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\ufeffWhat use is an F-call?\n\nIt occurred to me recently that there are people listening who don\u2019t yet have a license of any kind. They may be listening with a shortwave receiver, a handheld, on a local CB repeater who relays the news, or they might have downloaded the news from one of the many places that it\u2019s available.\n\nI\u2019ve been talking about having an F-call, or Foundation Call, that is, having passed a foundation licence and applied for an amateur radio call-sign. It\u2019s a simple step to take and one that is easy to achieve once you know how.\n\nSo, if you\u2019re in a position to hear what I\u2019m talking about, but you don\u2019t have a license, this is for you. And if you do have a license, then I have something for you shortly.\n\nLet me start off with the notion that getting an Amateur Radio License is hard. It\u2019s not. Let me say that again. It\u2019s not hard to get an Amateur Radio License. You need access to basic learning skills, the ability to understand and follow discussions. You\u2019ll need to be able to remember a couple of things and you will need to learn the NATO standard phonetic alphabet. In terms of electronics, there is a little maths, but nothing more sophisticated than a few fractions and some simple addition and subtraction.\n\nThere is no requirement for morse code - though I suspect once you find yourself with a license, you might want to start investigating that - I know I am.\n\nIn terms of time, depending on how you do it, as a Scout it will take a long weekend, you can do it online, or get a book and teach yourself, or you can go to your local Amateur Radio Assessor who can teach you, generally a weekend of theory and practice, followed by an exam on the next weekend.\n\nYou should budget for around $200 bucks for course materials, exam, license application fee and coffee.\n\nOf course that\u2019s the beginning of the journey. The Wireless Institute of Australia has much of this information available and there are several other amateur organisations in Australia who will happily help you out.\n\nAs promised, If you already have a license, then perhaps it might be helpful to go to a local science teacher, or the local yacht club or community radio station and introduce the concept of Amateur Radio to their midst.\n\nI\u2019m Onno VK6FLAB