CW Operating and Q Signals

Speed

What is the best speed to use when answering a CQ in Morse code?

The fastest speed at which you are comfortable copying, but no faster than the CQ

Two constraints, both important. Answering faster than you can copy produces a contact you cannot follow. Answering faster than the other station sent is presumptuous — they told you their comfortable speed by sending at it.

What should you do if a CW station sends “QRS?” Send slower.

QRS is a request, not a criticism. Slow down and the contact works.

Zero beat

What does the term “zero beat” mean in CW operation?

Matching the transmit frequency to the frequency of a received signal.

Two CW signals on slightly different frequencies produce an audible beat note between them; identical frequencies produce no beat, hence “zero beat”.

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. Modern radios provide a spot tone or a CW pitch indicator for exactly this.

Full break-in (QSK)

Which of the following describes full break-in CW operation (QSK)?

Transmitting stations can receive between code characters and elements.

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. Instead of taking turns, either operator can interrupt, and a mistake gets corrected as it happens. 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

Procedural signals, sent as single run-together characters.

What does it mean when a CW operator sends “KN” at the end of a transmission?

Listening only for a specific station or stations.

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.

What prosign is sent to indicate the end of a formal message when using CW?

AR.

AR ends a message. SK ends a contact. Different signals for different endings.

The RST report, and the suffix that matters

RST is readability (1–5), strength (1–9), tone (1–9). The tone digit is CW-only, and one letter can be appended:

When sending CW, what does a “C” mean when added to the RST report?

Chirpy or unstable signal.

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

QRN versus QRM is the distinction to keep: QRN is natural — static from storms — and QRM is man-made, from other stations. 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.

Check yourself

1. A station calls CQ at 25 words per minute and you copy comfortably at 15. What speed do you answer at?
2. You send “KN” at the end of your transmission. What have you asked for?
3. Static crashes are making copy difficult. Which Q signal?