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.

Club

Exercise

Practising

Speed

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. The boxes the selected drill sends are highlighted; anything left empty is invented for you.

Your callsign

Your name

Location (QTH)

Your rig

Your antenna

Your power

Your age

Years licensed

Your occupation

Your CWops number

Your SKCC number

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.

Stations

Prefixes

Group

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

Simulated Morse key

Character /Chrcter Farnsworth

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.

Basic settings

Preset conditions

Other stations

Your location

The radio band

Band

Season

Hour (local, 0-23)

Your station

Local noise

Their signal

Filter (Hz)

The channel

Crashes

Fading depth

Fading rate (Hz)

What to practise Where these formats come from

Format

Part

What you’ll get
Station	Part	What you do

How to practise

Configure: | | |

Each over — them

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.

Wait - finish writing it down

Add a pause after their over. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box. A plain number is milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Each over — you

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.

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.

Wait - before the next over

Add a pause after your over. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box. A plain number is milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Each QSO

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.

Wait - until you say you have finished

Add a pause before the card is marked. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box; 0 marks it straight away. The card is unlocked from the start, so you can type as you listen. A plain number is milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

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.

Wait - take it in before moving on

Add a pause before the next contact. Either Hold until you press Play, or pause for the time in the box. A plain number is milliseconds. Add a unit to follow the Morse speed, e.g. “5dit”, “3fdit”, “1ws”.

Bell - the contact is done

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

Practise

The QSO

Your log

What you copied

Review

History

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

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.

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. The contest exchanges that are not generally taught as a QSO (ARRL Field Day, CQ WW, CQ WPX) are not covered here. For Field Day in particular the Word List Trainer is the better tool today: it includes a word lists for the exchange, the ARRL sections, 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.

Ultimate QSO

Basic settings

The radio band

Your station

The channel

Each over — them

Their over - how it reaches you

Wait - finish writing it down

Each over — you

Your over - the model to key back

Your turn - send it

Wait - before the next over

Each QSO

Log - write down what mattered

Wait - until you say you have finished

Check - how you did, and what was sent

Wait - take it in before moving on

Bell - the contact is done

History

Export history

Clear History

Reset Settings

Upload Settings

New Settings Applied

Notes

General

Change log

Morse Controls

Playback Medium

Timing

Sound

Speech Controls

Bell Controls

Flashcard Controls

Keyboard Shortcuts

Welcome back

Change Log

Enable Audio

Theme