What use is an F-call?

So, you've got your shiny new f-call license. Now what? Where do you go to get your kit, what do you buy, how much should you spend?

Let me start with the amount of money you should spend. It's your hobby, your wallet and your budget. You can get a radio for $20, or $2000, it all depends on how much you can afford. What I can tell you about money is that the radio is only one part of the purchase. If I look at my own set-up, less than 30% of what I spent went to the radio. My antenna represents nearly 40%, Power Supply comes in at 20%, the balance was spent on tools like a crimper and accessories like a remote microphone.

I must point out that this is for a set-up that can work all bands. The antenna part of the budget consists of two antennas, a ready-made one and an antenna tuner, squid-pole, mount and a home-made ground-plane and antenna wire. I thought that it would be interesting to gather some statistics from other amateurs and I've put up a survey on the HARG site (under the F-troop section) at harg.org.au to gather some data on this to see if what I spent was as representative as I think it is. Based on the results so-far, I spent less than the average on my radio and more on my antenna and as I suspected, I spent too much money on my power supply - the one I don't use very often, but I have two; batteries and 240V regulated, so we'll see how that turns out for me. Feel free to fill in the survey and see how your spend compares to that of the average.

The purpose of me telling you all of this is to give you a sense of how much of your budget might be allocated to different parts. As one respondent to the survey said: "What budget?" Again, this is your hobby, your wallet and your decision. You can spend as much or as little as you want.

For me, I spent lots on my antenna because I figured I'd be broadcasting with 10 Watts, I'd better make sure it actually gets out. I already spend much time experimenting with other amateurs, their radios and antennas. I expect to do more of it.

Back to the topic at hand - what do you buy and where? The two are related. I could spend the next hour telling you about all the places you should look, but that list is ever changing. A better way to do this is to talk to other amateurs and discuss this with them. There are many web-sites that have amateur radio reviews and opinions which will give you a guide as to where to look and where to avoid.

Personally, I purchased from several suppliers and used the eHam web-site as a guide to getting a range of views on a particular piece of kit. I'm not going to highlight any particular supplier, other than to say that I purchased all my kit, except for my crimping-tool, locally here in Australia. I chose my suppliers based on discussions I had with each of them, discussions I had with some of the amateurs I had met and I took my time. I received my license in December, I started spending money in March - the time in between I spent doing research.

Finally, something that took me by surprise, when I bought my radio and antenna, I wasn't done spending money. I had to organise a power supply, wiring, fuses, connectors, coax cable, crimping tools, mounts, antenna hardware, multi-meter and things like a clipboard, a log-book and other paraphernalia. What I'm saying is, 40% of my spend was on things other than the radio and the antenna. So leave some money in the kitty!

I'm Onno, vk6flab