What use is an F-call?

In 2005 there were no F-calls in Australia. Today there are more F-calls than Standard licenses. Clearly there is an influx of Amateurs coming from the introduction of the Foundation License.

I know that there are many Amateurs who want F-calls to upgrade their license. This is not a new phenomenon. In the past there were Z-calls who were encouraged to upgrade their license. I suspect that if I spent enough time doing research and talking to HAMs who've been around the block, I'll find that there are examples going back to the dawn of Amateur Radio.

In fact, a HAM, ie, us, is an example of that. In the official world of Radio Telegraphy a hundred years ago, us amateurs were not taken seriously as a group. Funny to think that today there are still people who distinguish themselves from Amateurs by calling themselves Professional.

My point is this, being encouraged to upgrade or gain skill is nothing new. It's been around for over a century and it will continue long after everyone listening today has become a silent key.

Do I want to have a higher license than the one I have? Well, perhaps. Right now I'm spending my time learning about anything and everything. For me, Amateur Radio is a way to escape from my daily grind as a professional in my field and escape to the joy of learning new things. Getting a license that is of a higher class is in of itself not an endpoint.

At the moment I'm learning Morse, I'm learning about Morse keys, figuring out how to set my radio up for portable operation in a simpler way than I've been doing to date and finding the time to participate in this amazing community.

Will I always be a Foundation License holder, who knows - I've got a HR truck license and have been toying with upgrading it to an MC - but I know plenty of people who didn't get more than their car license.

What you want to get out of Amateur Radio is up to you. There are going to be people around you wanting to encourage you to learn, regardless of your license, but there will also be those who look down their nose at what they see as a lowly F-call.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB