What use is an F-call?

Using a Foundation Call in Amateur Radio puts a number of restrictions on your on-air activities. The most bemoaned of those restrictions is the limit of 10 Watts output power.

There is nothing like the experience of almost having completed a contact when a deaf lead foot stomps all over your signal and drowns you out.

In the past I've pointed out that a group of Amateurs shares that experience and power restriction and more. The community I'm referring to is the QRP fraternity, who restrict their power to half that available to us and often make contacts with even less power.

What I didn't think of at the time was that this community is also an excellent source of information and knowledge. Their drive is to do more with less and as a Foundation licensee, you cannot help but be in the same boat.

So, look around you, search the web, find projects, bands, frequencies, antennas, radios, power supplies and activities that the QRP community engages in and you'll find common ground.

I know that there is a slice of the Amateur Radio community who have the slogan, "life is too short for QRP", but as a Foundation licensee, perhaps it's time to wear your low power budget on your sleeve.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB