What Use Is An F-call?

What use is an F-call? A little while ago I made a commitment to myself to achieve the DXCC. Since then I've received a few questions asking what it's all about. It's an award for the DX Century Club, or said in another way, it's a recognition of making long distance contact with one hundred countries. This achievement award has a long history. The DXCC was first awarded in 1937. Before then, in 1932 discussions started on how to determine what constitutes a country. For example, are Tasmania and Australia separate or together, what about Scotland and England, or Alaska and the United States. Suffice to say that a definition was arrived at after much discussion and you can read up on it on the ARRL web-site. In case you're wondering, things change all the time. In 1935 Tasmania and Australia were separate because of geographical division, Scotland and England are two countries and Alaska and the USA are separate also because of geographical division. Most of that is the same today, except that Tasmania is