[CTSARA] Anatomy of a Field Day CW QSO

[Andrew Siegel]

AT asked me to describe what a Field Day CW QSO looks like, so I thought 
it was worth repeating to the group.  This represents a typical QSO.


1 Me:  CQ FD W1EE
2 Me:  CQ FD W1EE
3 Me:  CQ FD W1EE
4 Me:  CQ FD W1EE
5 Him: W4GR
6 Me:  W4GR 3A CT BK
7 Him: QSL 8A 8A GA GA BK
8 Me:  TU DE W1EE


Let's deconstruct it line by line:

1-4. I call CQ.  I actually did this for only a minority of QSOs; mostly 
I used the "hunt and pounce" system of tuning around and finding people 
who themselves were calling CQ or were finishing up a QSO.  You don't 
need an elaborate CQ procedure for FD as you might during every day 
operation, where the CQ would go something like "CQ CQ CQ CQ DE W1EE 
W1EE W1EE K".  A very short CQ, frequently repeated, does the trick.

5. He calls me just by sending his call.  If I hadn't copied it clearly, 
I would have responded with "AGN" ("again") or "QRZ" ("who is calling 
me").  If I could barely hear him and didn't want to bother trying to 
make the connection, I would have ignored him and called CQ again.

6. I send his call to confirm to him that he is the person I am talking 
to, and to give him a chance to correct him call if I got it wrong. (Not 
everyone does this -- it's a matter of personal preference.)  I then 
send our class and section.  The "BK" is short for "break", and is a way 
to indicate to him that the conversation is passing back to him 
immediately.  Kind of like saying "go ahead" on phone.  If he didn't 
copy what I sent at this point, he'd come back with "AGN", or more 
specifically, "CLASS" or "NR" ("number", meaning "class") or "SEC".  But 
instead...

7. He sends "QSL", which means "I confirm receipt".  Not all operators 
do this -- I don't.  Then he sends me his class and section.  In this 
case, he repeats them -- I didn't, but probably should have.  He then 
sends "BK" to give me a chance to ask him to repeat if I had missed the 
copy.

8. I got everything, so I send him a simple "TU" ("thank you"), followed 
by my call in case someone else was listening and wants to QSO with me 
after I am done with W4GR.  Like phone operation, the protocol is that 
the person who was transmitting on the frequency first (me) gets to keep 
that frequency after the QSO.


I actually used my homebrew automation software to QSO with this guy. 
Here's what the actual computer dialog looked like.  Text after each ">" 
prompt is text that I typed.  Everything else is output from the program:

 > cq
SENDING: 'CQ FD W1EE'
 > cq
SENDING: 'CQ FD W1EE'
 > cq
SENDING: 'CQ FD W1EE'
 > cq
SENDING: 'CQ FD W1EE'
 > w4gr
SENDING: 'W4GR 3A CT BK'
 > 8a ga
SENDING: 'TU DE W1EE'
 >


Let's deconstruct this:

"cq": tells the program to send CQ.

When I hear his call, I just type it into the program.  The program then 
knows to send my exchange to him, and it also then expects me to type in 
his exchange as soon as I hear it.

"8a ga": I type his exchange.  I could have entered it in any order on 
that line, or entered it one line at a time.  The program recognizes the 
difference between class and section, and knows which one I've entered, 
and which one is still pending.  Since I have effectively completed the 
QSO at this point, it sends the close and resets for the next QSO.


So it's pretty simple.  All you have to recognize in this case are 8 
characters: "W4GR 8A GA".  This is doable even at 30 WPM; your short 
term memory acts as "instant replay".  There are variations, but 
generally most of the QSOs follow this pattern closely.

I will deconstruct a standard CW QSO in a subsequent email.  And I'd be 
happy to have a CW sked with anyone.  We could meet in the phone band 
on, say, 15m or 10m (both very quiet), start out in phone, switch to CW 
(still in the phone band), and then if you want to ask a question or 
take a rest, just pop back into phone.  Just say the word.

73,
Andy, N2CN


AT Crocker wrote:
 > Andy ---
 >
 >
 >
 > Would you be so kind as to help me “see” a full FD-format CW QSO in 
text form, so I can learn it?
 >
 > Although I now know the Code, I’ve never actually had a CW QSO --- 
only entertained myself at 0 power into a dummy load. I guess it makes 
sense to learn the rhythm of simple QSOs first.  There aren’t many on 
the air in slow code…most are quite fast.
 >
 >
 >
 > Thanks in advance and 73 --- “AT”