[CW] "QSR"?

David J Ring Jr [email protected]
Fri, 21 Jun 2002 11:44:45 -0400


Dear Will,

You neglected to say if this QSL card was amateur or commercial.

This reflector is devoted to CW, and CW was used by point-to-point 
stations, marine stations, and also by amateur stations.  Marine stations 
also used spark - and some had emergency transmitters that still worked 
on spark even through the 1990s.  But spark is NOT CW, so it would be 
"off topic" on this reflector.  ;-)

The Q-SIGNAL QSR means "Return to the calling frequency and call 
me."

Ships call Coastal Radio Stations on "Calling Frequencies" that all coast 
stations listen to.  When the Coast Station answers, the ship gives him 
the working frequency of the ship.

Passenger Ships had LOWER in frequency working assignments - 
(These were called "high traffic ships", and cargo ships and others were 
given HIGHER frequency assignments.  Ships were given a pair of 
Working Frequencies - these were harmonically related.  The calling 
frequencies were also harmonically related:  2090 would be 4180 and 
6270 8360 and so forth for the ship cw frequencies of 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 
MHz bands. 

If when the ship station went from the Calling Frequency to his working 
frequency and the frequency was occupied, the Coast Station would 
send QSR and the ship would return to the calling frequency, call the 
Coast Station and give his alternate QSS (working frequency) and then 
shift up to that frequency.

73

David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA
Radio Officer
U.S. Merchant Marine
I found the Q-signal "QSR" on a QSL card for the 1920's, but can't find 
the definition of this one *anywhere*, after much searching through 
books and webpages.  Can someone please provide me with an accurate 
definition? Thanks!

--
Will White, KD7BFX
Seattle WA US
King County, Grid CN87tq
ITU Zone 6, CQ Zone 3
***************************************************
"The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand.
The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat.
You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles.
The wireless is the same, only without the cat."
                                                     - Albert Einstein
***************************************************


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