What use is an F-call?

During the week I had the opportunity to hear several people use a radio in day-to-day communications. In this particular instance it was a water taxi speaking to their base. They were using their own frequency and essentially used it to coordinate their activities across their coverage area.

Listening with an Amateur ear, if there is such a thing, I noticed that there was a lot of back-and-forth, missed communications and misunderstandings. We take for granted, once we've learned, that there is a sequence in successful radio communications. Consistency, brevity, simple vocabulary, microphone handling, antenna placement, hand-held use and the like.

It's not the first time I've noticed that.

I wondered if there was a way that we as amateurs can actually extend our wings beyond our hobby and share some procedural skills that we almost take for granted.

We often lament that Amateur Radio is declining in it's scope, size and community involvement. Perhaps radio skills are something that we might share around. Wouldn't it be great if we could share our airwaves with others who also know how to communicate on air?

I know I'll be monitoring some commercial frequencies from now on to see if there are things that I could do as an Amateur to help make radio communications more reliable and less stressful for the various users of the radio spectrum.

Perhaps it could be a new activity to add to the wide range that Amateur Radio represents.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB