What use is an F-call?

Three times a year, on Australia Day, 26 January, Anzac Day, 25 April and ITU Day, 17 May, an Amateur in Australia may change their prefix from VK to AX, making their callsign a special event station without requiring prior permission.

Australia Day and Anzac day are pretty self-explanatory, but what on earth is ITU day and why is the 17th of May significant?

First of all, it's actually called the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, or WTISD, but among friends we refer to it as ITU day.

So what is ITU day?

Founded on the 17th of May, 1865, the ITU came into existence. We started celebrating this event in 1969 and today it's ITU day.

This large organisation, the International Telecommunication Union, makes it possible for us to have concepts like Amateur Bands and makes it possible for me to call CQ on 10m and for other Hams across the world have the ability to respond.

So, if you have the opportunity to operate on the 17th of May, or on Australia Day or Anzac Day, wear your heritage on your sleeve, celebrate with your AX prefix.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB, or on special days, I'm also known as Onno AX6FLAB