What Use Is An F-call?

What use is an F-call? As I've said many times before, Amateur Radio blows me away. Every week I see new and imaginative things that this community achieves through trial and error, from contacts across new bands, coordination of new activities such as fox-hunts and SOTA activations. We are a fool hardy lot, climbing up hills to "activate" them, or doing the same thing for light-houses, or museums. There's a surfing contest where you collect callsigns to spell the locations of surfing beaches as outlined in the Beach Boy's "Surfin USA" song, which includes an Australian beach as well. It's wonderful to hear about Amateurs talking to other Amateurs, both using portable gear, both standing on top of a summit and exchanging reports across the country. Recently an F-call decided that he wanted to try to build a cavity from bits purchased at a hardware store. Complete with video of the achievement, testing and SWR measurements, a $15 experiment to see if he could do it. Wanting to learn mor

What use is an F-call? In the past I've mentioned that we're not alone on the bands. We as a community, Hams, or Radio Amateurs have radio spectrum we can use, specific ranges of frequencies that are available to our exclusive or shared use. Radio being radio means that we're also able to be heard by other radio users. Those users come from all walks of life. Not only do we have diversity within our own little community, the listeners beyond our license add a whole new range of variety. We sometimes refer to them as short wave listeners, but that's not all and it's not particularly accurate either. We have of course our share of CB listeners, sometimes disparagingly referred to as Chicken Band, there are members of HF clubs and associations, people with scanners, and many other individuals and groups that are able to hear our transmissions. Some of those people might one day feel welcome enough to join in the party that Amateur Radio represents. They'll feel part of the community because they've been list

What use is an F-call? When I started recording this weekly segment, there were lots of things I didn't know. I was apprehensive about how my contribution to Amateur Radio might be received, about what I should talk about, how long it should last, what tone I should set, how technical I should be and all manner of other considerations. When I started in Amateur Radio itself, not long before I started this segment, I had similar concerns and considerations, things I was worried about and skills I was unsure about. Today that is still the case, but of course in time, the what's and the hows have evolved. I still question the things I know to be true, just to make sure that I understood what I was being told, or that I had completed the procedure correctly. I speak to new Amateurs almost every week. I also speak to senior members of our community regularly. One thing is clear is that human frailty is universal. There is one thing that sets the experienced members aside from the new members, that is how they

What use is an F-call? Recently I received an email from an Amateur who has had their license for over 30 years and been in the electronics field for more than 40. He shared with me an experience that goes to the heart of why it pays to share, even if this particular experience left his mates with sore bellies from laughing so hard. Without going into too much technical background, the devil is in the detail. Our amateur, was working on a project which required a particular part. He was a little short, so after a quick check of the specs, substituted for a part with similar performance. The parts were duly soldered onto the board - bit of a mammoth task, 1.5mm separation, 21 components in a double row next to each other. A little later, more parts were needed. At this time our friend discovered that there was a difference between the two parts, one was an NPN Darlington transistor, the other a PNP Darlington transistor. If you don't know what that means, think of it as two identical devices that work in

What use is an F-call? When you get an amateur radio license, you learn that different license classes have different power limits. The basic power limit in Australia, the foundation license, or f-call, has 10 Watts as the limit. The standard license has 100 Watts and the advanced license has a maximum legal limit of 400 Watts. It's natural to think that more power gives you more reach, but realistically, what does that look like, what is the difference between 10 Watts and 100 Watts? Can you really notice a difference? From my own experiments, I can confirm that it's possible to talk to the opposite side of the earth with 5 Watts, but was that a fluke, or is there more to it? What is the difference? All things being equal, that is, the same radio, the same conditions, the same antenna, the same location, etc. - the difference between 10 Watts and 100 Watts is a 10-fold increase, or, if you have 400 Watts at your finger-tips, that's 40 times more - right? Not quite. If you recall, a dBm is a decibel-mil

What use is an F-call? If you've just gained your license and you're still not sure what to do with it, I can strongly recommend that you have a go at the Remembrance Day contest. It's an annual event where amateurs spend 24 hours commemorating the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific. The contest happens every year on the weekend closest to the 15th of August and runs from Saturday at 03:00 UTC until Sunday, 03:00 UTC. The aim is to make as many contacts as possible between amateurs in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guniea, or said using Amateur Speak, VK,ZL and P2. I hear you asking how does it work? Very simple. One station calls CQ Contest, something like this: "CQ Contest, CQ Contest, CQ Remembrance Day Contest, this is Victor Kilo Six Foxtrot Lima Alpha Bravo, Victor Kilo Six Foxtrot Lima Alpha Bravo, VK6FLAB, CQ Contest." At that point you shut your mouth for a few beats and then you start again. If all goes to plan, you'll hear another station saying "VK6WI". At tha

What use is an F-call? In a previous discussion I talked about decibels. The take home from that was that a decibel represents a ratio between two things. The gain of an antenna over the gain of a standard reference antenna, or the power loss between the start of a coax cable and it's end. I also mentioned that there are several other things with dB in them. Today I'd like to introduce the dBm, or Decibel milliwatt. It's a unit used to compare and contrast different levels of output. Unlike the Decibel, which is a ratio, the dBm is an absolute unit. It is referenced to a Watt. In audio and telephony, it's relative to a 600 ohm impedance, but in our RF patch, it's relative to a 50 ohm impedance. So, how do you use it, what does it mean and why is it useful? Let's look at some large and small numbers. If you look at an FM broadcast radio station, it typically uses 100 kilowatt, a 1 with 5 zeros. If you look at the received signal power of a GPS satellite, you might get 0.2 femtowatt, or 0.000 and 12 more 0

What use is an F-call? As you might know or recall, I don't have HF at my QTH. So far my DX activities have been using other people's equipment and using my 12m squid-pole when I'm either camping or set-up at some waterside location. This seriously curtails my activities and I'm keen to do something about it. Over the past few weeks I've been looking at different options, it's a process that everyone goes through, and sometimes you come out of it having gained some experience. I'm not shy in asking questions, but the replies are sometimes a little more difficult. I've heard the "try it and see" reply many times, and while that's fine if you have a money tree in the back yard, that's not really going to work for me. I've also been advised to home-brew a solution. While I'm all for that, I've built a few minor things; if I add up the money I've spent on home-brewing antennas, I'm not doing so well. It's $5 here, $2.50 there, a roll of wire, a pole or two, sockets, plugs, rope, you name it, it's in

What use is an F-call? Amateur Radio is a hobby that gains and loses members as does any other hobby. One aspect of the hobby differs, that of licensing. To join Amateur Radio, you need to be licensed, that is to say, if you want to transmit, rather than receive. In the vast majority of cases, the place where people join is as an F-call. They do their course, do their exam and after paying the requisite fees, they gain their license. After that they're pretty much left on their own. Amateur Radio clubs also gain and lose members. There is a certain movement of amateurs between clubs, but new members can essentially only come from one source, that is, New Amateurs. So, why is it that the majority of clubs in Amateur Radio are not geared up to dealing with New Amateurs? I know that there are occasional talks, the odd presentation, the infrequent training, but that's about it. I know there is at least one club who has lowered their fees for an F-call, and I'm sure it does something for people joining, but

What use is an F-call? If you're new to Amateur Radio, you may be surprised to learn that we have bullies among us, but if you've been around for a while, you'll have heard it, or perhaps even experienced it first hand. Yesterday I received two communications from two separate amateurs on different sides of the country. Both had been the victim of bullies. One was from an F-call and the other, an Advanced-call. Both of them described some of their experiences, how they felt belittled, hurt, humiliated and abused. One of these people stayed off air for a week, the other told me that they've left the hobby altogether. The vast majority of amateurs are wonderful people. They have fun, seek friendship, enjoy learning new things and meeting new people. Unfortunately there are those who feel that it's their right, privilege and sometimes even responsibility to police the airwaves and abuse others along the way. We have repeater trolls who sit on "their repeater" and tell you off for using it. We have

What use is an F-call? On previous occasions I've spoken about contesting and what it might add to your amateur experience. I know that there are amateurs who are convinced that contesting isn't for them, you'll never hear them on air, they don't think it's worth while, it's too complicated, it's not fun, it's not them. I beg to differ. In my opinion, contesting is among the most fun you can have with amateur radio and it's the most challenging, rewarding and fundamental test of your amateur abilities. I know that you might be thinking that your station isn't up to the task, but I learnt at an early age that if you don't try, you're guaranteed to fail. Of course there are contests that are high profile, attract the bulk of the world wide amateur community and flood the band with their noise, but there are also smaller and even tiny contests where you can practice and get your feet wet. There is at least one contest every weekend of the year, that's 52 contests right there, but the reality is that there ar

What use is an F-call? Recently I received an email from a fellow amateur who pointed out a curious phenomenon that was being taken up by new amateurs with little purpose or necessity. He pointed out that on air some amateurs, myself included, are referring to local companies indirectly, saying things like the Green Hardware Store, the J-store and the Blue Furniture Warehouse, meaning Bunnings, Jaycar and Ikea. Gasp, horror, I've just said three company names on air. Bunnings, Jaycar and Ikea, and I did it again. The world didn't come to a sudden and laborious stop, reversed direction and made a big mess. We don't think twice about saying Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, Elecraft and any other brand, so what's going on? As was pointed out to me, the Amateur License Conditions prohibit commercial use of the amateur bands. The people who were on the air before me were using strange constructs, so I copied them. People keep copying from what they hear and so it continues, until at some point the original person who sai

What use is an F-call? Much of what Amateur Radio is about relates to the planet we live on. I realise that you might think that it's about radios, antennas, contacts and logging, but the vast majority of our hobby relates directly to the Ionosphere, the Sun, the Earth and all manner of other natural influences. One of these influences happens twice a day, Sunrise and Sunset. The transition from light to dark and from dark to light has a period during which there is twilight. This period in amateur radio is called the Grey Line, because if you were to map it on a map of the earth, there's a line that travels all the way around the globe where the separation between dark and light exists. A funny phenomenon occurs along this line. Propagation is very efficient along its path. You might recall that there are several layers of the Ionosphere. Closest to us is the D-layer, then up from that the E and F layer. You might also remember seeing satellites in the early evening, they are still in sunlight while you'

What use is an F-call? You've come across the term dB, or Decibel. Likely you've heard of dBi as well. These terms are all related to Decibels, but mean completely different things. A decibel, named after Alexander Graham Bell, is a RELATIVE measure of two different power levels, that is, one power level compared to another power level. 3dB is about twice as much power, 6db is about four times as much, and 10dB is exactly 10 times as much power. This means that you can say that a feedline has 6dB loss, that is, you need to put 20 Watt in at one end to get 5 Watt out at the other. In short, a dB is a ratio between two levels of power, in the feedline case, the power in vs. the power out the other end. In antenna land, you'll have heard dBi as the measure of the amazingness of an antenna. A dBi is a measure of gain of an antenna when compared to an ISOTROPIC source. This is a theoretical reference, that cannot actually exist in nature, but at least it's always the same, which allows you to compare two antenn

What use is an F-call? One of the innocuous questions you are asked during a contact is: "What is your QTH?" or: "Where are you?". Often this is followed by a whole story about a goat track and so many kilometres away from some large land-mark. If you're dealing with an experienced operator, they'll simplify that to something like: 10km North East of Tokyo. Often that's more than accurate enough, but how do you communicate a more accurate location? In this age of GPS, we've all come to know that you can express any location on earth with two numbers, a latitude and a longitude. For example, the main 2m repeater in Perth, VK6RAP is located at 32 degrees, 6 minutes and 4 seconds South, 116 degrees, 3 minutes East, or digitally, -32.100054,116.051551. That's a right royal mouthful. We could improve on that by using a different system of indicating a location. We could use something called a maidenhead locator. For VK6RAP, the locator grid square is OF87av. I'll say that again, OF87av. Th

What use is an F-call? Making a contact using your radio is one thing, starts off with someone calling CQ, someone responding, discussion ensuing and the like. If you've never had the opportunity, then get to it, get on air and make some noise. Once you've made the contact, depending on your intent, you can log the contact and even get confirmation of the contact using an out of band method, that is, some mechanism, not using radio, that confirms that on this day and time, on this frequency and mode, you spoke with the other station. This mechanism of confirming contacts is generally known as the QSL system. Originally, it was completed by exchanging cards, like postcards, between both stations. You'd use the call-book to lookup the other station's address and send off your card in the hope that the other station would do the same. In doing so, you'd confirm the contact. Today, that system still exists, it's called Direct QSL-ing. We've added some courtesy to the exchange, sending along a self-addressed e

What use is an F-call? Three times a year, on Australia Day, 26 January, Anzac Day, 25 April and ITU Day, 17 May, an Amateur in Australia may change their prefix from VK to AX, making their callsign a special event station without requiring prior permission. Australia Day and Anzac day are pretty self-explanatory, but what on earth is ITU day and why is the 17th of May significant? First of all, it's actually called the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, or WTISD, but among friends we refer to it as ITU day. So what is ITU day? Founded on the 17th of May, 1865, the ITU came into existence. We started celebrating this event in 1969 and today it's ITU day. This large organisation, the International Telecommunication Union, makes it possible for us to have concepts like Amateur Bands and makes it possible for me to call CQ on 10m and for other Hams across the world have the ability to respond. So, if you have the opportunity to operate on the 17th of May, or on Australia Day or Anzac Day

What use is an F-call? Technologies come and go, some more quickly than others. Valves have been around since the 19th century, the first diode valve was developed in 1904, by John Ambrose Fleming. Despite ongoing urgings to kill them off in favour of solid state technology, they survive, much like shellac records vs mp3 files, fond tools that do their job in their own inimitable way. Some technologies become obsolete, sometimes really quickly, audio-cassettes, DAT tape and VHS are things of the past, no doubt an mp3 of the future will look nothing like what we use today. New technology happens all the time. Software Defined Radios are bringing a whole new dimension to Amateur Radio, the ability to see a whole band in real-time makes for an exciting place to make contacts and monitor a band, seeing activity, rather than just waiting to hear something on the frequency that you happen to be tuned to. In Amateur Radio this development happens because people get excited about something and run with it. Someti

What use is an F-call? You're 5 and 9, or 20 over 9, or 5 and 5. It's a phrase that you'll hear regularly in amateur radio conversations as you tune up and down the bands. If we ignore for a moment the readability signal, the first number, in this case "5", which I have to confess is pretty arbitrary. My perfect readability is not going to be the same as yours. The deafer I am, the less likely you're going to get a readability score of "5", lets look at the second number. It's a signal strength. Pretty straight forward. It goes from S0 to S9 and sometimes there are extra decibels added, 10 dB over, or 20 dB over, etc. The S meter in your radio is actually a very sensitive micro ammeter. The dial displays in S-units. What is an S-unit? Well, until 1981 there wasn't a real standard. In the 1930's they'd decided that S9 means 50 microvolts at the input of the receiver, but there wasn't a standard impedance of 50 Ohm, which we take for granted today, so the number is pretty meaningless in

What use is an F-call? As you gain more experience as an Amateur I've found that I spend more time listening and less time talking. I set my radio up in my car, get comfortable with a clipboard and headphones and tune up and down the dial listening for stations. I do this regularly. I've listened to the bands enough to know that each band has its own "feel", the crackle and hiss of each one slightly but distinctly different. On occasion I've had the fortune to be able to spend more than a few hours listening, scanning and attempting to add to my QRP or low power contact list. On these rare but rewarding outings I've observed something that you can only really get by experiencing it. Quite suddenly, within the space of 15 seconds or so, the band changes. The closest analogy I can come up with is to think of an out of focus camera that suddenly shows the picture in full and clear detail. It's not the same as what happens on air, but it's the best way I can describe it. When you listen to a band, y