Ultimate QSO

Experimental tool

This is the replacement for the QSO Trainer and is not finished. It will eventually take over that page.

Practise copying whole, realistic QSOs (ragchew, POTA, SOTA, etc, etc). Every contact is generated from scratch and is self-consistent, even down to the weather! Copy what matters into the log card and the tool marks it, field by field.

The QSO formats, conditions, style, etc are almost infinitely variable, but if you are coming from LICW or CW Academy and want to practise material similar to their teaching, then use the simple presets below to select your drill.

 
 
 
 

What to practise

 Where these formats come from
 

 

What you’ll get
StationPartWhat you do

Your station

The QSOs are addressed to you, so they need your callsign at least. This is stored in your browser and shared with the other trainers on this site; it is never sent to the server. Only the boxes the selected drill uses are shown or highlighted, and anything left empty is invented for you.

 
 
 
 
 

Who you talk to

Callsigns are generated from real on-air activity, so you hear the prefixes you would actually work rather than an even spread of every country.

 
 
 

The other operator’s fist and speed. More detailed settings can be found in the

 
/

Band conditions

Make the Morse sound like it came off the air rather than out of a signal generator: atmospheric noise, fading, a receiver filter, and other operators on the band. The noise floor is calculated from the location, season and the time of day.

Your station

 
 
 
 

Conditions

 
 

How to practise
Configure: | | |

Each over — them

T1: Their over - how it reaches you

Presentation options for their overs: Morse, Speech and Reveal. At least one is always on. Use the and the to configure the sound.

T2: Wait - finish writing it down

Timed pause after each of their overs. A bare number is read as milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Add a pause after their over. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box (e.g. “1000”, “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”).

Each over — you

Y1: Your over - the model to key back

Presentation options for your own overs: Morse, Speech and Reveal. At least one is always on. Use the and the to configure the sound.

Y2: Your turn - send it

Hold is always on: the run waits while you send. Press Play when you have finished. Nothing is listening to your key yet, so your sending is not marked.

Y3: Wait - before the next over

Timed pause after each of your own overs. A bare number is read as milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Add a pause after your over. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box (e.g. “1000”, “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”).

Each QSO

1: Log - write down what mattered

One log entry per contact. Log basic asks for the callsign, the report, the name and the QTH. Log all asks for everything that was sent, and switches Log basic on with it. With both off there is no card and nothing is marked. Type into the box as you listen, in any order.

2: Wait - until you say you have finished

Timed pause before the card is marked. A bare number is read as milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Add a pause before the card is marked. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box (e.g. “1000”, “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”); 0 marks it straight away. The card is unlocked from the start, so you can type as you listen.

3: Check - how you did, and what was sent

The card is marked here. The Hit / miss bell rings one sound for a good copy and another for a poor one; success is judged on the key facts alone, so with Log all on, a contact can both be a hit and 80%. Set the two sounds in the . Reveal shows the whole QSO once it is marked. Flashcard shows the key facts they sent and Speech speaks them. Use the to set the flashcard size, case and contrast.

4: Wait - take it in before moving on

Timed pause before the next contact. A bare number is read as milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Add a pause before the next contact. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box (e.g. “1000”, “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”).

5: Bell - the contact is done

Bell rings at the end of each contact. Use the to configure it.

Practise

The QSO
Your log
 

Review

History

Your practice history, grouped by day. Select a row to show its timing chart; use Play to hear a message.
Time Message Speed You copied Recording Your sending Speed Result Accuracy Precision Repeats Delay (ms)
No practice recorded yet.

Export history

How much?
As what?

Clear History

This clears the practice history for this tool only. Other tools keep their history.

Clear just today’s practice, or everything recorded for this tool?

Settings

 Help

Load some settings from a file (overwriting your current choices), or Save all the settings for this page in a file. Share Settings generates a link to bookmark your settings, insert into a document, or share with someone else. The Reset Settings button changes everything in this page to its default value.

Reset Settings

Are you sure you want to reset all settings in this page to their default values?

Upload Settings

Uploading new settings will overwrite your existing ones. Are you sure you want to continue?

New Settings Applied

Your uploaded settings have been applied to the page.

Notes

The stations are generated, not copied from a list, but the callsigns are built from the measured CW activity of real operators to make them realistic.

The formats this tool can play are chosen because a club teaches each of them as a lesson. Where they came from, with sources, is set out in CW QSO Formats and Conventions. If a contact here is hard to follow, Example QSOs generates one in the same way and says in plain English what each over and each abbreviation in it means. For drilling the ARRL sections on their own, the Word List Trainer has lists of them, of Field Day exchanges, and a real log of 1,288 contacts from a 2022 Field Day station.

General

There are many . Press ? to list them. On this page the space bar, / and Enter all carry on from a hold — useful in a sending drill, where both hands are on the key when the tool asks you to continue.

Change log

    Morse Controls

    Playback Medium

    Timing

     

    No character speed fits the other settings

     

    No Farnsworth speed fits the other settings

     

    No Wordsworth speed fits the other settings

     

    Sound

     
     
     

    Speech Controls

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    You are offline: only local voices are available.

     

    Bell Controls

    Played when your answer is correct.

     

    Played when your answer is wrong.

     

    Played to mark the end of each trial.

     

    Flashcard Controls

    Aa

    Keyboard Shortcuts

    On the numeric keypad:

    • Play/Pause: 0
    • Replay the current message from start: 1 or Enter
    • Speak the current message: 2
    • Play the next message: 3
    • Next message: 6
    • Message visibility toggle: 5

    On the main keyboard:

    • Play/Pause: / or Space
    • Replay the current message from start: R
    • Speak the current message: W
    • Play the next message: M
    • Next message: . or K
    • Stop: S
    • Play the VVV intro: V
    • Message visibility toggle: H
    • Repeat / Repeat 1 toggle: L
    • Set the play count: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 or 6
    • Flashcard toggle, before & after: Shift+C & C
    • Speech toggle, before & after: Shift+T & T
    • Morse repeat toggle: Shift+M
    • Bell toggle: B
    • Character speed +/-: Shift+X / Shift+Z
    • Farnsworth speed +/-: X / Z

    Standard navigation with Tab and Return is supported, and to show this help is ?

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