What Use Is An F-call?

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