What Use Is An F-call?

What use is an F-call? Last week I was reading a report from another Amateur, a QRP station who has made it his aim to have a DX contact every day. John N8ZYA, living in Charleston West Virginia, wrote on his blog that he'd made a contact with Japan. Initially that made me laugh, since for him, that contact was noteworthy, for me, it's one of six Japanese contacts I've made while QRP, in fact my very first QSO on HF was with Japan, sadly the information about what station that was is not recorded by me. After I stopped laughing I had a look at what the implications were. For John, getting to the rest of the US is perhaps not trivial, but at least about as hard as it is to get across Australia for me. I then realised that for John, Japan was on the other side of the planet, for me it was next door. I joked with John that one day I'd be reporting that I'd worked all states - in the USA, and that he had probably already achieved that, to which he responded that he still had to work Alaska. So my learning fo

What use is an F-call? The radio waves are open to all comers, licensed or not. That means that while you have to be licensed to use a particular frequency and that stiff penalties apply if you're not, there's nothing physically stopping anyone from using any frequency. I recently had a report from a fellow amateur who had a particularly unpleasant experience on-air. They were accosted by another station. Fortunately that amateur had a witness to the experience, so they didn't feel completely alone in the moment. It did stop them from being on-air until surrounded by friends. This discovery brought out other experiences from other amateurs, one told how another station was impersonating their callsign, and only being advised of this by other amateurs brought this to their attention. I've heard another station use my voice from a recording like the news, and transmit that on a local repeater, and I've heard other stations being abused and stories about abuse. Abuse will happen. Idiots are everywhere in soc

What use is an F-call? Since I started in Amateur Radio, in November 2010, barely a minute and a half ago when compared with the history of this hobby, I've been involved in many different activities. Last week I had the opportunity to sit down and have a think about what that entailed for me. I've been doing lots of things, partly because I'm likely to jump in head first into any new adventure, and partly because I want to get a feel for what Amateur Radio can be. I'm going to list some of the things I've done, not to brag about them, but to attempt to share what you might do to expand your personal involvement with this fantastic hobby. I purchased a radio after finding out about online sites like eham and qrz, where other amateurs congregate to share their opinion. I participated in about five or so contests, ranging from smaller to large, on my own and as a member of a team, with low power, or high power, portable and in well appointed shacks. I attended two WIA conferences, organised one of them, w

What use is an F-call? Every day Amateur Radio adds a little something to my life in fun and unexpected ways. I know that's a big call, but it's true. This morning whilst preparing to participate in a contest I was looking for a map that shows which direction to point an antenna in order to have the best chance of your signal ending up where you intend. Over the past few years I've seen lots of maps around, but none of them really did what I wanted from them, namely be readable, helpful and contain specific Amateur Radio information. I've got a wonderful Ham Radio Map on my wall [hamradiomap.com] and it contains many useful bits of Amateur Radio Information. Soon it will have pins on it for every country I've contacted, but it doesn't contain things like beam headings, or ITU zones. So, I googled my way around the 'net and found a great circle mapper. It is intended for flying, that is, you want to fly from this airport to that one, what heading and distance is that? Funnily enough, those two numbers ar

What use is an F-call? In the past I've talked about the difference between the various types of Amateur License in Australia. The three main types in use today in order of increasing privilege are Foundation, Standard and Advanced. The Foundation License, referred to as an F-call, since the first letter after the state number is the letter F followed by three letters, is the beginners license. It allows you to use up to 10 Watts, use some bands and basically dis-allows any digital modes - other than hand-keyed Morse. Other restrictions are that you can only use commercially available radios and you can only home brew stuff outside the radio, power supplies, antennas, SWR meters, etc. The Standard License, considered a step-up from Foundation, allows for 100 Watts, more bands and all digital modes. As a Standard Licensee you can supervise another operator, run your radio under computer control and home brew everything. The Advanced License, the so-called Pinnacle of Amateur Radio Licensing in Australia, i

What use is an F-call? Looking through the list of Amateurs attending the WIA conference, I notice a distinct lack of attendance by F-calls. It was the same at the conference last year. Few and Far between. We don't seem to have a way to attract new blood to discussions that further the future of Amateur Radio, either because a new F-call believes that they don't have anything to say, or don't have the right to make their opinion known. Let me disabuse you of that notion. You have a license, you've studied for it, paid for it, passed the test and now you have the responsibility that goes with being an Amateur. You can of course choose to just listen, but if you do that, why bother with a license at all? You could sit on the sidelines and be a short-wave listener and take enjoyment from that. Or you could take a more active role in the responsibility bestowed on you when your license was granted to you, and make no mistake, an Amateur Radio License is a privilege, one that you were granted, not one that yo

What use is an F-call? An F-call is an amateur license that you can obtain over a weekend with a little study. It's not particularly complicated and it will give you some knowledge and skills to get started in the hobby of amateur radio. It's the first of three license types, being foundation, standard and advanced, each with their own skill-set and requirements. In return, each license gives you access to more privileges with different requirements, restrictions and obligations. This is the way of Amateur Radio licensing in Australia, but it's not the only way to get on air. You're likely familiar with CB, or Citizens Band, in the Amateur community it can be referred to as the chicken band. Epitaphs not withstanding, having exposure to radio is another way to get into the hobby. Alternatively, you could purchase a commercial radio with a membership to one or more HF clubs, each with their own frequencies, nets, customs and communities. On the face of it, costs differ widely. Getting a little closer, the

What use is an F-call? New Amateurs arrive on the scene every day. They turn up because they bump into the hobby in unexpected ways. From all walks of life, with infinite variation in experience and outlook, they come to journey along the path of Amateur Radio. It's easy to see the lure, a technically challenging hobby with fingers in all manner of pies, with a long and lauded quest for invention and development, a history in firsts, making the impossible happen, achieving daring feats of wizardry. I've been on this journey since November 2010 when I first heard about Amateur Radio. I achieved my license a month later and have not looked back, though I should admit that the original purpose of joining the fraternity was to build something that's still on my to-do list today. Not because it's unachievable, but because there are so many other fun things to learn and do. There have been some mile-stones, for example, this marks the 100th edition of "What use is an F-call?", but it's one of many exc

What use is an F-call? Names are important in day-to-day interaction between people. In amateur radio, you get issued with a callsign that after a little while takes on the role of a name. When you first become an amateur and you meet another amateur, they're likely to introduce themselves, "Hi, I'm Onno VK6FLAB". At first you do a double-take and wonder what the other person is smoking and where you can get some. After a while you realise that this is quite common. If you use your own callsign for a while, you'll get to the point where it attains the status of a name. In day to day interactions with other amateurs, you'll refer to another amateur by either their name or their callsign. You'll recognise them by either as well. It's a little like a surname, but it's different in that this particular name only makes sense among other amateurs. It gets better. After a while, you'll start hearing callsigns after the fact. Someone will say a callsign and you'll not hear it as individual letters, but

What use is an F-call? This week I learnt something that you can only learn by doing it. As you know, I operate a mostly portable station, that is, hardly ever from home, regularly via battery power and connected to a 12m squid pole - think fishing rod on steroids - somewhere around the metro area. My contacts are pretty regular. Generally one or more per session, mind you, some sessions might go for several hours, but contacts and listening none the less. I realised recently that I've been operating my own station much more than other stations. My radio, rather than others; my antenna, rather than those built or purchased by other amateurs. I've come to realise that just like when you learn to drive a car, it pays to drive in someone else's car once in a while. So, last week I did exactly that. I did combinations of my radio and their antenna as well as using their station as presented. Of course, I did turn the power down to 5 Watts, no point in making a contact that doesn't count towards my DXCC - hi

What use is an F-call? In Real Estate, there are three things you need for success. Location, Location, Location. In Amateur Radio, you need three things as well, Antenna, Antenna, Antenna. Many of us live in suburbia where erecting a suitable antenna is fraught with challenge. There is not enough space, or too much local interference, or neighbours with a concern, or a council with rules that prevent proper installation. During the week I received a call from an amateur in VK5 who shared their experience. A neighbour had complained about their antenna and the council had written a letter instructing him to remove the antenna since it did not have approval. A little wrinkle was also part of this letter. It went on to say that if you are an Amateur, you do not need to remove your antenna. So our friend contacted the local council, furnished them with his callsign and registration details and all was well in his world. Another amateur I know recently removed his antenna on instruction from the council with

What use is an F-call? As I've said in the past, a Foundation License is an introduction into Amateur Radio, the first step on a path to a hobby that can take you places you never knew about. Your newly minted license opens the door to exploration, curiosity and education. It's a license to learn. For some reason, I don't recall what prompted it, I became interested in finding out a little more about how Voyager communicates with us here on Earth. That lead me down a rabbit hole filled with amateurs aiming to replicate the feat and on the way I bumped into something called Unified S-Band, the communications system developed for the Apollo program by NASA and the JPL. It consists of carriers, sub-carriers and a whole lot of interesting stuff, including being able to determine the distance to the space craft within 15 meters. I'm not going into the detail of it here, look it up on the 'net at Wikipedia, it's a fascinating read and serves as a jump off point to even more reading, phase locked loops, Quindar t

What use is an F-call? Over the past month or so I've had some limited HF capability at my QTH in the form of a wire loop that runs around the ceiling in my office. It's not pretty and it doesn't really work that well. Across most bands, most of the time, I find an S8 or S9+ noise floor which makes hearing other stations a challenge. I've been at a loss to determine what's going on. I was discussing my plight with some amateurs over lunch one day and someone hit on the idea that I might see if I could determine the source of the noise by way of elimination. So, with that in mind, I plugged my radio into my battery pack, as if I was portable, and then went to the meter box and turned off the house power. Back to the radio and at first I thought the battery had run out, but no, the radio was fine, the battery was at 12.5V and everything was working. One thing was missing, the noise. I used my now quiet radio to have a look across the bands and found all manner of activity. I settled on a CW signal, turned u

What use is an F-call? Being an Amateur is an exciting thing. It entertains and educates you, exposes you to new people and social experiences, it keeps you off the street and all in all, it's a great hobby. It's been around for over a century and continues to evolve. The Foundation License, as I understand it, was created to stimulate the growth of the Amateur radio population. This seems to be a recurring theme, introduction of Novice licenses, restricted licenses and other variations in the past were created with similar aims. There are some Amateurs today who feel that the Foundation License is too easy and lowers the bar too much and while I don't agree, I do understand the sentiment. The continued simplification of the license, in any of their guises is a dead-end street. The only final item on the path is to make Amateur Radio an unlicensed activity. Note that I'm not advocating this. Getting new Amateurs into the hobby is an ongoing challenge. Our average age is increasing and our collective exper

What use is an F-call? A little while ago I had a conversation about the difference between Amateur Radio and CB radio. This distinction is obvious to most Amateurs, but much less so to the rest of the community. On the face of it, there are people with radios that you can talk into and someone else can hear it. There are different frequencies involved and antennas come into play. Pretty much the same thing. Not so. There is one fundamental difference between Amateur Radio and CB radio. This basic difference is simple to explain, but the implications are that the two are different animals. Here it is: The fundamental difference is that in Amateur Radio, it's the person that is licensed, in CB radio, it's the radio itself, a so-called type approval. So, to legally participate in CB radio, you need to purchase a licensed radio. To legally participate in Amateur Radio, you need to obtain a personal amateur license. There are many other subtle differences and implications. A typical approved CB radio has

What use is an F-call? This week I learnt a valuable lesson. As you might have heard, I've been working on a magnetic loop antenna. It's been taking a while, much longer than I ever planned. At the moment I'm waiting on some testing tools, some spare time and an idea on how to best mount this contraption inside my roof space so I can make contacts without drilling any holes in the house where I live. I've been off-air for some 8 months or so. When I say, off-air, I mean, I've not been on HF for that long. Sure, I host a weekly net on 2m and I speak to stations around the globe, satisfying as the experience is, it's not HF. There's a lot of technology to make that net happen and one of the big draw cards for me to Amateur Radio, is the lack of technology needed for a QSO. I can speak to anyone I want within seconds on my computer, but it requires that a whole lot of infrastructure is working for that to happen. Computers, routers and switches, numerous networks, cables, satellite links, microwave links, ele

What use is an F-call? Using a Foundation Call in Amateur Radio puts a number of restrictions on your on-air activities. The most bemoaned of those restrictions is the limit of 10 Watts output power. There is nothing like the experience of almost having completed a contact when a deaf lead foot stomps all over your signal and drowns you out. In the past I've pointed out that a group of Amateurs shares that experience and power restriction and more. The community I'm referring to is the QRP fraternity, who restrict their power to half that available to us and often make contacts with even less power. What I didn't think of at the time was that this community is also an excellent source of information and knowledge. Their drive is to do more with less and as a Foundation licensee, you cannot help but be in the same boat. So, look around you, search the web, find projects, bands, frequencies, antennas, radios, power supplies and activities that the QRP community engages in and you'll find common ground. I

What use is an F-call? If you're an Amateur, you're licensed. The two go hand-in-glove. But to listen to what's going on around you does not require you to be licensed. There is plenty of fun to be had with just a receiver. You can spend a little time on the Internet and find a whole host of radio nets that occur on a regular basis and listen in to the stations that are calling in. You can use it to "get your ear", that is, recognise call signs and become familiar with calling patterns. You can use a DX cluster and find reports of stations heard around the globe in real time, or listen to local fire and rescue services, or listen to Air or Marine Bands. Doing this will achieve more than the thrill of hearing something novel, it will help you learn about propagation, about antennas, radio protocols and more. You can learn your Morse today, no need to have an Amateur License to get started with that either. Becoming an Amateur doesn't have to begin with a License, you can start today. I'm Onno V

What use is an F-call? When I speak with different amateurs it often strikes me that they come from all different kinds of backgrounds and experiences. Behind a foundation licence often is an individual who has experience which relates to amateur radio in some passing way. To grab a random collection, I know a foundation call who builds commercial antennas for a living, one who managed a large mobile phone network, one who maintains repeaters for his employers. My point is this. Just because an amateur has an entry level license does not mean they're always clueless. The corollary is true too. Just because an amateur has the highest level of qualifications doesn't make them an expert on all things amateur. In my search for knowledge and experience I've learnt to socialise with my local amateur community, find online groups who share my interests and interact with enthusiasts who are building and playing. Go outside once in a while and make some new friends. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

What use is an F-call? Amateur Radio in Australia today is licensed with three primary license types, the Foundation or F-call, the Standard and the Advanced license. If you're familiar with how they differ you're likely to know that they each have a different power privilege, 10 Watts, 100 Watts and 400 Watts respectively. You might also know that an F-call isn't allowed on 20m and you're not allowed any digital modes. For me, that was basically where my knowledge ended. Last week I started writing down what other differences there are between the licenses. In overview, the F-call is allowed on 6 bands, 80m, 40m, 15m, 10m, 2m and 70cm. The standard call adds 20m, 6m, 23cm, 13cm and 6cm bands, a total of 11 bands. The advanced call adds the WARC bands, that is, 30m, 17m and 12m, it adds 160m, and many higher frequencies, a total of 23 bands. There are some slight changes in the band-edges for the advanced call for a couple of bands, for example, an extra 10 MHz at the bottom of the 70cm band. So, Found