CW Nets 101
(By CW Net Guru Joe Burnett, W4BUR)
One thing that's confusing to a newcomer to the CW nets is the protocol used. The CW nets operate differently than the SSB nets, so I thought I'd provide some information to help you understand what's going on when you check in for the first time.
Generally, the Net Control Station (NCS) comes on the net frequency ten or fifteen minutes prior to the published net start time. The NCS will transmit: (all of the following transmissions assume W4BUR is the NCS)
CQ CQ CCN CCN DE W4BUR/NCS QNI QNI K.
"QNI" is a request for net stations to check in. When this is done prior to the scheduled net time it is an invitation to stations to get on a "prelist" to help speed up the actual check-in process when the net starts. The NCS will assign check-in numbers at actual check-in as stations respond.
At the published net start time (or a couple of minutes thereafter) the NCS will transmit an abbreviated preamble, similar to the following (note that "BT" is a CW abbreviation for a break between sentences):
WELCOME TO THE 3905 CENTURY CLUB CW NET FOR WAS AND AWARDS BT
ALL ARE WELCOME BT
FOR MORE INFO PSE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.3905CCN.COM BT
PSE QSL VIA WM9H BT
NW QND PSE QNZ (series of "V"s followed by a steady carrier) BT
NW QNI DE W4BUR/NCS K
The abbreviations may require some interpretation... "NW" means "NOW"; "QND" means that this is a directed net; "PSE" means "PLEASE"; "QNZ" means to "zero beat", or make sure your frequency is the same as NCS; the "V"s and the steady carrier provide a signal to allow stations to fine tune their transmitters to the NCS frequency.
Following the abbreviated preamble the NCS will look for more check-ins and will continue to assign check-in numbers. Depending on propagation the NCS may ask other stations to look for check-ins using the following CW abbreviation:
AA1NZ DE W4BUR/NCS PSE NET CALL K
Hearing this, AA1NZ will transmit DE AA1NZ QSP QNI QNI K. (QSP means relay) If AA1NZ gets any check-ins he will give them check-in numbers and then relay the information to NCS.
When the NCS believes that all stations wishing to check in are on the list, s/he will transmit the following:
DE W4BUR/NCS QNC (all stations copy) QNS (following stations are on the list) BT
LIST FOLLOWS BT
QNC means "all stations copy" and QNS means "the following stations are on the list." The check-in list will then be transmitted by NCS in a manner similar to the following:
NR 1 AA1NZ AA1NZ BT NH NH BT OP TOM TOM NR 1 AA1NZ BT BT
NR 2 N1RR N1RR BT MA MA BT OP CHAS CHAS NR 2 N1RR BT BT
The NCS will continue through the numbers until all checked in stations have been listed, and will then again ask for check-ins by transmitting DE W4BUR/NCS QNI QNI K. Additional stations will be checked in and assigned check-in numbers. Following this NCS will transmit DE W4BUR/NCS QNC NR (followed by the check-in number, station call sign, location and name).
The NCS will then place him/herself on the list and will notify the net of check-in number, location and name.
When the check-in list is complete the NCS will transmit DE W4BUR/NCS LET'S ROLL (or LET'S GET STARTED, or something similar) to let the stations on the net know that it's time to begin making contacts. The NCS will transmit DE W4BUR/NCS NR 1 AA1NZ K (may also add UR TURN, although this isn't necessary since stations are expected to realize that it's time to start making contacts and that it's their turn to make a call).
A typical exchange of information goes like this:
DE AA1NZ GE ALL BT
NR 2 N1RR N1RR DE AA1NZ AA1NZ UR 599 599 K
What has just gone on is that AA1NZ said good evening to everyone on the net and then called check-in number 2, N1RR, giving him a signal report of 599.
In response N1RR will say thank you, I QSL the 599 signal report, and you are also 599 as follows:
AA1NZ DE N1RR TU QSL 599 599 UR ALSO 599 599 K
Then AA1NZ will identify, acknowledge the "also 599", say Thank You (TU), and turn it over to the net control ("BTN" means "Back To Net") as follows:
DE AA1NZ QSL ALSO 599 TU BTN K
NCS will then transmit "CFM" (confirm) to let the net know that the contact was a good one and will call the next check-in on the list for his/her turn to make a call.
You'll note that the signal reports exchanged in the example contained three digits. This is a signal report in the standard R-S-T Signal Report System. The first two digits are the same as are used for SSB signal reports, Readability and Strength. On CW, the third digit is used to let the other station know what kind of "Tone" is being transmitted. A "9" is the best, indicating a perfect tone with no distortion. Ordinarily you won't hear anything except a "9" as the third digit, but occasionally someone will have a transmitter problem and should be made aware of it. The following is from the ARRL Handbook for Radio Amateurs describing the numeric codes used for tone (the third digit in a CW signal report).
- Sixty cycle ac or less, very rough and broad.
- Very rough ac, very harsh and broad.
- Rough ac tone, rectified but not filtered.
- Rough note, some trace of filtering.
- Filtered rectified ac but strongly ripple-modulated.
- Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation.
- Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation.
- Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation.
- Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind.
The above examples are just that - examples. Actual exchanges of information will vary depending on the operator and what s/he has to say or add to the signal report data.
I hope all this is helpful and will give you some encouragement to join us on the CW nets. Don't worry about making mistakes - we all do that.
CU on CW
I hope the following info will be helpful to some who are not familiar with Net "Q" signals. These are from the ARRL Net Directory with a couple more included. This is not a complete list, but a collection of the most popular...
| SIGNAL | MEANING |
|---|---|
| QNA | Answer in prearranged order |
| QNC | All Net stations please copy |
| QND | Net is directed (has an NCS) |
| QNF | Net is free (not or no longer directed) |
| QNG | Take over as net control |
| QNH | Your net freq is high |
| QNI | Net stations check in |
| QNL | Your net freq is low |
| QNN | Net Control is _______ |
| QNO | Station is leaving the net |
| QNP | Unable to copy_______ |
| QNS | Following stations are in the net (list) |
| QNX | Station is excused from the net |
| QNZ | Please zero beat ur freq with mine |
| WE ALSO USE: | |
| QRU | Do you have anything for me? |
| QSP | Please relay |
| QSX | Please listen for _______ |
| HUMOROUS & RARELY HEARD: | |
| QPP | I have to take a nature break |
| QTT | Same as QPP |
| QLF | Are you sending with your left foot? |
| TOF | Try other foot (only if QLF = yes |
