Events
Meetings:
The Vienna Wireless club meets at 7:30 pm on the 2nd Friday of each month. The Home page of this site lists meetings announcements, and the club event calendar.
Meetings are open to all, and typically consist of a brief business session, followed by a program on some aspect of the amateur radio hobby.
Check our Home page for the location, and information for remotely attending via an online link.
Typically our sessions are video recorded and available for later playback on our YouTube channel. Go to the presentations page and follow the link to our channel.
CW Activity
CW activities are hosted by Sean, N3RTW
CW Net (Morse Practice Net) – Wednesday nights: see here
CW Programs
Following is a listing of various programs for learning the Morse code and improving proficiency. I use all of these programs at various times for various purposes. Each one builds on a variety of techniques of Morse code reception.
Programs 1 through 4 provide the brute force of developing Morse code skill: practice, practice, practice. Programs 5 and 6 have a more relaxed, enjoyable element about them as you will be listening to stories and text (Program 5) and current events (Program 6.) For just routine maintenance of my skills, I use the RSS Headline feed in Program 6. Program 7.Learn CW Online, allows the student to vary the parameters and type of text with instant feedback.Items 8 and 9 provide guidelines and outlines for learning the Morse code. Item 8 goes into a lot of detail and Item 9 is a briefer outline. Item 10 outlines the Koch method of learning the Morse Code. This method produces the best progress and the fastest results.
(Programs 1 through 4 require the Windows platform.):
5. K7QO K7QO Wall Street Journal video K7QO Wall Street Journal article
6. AA9PW This program will give you current news headlines from 17 different newspapers and/or genres in Morse code at different speeds.
7. My new favorite is “Learn CW Online”
Q SIGNALS
These Q signals are the ones used most often on the air. (Q signals that take the form of a question are sent followed by a question mark.) Very often these abbreviations (Q signals) are used in conversation and liberty is taken with the definitions that are listed below.
QRL Are you busy? I am busy. (Use this Q signal–with a question mark–before starting to transmit on a given frequency. If someone is using the frequency, they will respond with QRL–no question mark–or the character “C”–as in the spanish “si” for “yes” or some other indication that the frequency is not clear. Some operators just send a “?” as an inquiry to a clear frequency.)
QRM Is my transmission being interfered with? Your transmission is being interfered with. To remember this as “Man-made” interference, remember the “M”.
QRN Are you troubled with static? You are troubled with static. To remember this as “Nature-made” interference, remember the “N”.
QRO Shall I increase power? Increase power.
QRP Shall I decrease power? Decrease power. The term “QRP” used in conversation or writing refers to a transmitter power of 5 watts or less. The term “QRPp” used in conversation or writing refers to a transmitter power of 1 watt or less.
QRQ Shall I send faster? Send faster _____ wpm. If you send “QRQ 15”, you are asking the transmitting station to send at 15 words per minute.
QRS Shall I send slower? Send slower ______ wpm. If you send “QRS 10”, you are asking the transmitting station to send at 10 words per minute. Generally, it is not necessary to indicate a word-per-minute number because the transmitting station will usually try to match your transmitting speed. For this reason, don’t send faster than you can receive.
QRT Shall I stop sending? Stop sending.
QRU Have you anything for me? I have nothing for you. This Q signal is used frequently in net operations when the Net Control Station (NCS) has no traffic for you.
QRV Are you ready? I am ready.
QRZ Who is calling me? You are being called by (call sign) on (_____ kHz). This Q signal is used when you expect that someone may be calling you (as in a contest).
QSB Are my signals fading? Your signals are fading.
QSL Can you acknowledge receipt? I acknowledge receipt. (In a contest, if you copy the exchange, you would send “QSL” to confirm the communication.) (In a contest or DXpedition pileup, most likely the exchange would be TU QRZ. This means “Thank you. Who’s next?” Many times, the QRZ is assumed–and not sent–the end of the contact would just be TU before the next bunch of stations would be calling.)
QSO Can you communicate with direct or by relay? I can communicate with ______ or by relay. This use of this Q signal in conversation usually means a contact with another station. i.e. “I just finished a QSO with K6BFA.”
QST General call proceeding a message addressed to all amateurs and ARRL members. This is in effect “CQ ARRL.” When copying the code practice sessions from W1AW (ARRL Headquarters Station), you will hear “QST de ARRL” prior to and during the code practice session.
QSY Shall I change transmission to another frequency? Change transmission to _____ kHz. If you need to change frequency (maybe because of QRM), you may hear “QSY up 5” meaning “Tune up 5 kHz to receive (and transmit).”
QTH What is your location? My location is ____. This usually refers to you home location: i.e. “QTH Vienna, VA.” (Notice that the articles and verbs are omitted for brevity.) However, during Field Day, the correct use would be “QTH Burke Lake Park, VA”.
Nets
The Vienna Wireless Society regularly conducts four weekly on-air nets and one face-to-face net. All hams are invited to participate.
| Monday Night Net | |
| Date/Time | Every Monday Night at 8:00PM EST |
| Frequency/Mode | FM 2M: 146.685(-) CTCSS: 110.9 Hz, Call sign: K4HTA |
| Net Control | Don, KV4PH; Mike, WA4FJB; Lou, KN4IJC |
| Info | The VWS Monday Night Net is held on our 2-meter repeater. The net usually lasts about an hour and is an informal roundtable discussion. All licensed hams are welcome to join in the discussion. To join via Echolink:The 2 meter net can also be joined from almost anywhere in the world if you have internet access using Echolink software on a Windows computer, Android or iOS operating system device. To download the software, go to https://www.echolink.org/ The site also has detailed instructions on how to install and operate the software. To join the 2 meter net on the K4HTA, search for and select “K4HTA-R” in the Echolink software. You will be logged into the K4HTA repeater and ready to join the net. |
| Monday Night Weird and Wacky Digital ZOOM and HF Net | |
| Date/Time | Every Monday Night at 9:00PM EST |
| Frequency/Mode | HF 40 Meters 7073 KHz and zoom https://bit.ly/Weird-Wacky-Digi-Net |
| Net Control | Don, KM4UDX |
| Info | The VWS Weird and Wacky digital net is a relaxed “group help” zoom and radio event-focusing on all the fascinating digital modes beyond FT8/4. While we love FT8/4, there are many other exciting digital modes waiting for us. If you have never used a HF radio “digital chat mode”, and want to, then join the Monday night zoom. We will help you with applications, installations and operation. Want to try a specific exotic mode with a friendly group? Join the zoom and lets do it. If your Fldigi will not play with your rig, we can help. We play with any new and interesting digital text and voice mode including: JS8CALL, Fldigi (many modes), FreeDV, VarAC, and any other interesting mode. Some nights we have wonderful presenters and other nights we just play and experiment with the latest hot trend. Other Mondays we help new users get their radio applications work well with their rigs. If you want to play digital conversational modes, we are your group. Members typically drive the topics, so things stay interesting. There are always problems to solve, new models to learn, and fun resources to digest. Zoom makes using digital modes relatively easy. We screen share and collaborate as we change modes, frequencies and topics so have zoom on your rig’s computer if possible. Interestingly, the net name “weird and wacky” actually referrers to all the strange, new and interesting digital modes out there, not net control. But the confusion is understandable. |
| Tuesday Lunch Face-to-Face Net | |
| Date/Time | Every Tuesday at 11:30 AM |
| Frequency/Mode | Face-to-Face |
| Info | We meet at PJ Skidoos, 9908 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA 22030 |
| Tuesday Night Digital Net | |
| Date/Time | Every Tuesday Night at 8:00PM EST |
| Frequency/Mode | HF 40 Meters (see below) |
| Net Control | Kerry, WA4BQM |
| Info | The VWS Digital Net has been meeting for more than 20 years, and there is a worldwide following of hams who join this weekly net. Join us for the conversation or DX opportunity that just might happen on this net. The net usually starts using Olivia (16 tones and 500 Hz wide) on a radio dial (carrier) frequency of 7071.5 KHz , and the sound card (audio frequency) initially set at +1500 Hz in order to establish an operating at 7073 KHz. The actual net frequency may be as much as -1000 Hz (below) to +500 Hz (above) 7073 KHz to avoid QRM . We move around in-progress contacts. Especially during good propagation windows, we’ll move from Olivia to other digital modes. We’ve experimented with Olivia, MFSK16, PSK31, Hellschreiber, RTTY, and machine-Morse Code, especially during the summer and winter solstices. Most of the regulars also monitor the VWS K4HTA 2m repeater (146.685- CTCSS 110.9 Hz) during the net. Give us a call on the 2m repeater if you are having trouble finding our signals, copying our signals or transmitting, or if you would like to try a different mode or band. Other backchannels such as the AIM window on NetLogger (“VWS Digital Net”) are also used. |
| Thursday Night CW Net | |
| Date/Time | Every Thursday Night at 7:00PM EST |
| Frequency/Mode | Held via Zoom Meeting (See Below) |
| Net Control | Sean, N3RTW |
| Info | The CW Practice Net is held every Thursday at 7:00 PM over Zoom. All skill levels are welcome including those looking to start learning Morse Code. Zoom requires you to be invited to the conference. You may do this by emailing Sean, N3RTW, at sean <at> ertw <dot> com. A reminder email with the Zoom link will be sent out every Wednesday. If you have problems connecting you can email Sean or call/text at (571) 489-9957. |
| Thursday Night 10m Pow-Wow Net | |
| Date/Time | Every Thursday Night at 8:30PM EST |
| Frequency/Mode | HF 10 Meters on 28.444MHz SSB (AM 1st Thursday of every quarter) |
| Net Control | Don, KV4PH |
| Info | On Thursday Nights, we hold a net on approximately 28.444 MHz upper sideband, tuned to our net control station. This is an informal roundtable discussion. |
Leading Edge Journals
Vienna Wireless Society published a series of technical journals from 1988 thru 2009, except for years 1996, 2002, 2004 and 2006-2008. These journals were published in book form and listed below. A special thanks to Mike Toia, K3MT for his talent and extensive time reformatting each of these volumes for readability.