. 17 00:02:17.597 --> 00:02:25.723 Instead of taking turns, either operator can interrupt, and a mistake gets corrected as it happens. 18 00:02:25.723 --> 00:02:39.019 It is the reason experienced CW operators prefer QSK-capable equipment, and the reason relay-switched amplifiers that cannot manage it are a limitation. Prosigns. 19 00:02:39.019 --> 00:02:43.861 Procedural signals, sent as single run-together characters. 20 00:02:43.861 --> 00:02:51.771 Question. What does it mean when a CW operator sends "KN" at the end of a transmission? 21 00:02:52.671 --> 00:02:58.551 Answer. Listening only for a specific station or stations. 22 00:02:59.151 --> 00:03:12.831 K invites anyone to transmit; KN invites only the station you are working. One letter of difference, and it is how you tell a general invitation from a closed one. 23 00:03:12.831 --> 00:03:21.031 Question. What prosign is sent to indicate the end of a formal message when using CW? 24 00:03:21.931 --> 00:03:24.371 Answer. AR. 25 00:03:24.971 --> 00:03:44.760 AR ends a message. SK ends a contact. Different signals for different endings. The RST report, and the suffix that matters. RST is readability (1 to 5), strength (1 to 9), tone (1 to 9). 26 00:03:44.760 --> 00:03:50.931 The tone digit is CW-only, and one letter can be appended: 27 00:03:50.931 --> 00:03:59.272 Question. When sending CW, what does a "C" mean when added to the RST report? 28 00:04:00.172 --> 00:04:04.172 Answer. Chirpy or unstable signal. 29 00:04:04.772 --> 00:04:22.067 A "chirp" is a small frequency shift each time the key closes, usually from a power supply sagging under keying load. Reporting it is a favour: the sender cannot hear their own chirp. The Q signals worth knowing. 30 00:04:22.067 --> 00:04:35.364 Signal, QRL?; Meaning, Are you busy? / Is this frequency in use?. Signal, QRS; Meaning, Send slower. Signal, QRN; Meaning, I am troubled by static (natural noise). 31 00:04:35.364 --> 00:04:53.312 Signal, QRM; Meaning, I am troubled by interference (from other stations). Signal, QRV; Meaning, I am ready to receive. Signal, QSL; Meaning, I have received and understood. Signal, QSY; Meaning, I am changing frequency. 32 00:04:53.312 --> 00:05:10.117 Signal, QTH; Meaning, My location is…. Signal, QSB; Meaning, Your signals are fading. QRN versus QRM is the distinction to keep: QRN is natural, static from storms, and QRM is man-made, from other stations. 33 00:05:10.117 --> 00:05:27.902 Reporting the right one tells the other operator whether to wait or to move. Note that Q signals ending in a question mark ask; without it they state. "QRL?" asks whether the frequency is busy; "QRL" says that you are. 34 00:05:27.902 --> 00:05:43.402 Check yourself. A station calls CQ at 25 words per minute and you copy comfortably at 15. What speed do you answer at? You send "KN" at the end of your transmission. What have you asked for? 35 00:05:43.402 --> 00:05:48.052 Static crashes are making copy difficult. Which Q signal? 36 00:05:54.052 --> 00:06:14.636 15 wpm, the fastest you are comfortable copying, and never faster than the CQ. Answering at 25 gets you a contact you cannot read. That only the station you are working should reply. Plain K would invite anyone. 37 00:06:14.636 --> 00:06:21.172 QRN, natural static. QRM would be interference from other stations.