Q: WHAT is a 'QTC'?
A: Ham radio messages in CW using a standard format. This is an example:
KA 77 R LXØAAA
13 LUXEMBOURG 1155 APR 13 BT 3AØAAA BT
WELCOME TO OUR FUN NET
STOP WE ARE
GLAD YOU
FOUND US EVENTUALLY
BT ROBERT AR
In clear text, it's message #77 from the station LXØAAA with 13 words. The message was created in the town of Luxembourg at 11:55 UTC on April 13 of the current year. The addressee is radio station 3AØAAA. The content is printed using five words per line. This makes it easy to see that the word count is correct. Whenever two letters are depicted with an overscore this means that they are transmitted joint together without the usual pause between letters in Morse code.
Q: WHY?
A: We are doing this for fun. We love to see that it is possible
to write down a short message reliably. We listen to each other
indeed (as opposed to
this game).
Q: CONTENT?
A: Any content suitable for ham radio, this includes greetings, wx
reports, or playing a chess game at slow pace. If you are brave try to
introduce yourself like this:
KA 1 R DA9ZZZ 18
HIMMELREICH OCT 7 BT LX0AAA BT HI I AM PETER FROM EAST BAVARIA LOC JN69ME
MY STN 100 WATTS QSK ANT DIPOLE LIS 2021 BT PETER AR
Q: WHERE?
A: On 3554 kHz (or on the next free channel below this frequency).
Q: WHEN?
A: On Wednesdays at 21:00 local time in Central Europe. Be there on time,
after 15 min of calling "CQ QTC NET" in vain, any caller may give up.
Q: ARE YOU ON AIR *EVERY* WEDNESDAY?
A: Not really. We may skip very important holidays such as Christmas if they
fall on a Wednesday. Yet, apart from these pre-announced exceptions, so far
all Wednesays were activated (in the period from October 2025 to May 2026).
However, summer breaks are a tradition in many networks, usually June through
August. In the current season there has not been a formal decision to close
down the net for summer. In the thunderstorm season it is wise to check web
sites showing lightning maps. If there are thunderstorms in popular activity
centers such as JN45, JN48, or JN88 do not expect activity.
Q: WHO?
A: YOU are welcome if you feel that you can receive such a message.
Come and listen. Please call us, at least to give us a signal report.
Q: WHAT'S THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE QTC NET?
The net is on air very regularly, yet it is still a free net without
a well-defined Net Control Station (NCS). Most of the participants are
located around the Alpine arc in France, Italy, Germany, and Austria which is
the most active area. All stations are running moderate power. We are not yet
a full fledged net according to ARRL style. The QN-codes are not yet used very
much since they make little sense in a net that lacks an NCS. Almost all
messages are kept as above.
If you want to join, please contribute with a QTC as above as soon as
possible.
For a start, be sure to know that a call ending in QNI means that paricipants
are expected to check in.
Q: WANNA KNOW MORE?
A: Click here (more details about QTCs) or write (personal message to a human) us.