What use is an F-call?

Getting started in Amateur Radio using an Australian Foundation License

What use is an F-call?

Starting in the wonderful hobby of Amateur or HAM Radio can be daunting. Using low power with little experience is challenging but can be very rewarding. Every week I look at a different aspect of the hobby, how you as a beginner might fit in and get the very best from the 1000 hobbies that Amateur Radio represents. Note that this podcast continues as "Foundations of Amateur Radio".

Onno (VK6FLAB)

Episodes

000
Welcome
8 May 2011
01
Your F-call can do more than you think.
15 May 2011
02
This is step 1 of the hobby
22 May 2011
03
Be Brave
29 May 2011
04
Buying your Kit
5 June 2011
05
7130dx net and phonetics
12 June 2011
06
Welcome to the hobby.
19 June 2011
07
This is a community
26 June 2011
08
Real License
3 July 2011
09
What to buy and how much to spend?
10 July 2011
10
Practice makes Perfect
17 July 2011
11
Education of your community
24 July 2011
12
The nature of this hobby
31 July 2011
13
Participation is a Promise made
7 August 2011
14
Repeating History
14 August 2011
15
Contests
21 August 2011
16
Share your Hobby Around
28 August 2011
17
There is room for experimentation in this hobby.
4 September 2011
18
You have a license, now what?
11 September 2011
19
Ask around, QRP is not futile
18 September 2011
20
How did you get into Amateur Radio?
25 September 2011
21
Antennas
2 October 2011
22
Encourage F-calls
9 October 2011
23
Whom have you inspired lately?
16 October 2011
24
Same Old Story
23 October 2011
25
Setup Remote once in a While
30 October 2011
26
The spark of curiosity.
6 November 2011
27
Public Relations
13 November 2011
28
Faith and Generosity
20 November 2011
29
Being Inventive
27 November 2011
30
What have you shared lately?
4 December 2011
31
Experience
11 December 2011
32
More Power
18 December 2011
33
Tuning your tranceiver 1950's style
8 January 2012
34
Tolerance
15 January 2012
35
Propagation and Solar Flux
22 January 2012
36
What do you want to do with your radio?
29 January 2012
37
Troubleshooting
5 February 2012
38
CW Pileup
12 February 2012
39
Operating Envelope Surprise
19 February 2012
40
Don't re-invent the wheel, ask an Amateur
26 February 2012
41
QSL cards in 2 minutes
4 March 2012
42
Foundation License DXCC
11 March 2012
43
Anyone can contribute.
18 March 2012
44
Crimping and Soldering
25 March 2012
45
Go outside "your" band once in a while.
1 April 2012
46
How well do you know your radio really?
8 April 2012
47
What does Amateur Radio mean for you?
15 April 2012
48
What is the DXCC
22 April 2012
49
Thinking about hand helds for travel.
29 April 2012
50
If you plan to fail, you will.
6 May 2012
51
Single Points of Failure
13 May 2012
52
Talk about your projects.
20 May 2012
53
How to get a license.
27 May 2012
54
User your radio in different environments to learn.
3 June 2012
55
Share your single triumps too.
10 June 2012
56
You're encouraged to experiment.
17 June 2012
57
Ask your friends how to start.
24 June 2012
58
Morse is a useful skill
1 July 2012
59
Looking for a lunchtime QSO.
8 July 2012
60
Clubs and Associations
15 July 2012
61
Echolink for when you don't have a radio.
22 July 2012
62
Experimentation
29 July 2012
63
Talking does not have to be terrifying
5 August 2012
64
Find the spark that interests you.
12 August 2012
65
Where are all the f-calls?
19 August 2012
66
First Contact
26 August 2012
67
Cavities
2 September 2012
68
There will always be those who think of it as a lowly F-call.
9 September 2012
69
Amateur Radio is about Experimentation AND Learning
23 September 2012
70
Regulated freedom
30 September 2012
71
Magnetic Loop Antennas
7 October 2012
72
Propagation, www.ips.gov.au
14 October 2012
73
What does learning really mean?
21 October 2012
74
AR, an amazing community.
28 October 2012
75
websdr.org
4 November 2012
76
Cleaning up your shack
11 November 2012
77
Turn up and start helping...
18 November 2012
78
The Internet Treasure Trove
25 November 2012
79
Go and find your community!
2 December 2012
80
What have I been doing about my DXCC?
9 December 2012
81
What's in a name?
16 December 2012
82
Reflect on your time in Amateur Radio.
23 December 2012
83
Becoming a builder or inventor creeps up on you.
6 January 2013
84
Storage for your Precious.
13 January 2013
85
DC to Daylight
20 January 2013
86
Build your own community.
27 January 2013
87
Amateur Radio Language
3 February 2013
88
Different License Types
17 February 2013
89
The license doesn't always match the skill
24 February 2013
90
You don't need a license to get started.
3 March 2013
91
Hook up with the QRP community.
10 March 2013
92
A crappy antenna is better than no antenna at all!
17 March 2013
93
Becoming a builder or inventor creeps up on you.
24 March 2013
94
Making Amateur Radio visible to the Public.
31 March 2013
95
Finding HF noise in your QTH
7 April 2013
96
Think about the possibilities of your F-call.
14 April 2013
97
Antenna, Antenna, Antenna
21 April 2013
98
Try another station once in a while.
28 April 2013
99
Your callsign is your identity.
5 May 2013
100
This is your hobby!
12 May 2013
101
Get familiar with Radio!
19 May 2013
102
Where are the F-calls at the conference?
26 May 2013
103
Why do you hold the License that you do?
2 June 2013
104
AR Blows me away every day!
9 June 2013
105
Get off your Alpha Romeo Sierra Echo
16 June 2013
106
Trolls and what to do...
23 June 2013
107
Each contact is different!
30 June 2013
108
If you're in a hurry you make mistakes
7 July 2013
109
Encourage rather than Berate an F-call!
14 July 2013
110
Standards and Guidelines for Communication Sites - everything you want to know about grounding.
21 July 2013
111
Amateur Radio, a wide range of topics from all walks of life.
28 July 2013
112
Succession Planning
4 August 2013
113
Contesting is not just on-air.
11 August 2013
114
We are in the communications game...
18 August 2013
115
Wire for bulding antennas.
1 September 2013
116
Make an antenna at different sizes
8 September 2013
117
VOACAP lesson
15 September 2013
118
DX Cluster
22 September 2013
119
Consider the QRP community
29 September 2013
120
Mechanics of Contesting
6 October 2013
121
5 Watts, what a blast!
13 October 2013
122
Share the Fun in the wider community
20 October 2013
123
QSL - Online Logging
27 October 2013
124
ClubLog.org
3 November 2013
125
Don't be a doofus, be safe.
10 November 2013
126
Silliness is everywhere...
17 November 2013
127
The general public knows nothing about Amateur Radio...
24 November 2013
128
Making HF contacts...
1 December 2013
129
Making HF contacts...
8 December 2013
130
Making HF contacts...
15 December 2013
131
Making HF contacts...
22 December 2013
132
Making HF contacts...
5 January 2014
133
What is listening 10-up?
12 January 2014
134
Bullies have no place in Amateur Radio
19 January 2014
135
F-calls and their restrictions.
26 January 2014
136
F-calls and computers...
2 February 2014
137
Curiosity if a great thing!
9 February 2014
138
Special Event Stations
16 February 2014
139
Be Curious!
23 February 2014
140
Talk to your fellow amateurs, build a choke.
2 March 2014
141
As you get more experienced, you'll transmit less...
9 March 2014
142
If you don't try, you're guaranteed to fail!
16 March 2014
143
Contesting, a simulator of harsh conditions.
23 March 2014
144
Amateur Radio is Everywhere
30 March 2014
145
Two nets to get started on air.
6 April 2014
146
Wear your callsign with pride!
13 April 2014
147
Complacency in your shack.
20 April 2014
148
The bands change all the time...
27 April 2014
149
The simple S-unit
4 May 2014
150
Amateur Radio evolution is dependent on your imagination, not your license.
11 May 2014
151
17 May - ITU day
18 May 2014
152
The QSL system
25 May 2014
153
The Maidenhead Locator system
1 June 2014
154
dB, dBi, dBd
8 June 2014
155
The Grey Line
15 June 2014
156
Using Commercial Names on Air
22 June 2014
157
Contesting, it's for you!
29 June 2014
158
No more bullies
6 July 2014
159
Clubs and F-calls?
13 July 2014
160
Looking at mobile antennas for HF.
20 July 2014
161
dB and dBm
27 July 2014
162
How to do a contest?
3 August 2014
163
How much do you gain from more power?
10 August 2014
164
Learn from your mistakes and share them...
17 August 2014
165
Newness should not be a barrier to participation
24 August 2014
166
There are more than just Amateurs Listening...
31 August 2014
167
It's not about sitting in a shack talking on the radio...
7 September 2014
168
QRP is everywhere
14 September 2014
169
Everything Changes All The Time ... pay attention
21 September 2014
170
Everyday Terms, think about them sometimes
28 September 2014
171
Tuning mobile antennas...
5 October 2014
172
Small Changes can have a Big Effect
12 October 2014
173
The QSL card is not dead!
19 October 2014
174
Learning from listening...
26 October 2014
175
Share your experiences...
2 November 2014
176
Raspberry Pi SDR
9 November 2014
177
What is your level of preparedness?
16 November 2014
178
Programming repeaters.
23 November 2014
179
We need mentors!
30 November 2014
180
The Gray Line changes through the year!
7 December 2014
181
QRM and morons
14 December 2014
182
Remember to stop fiddling every now and then...
21 December 2014
183
Which way is the Grey Line?
28 December 2014
184
The LCD is a living document.
4 January 2015
185
How do nets work?
11 January 2015
186
WIA Awards System
18 January 2015
187
Digital Voice in Amateur Radio is broken...
25 January 2015
188
Lightning, not just the radio...
1 February 2015
189
More on lightning and bonding.
8 February 2015
190
Self policing license conditions
15 February 2015
191
A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
22 February 2015
192
A rotator on 4 wheels...
1 March 2015
193
Share your radio skills with non-amateurs
8 March 2015
194
CODEC2 - 13dB gain, what does it mean?
15 March 2015
195
Planning for operating portable
22 March 2015
196
How do you get gain if you don't change power?
29 March 2015
197
Your local repeater is like magic...
5 April 2015
198
Super Check Partial
12 April 2015
199
Learn from every outing!
19 April 2015
200
The Community Spirit of Amateur Radio
26 April 2015
201
How to roll up coax and rope?
3 May 2015
202
Stop and enjoy the electrons along the way...
10 May 2015
203
Stop whining and get with the program...
17 May 2015
204
Retaining two letter callsigns is rubbish.
24 May 2015
205
OQRS
31 May 2015
206
L.A.S. - Lead Arse Syndrome
7 June 2015
999
Welcome
14 June 2015