What use is an F-call?

I recently talked about making contact with a station on HF. Getting a feel for the other station is very important because it will make you understand when the other person is listening and when they're not. It will let you know to what kind of station they're responding to, and when they do respond, how they respond.

I recently made a contact with T33A. I used 5 Watts on a rotatable dipole, 15m. I listened to the station for a good 10 minutes before I made my first call. They gave me lots of information about the contact long before I opened my mouth. It was one of the last days they were operating and it was bedlam on the frequency, lots of stations wanting to make this contact. The station told me that they were listening 10 up, so I configured my radio to deal with that. Then I worked out what the rhythm of the operator was, got a feel for how they replied and when I was ready, I called my callsign.

I was floored that they came back with "the VK6 QRP station" on my first call. It took two goes to get my callsign across, but the contact was made there and then.

Making such a contact is as much about the ability of the remote station to pick you out, as it is about improving your chances of success. It's about picking your moment, getting it just right, so that when you call, it all happens in the blink of an eye.

Picking your moment is also about understanding that some people just don't want to talk to you. Two people who are talking to each other might do that every day and are really not interested in talking to you. Picking the group or the 'net where to call-in is crucial to your success on HF.

Look at the 7130 DX net. It runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 UTC. It's aim is to facilitate making DX contacts between amateurs. When you tune to 7.130, get out a piece of paper and write down all the stations you hear, write down what signal strength they are and what the operators name is.

The net hosts will call for new stations for the 'net on a regular basis. They'll acknowledge you and continue seeking other stations. Once they have a bunch, they'll ask which stations want to make a call. Hold off for a couple of rounds and listen. Stations will announce their callsign and the host will take a list. Each station is called in turn and invited to make a QSO or two with another station. If it's busy, they might do one QSO per station. Once they're done, the next station gets a chance and so on. It's a fantastic way to meet other DX-stations and make your first overseas call.

Making contacts on HF is hard work, fun and amazingly rewarding. Have a go!

I'm Onno VK6FLAB