Ragchewing
| Ragchewing | |
|---|---|
| Meaning | A long, relaxed, informal conversation on the air |
| Also called | A ragchew; "chewing the rag" |
| Contrast with | Short exchanges of call signs and reports, as in contests and DX pileups |
| Common topics | Radios, antennas, weather, work, travel, family |
| Where to find it | |
| HF voice | 75 meters after dark; 40 meters by day and into the evening; 20 meters by day |
| VHF and UHF | Repeaters and FM simplex |
| CW | Above the DX and contest activity in the CW segments |
| CW clubs | FISTS, SKCC |
Ragchewing is having a long, relaxed conversation over the air. The word comes from the old slang phrase "chewing the rag", meaning a long chat, and a ragchew is the opposite of the quick contact made in a contest or a DX pileup, where two stations swap call signs and signal reports and move on. A ragchew may run for half an hour or more and wander from radios and antennas to the weather, work, travel and family. For many hams it is the heart of the hobby: amateur radio as a way of meeting people.
Where to find a ragchew
Almost any band and mode will do, but some are traditional.
- 75 meters, the voice portion of the 80-meter band, is the classic ragchew band in North America. After dark it covers several hundred miles reliably, and groups of friends meet on the same frequency night after night. Both single sideband and AM are heard.
- 40 meters is regional by day, which suits in-state conversations, and its range grows in the evening. Many ragchews move between 40 and 75 meters as the night goes on. See 40-meter band.
- 20 meters carries daytime conversations across the country and, when the band is open, across oceans.
- Repeaters on the 2-meter and 70-centimeter bands host local chat, from the morning commute to late-evening regulars. Two stations close enough to hear each other directly can move to a simplex frequency and leave the repeater free.
- CW ragchews, in Morse code, are usually found above the busy bottom edges of the CW segments, where DX and contest stations gather.
- Keyboard modes such as PSK31, RTTY and JS8Call allow typed conversations. FT8 does not; it is built for brief, automated exchanges.
How a ragchew goes
A ragchew starts like any other contact, with a CQ and an answer (see Calling CQ). After the opening exchange of names, locations and reports, the transmissions simply get longer. Each turn is called an over, and a good ragchewer hands the conversation back often enough that the other station doesn't lose the thread, especially on HF, where signals fade in and out.
On CW, conversations follow a loose pattern built from abbreviations: RIG for the radio, ANT for the antenna, WX for the weather, HR for "here" and FB, "fine business", for anything good. Speeds vary widely, and the faster station is expected to slow down to match the slower one.
When three or more stations take part, the conversation becomes a roundtable. Each station speaks in turn and hands off to the next by call sign, so everyone knows whose turn it is. A newcomer who wants to join waits for a pause between transmissions, gives a call sign once, and waits to be invited in.
Etiquette
- Listen first. Before starting a conversation, ask whether the frequency is in use. A frequency that sounds empty may be one end of someone else's ragchew.
- Identify. Under Part 97, each station must give its call sign at least every ten minutes and at the end of the contact. In a long conversation the ten-minute mark is easy to miss.
- Leave gaps on repeaters. Pause for a second or two before replying so that others can break in, and keep each transmission shorter than the repeater's timeout timer. Any station with emergency traffic takes priority.
- Mind the neighbors. Move off national calling frequencies, such as 146.520 MHz on 2-meter simplex, once a contact is established, and check the schedule before settling on a frequency that a net uses.
- Keep it clean. US rules forbid obscene or indecent language and business dealings on the air. Many operators also steer away from topics that tend to start arguments.
CW ragchew clubs
Two clubs in particular encourage conversational CW.
FISTS, the International Morse Preservation Society, was founded in the UK in 1987 to promote Morse code and friendly, unhurried contacts. Members are issued numbers, which they exchange on the air, and the club runs its own operating events and awards.
The Straight Key Century Club (SKCC), founded in 2006, is for operators who send with mechanical keys: straight keys, semi-automatic "bug" keys and sideswipers, but not electronic keyers. Membership is free, members exchange SKCC numbers, and the club's awards begin with working 100 other members. The club also runs short, informal operating events that are friendly to slower operators. See Morse keys and paddles.