Foundations of Amateur Radio

When you switch your radio on to start a radio fishing expedition you join all the other spectrum users across the planet. To be fair, you'll likely only become aware of some of those for the time that your radio is switched on, even if there are thousands around.

One of the ways you can find other users is by ditting out "QRL?" in Morse or saying "Is this frequency in use?" into your microphone.

This simple courtesy of checking to see if the frequency you're on is actually being used by someone, is part of your license. You're taught to do this and it's expected.

What's not clear is what happens next.

It's simple if you hear a callsign, or a "yes", but what if you hear nothing?

Sometimes nothing means exactly that, there's nobody on the frequency, but that's not always the case. There's plenty of opportunity for the frequency to be in use and you still not getting a response back.

Let's imagine for a moment that the frequency you're on is in use by two stations talking to each other. You come on frequency, hear nothing and ask if the frequency is in use. You hear nothing. You try again, still nothing. You start calling CQ. Moments later, you get an earful from some random station.

Sound familiar? If it doesn't, you'll need to spend more time on-air. I can guarantee that you'll experience this in your amateur adventures, much more than once.

How does this happen? You did everything right.

Imagine two stations, let's call them Amanda VK4FRST and Marc VK3OHM, having a conversation, a QSO. They're discussing the ins- and outs of the WIA awards system and having a grand old time.

You turn your radio on, happen to tune to the same frequency as their QSO and after listening to nothing for a bit, you call "Is this frequency in use?". You still hear nothing so you try again: "Is this frequency in use? VK6FLAB". Still nothing. You call "Nothing heard." and start calling CQ.

You're on one side of the country, Amanda and Marc are on the other side. They cannot hear you and you cannot hear them. Then the sun moves a bit and all of a sudden your CQ is all over their discussion. Unhappy people on both sides of the country.

There are six paths to consider here. The one between you and Amanda, and the reverse. Similarly the path between you and Marc and that reverse. If you ask for frequency in-use, neither Amanda, nor Marc can hear you. Similarly, you cannot hear either Amanda or Marc. You should also take a moment to consider the path between Amanda and Marc and vice-versa. They might have a really great 5 and 9 conversation, or they might be struggling along with a 3 and 2.

I've simplified this, because of course, you calling over the top of a conversation can also disturb the contact under way. Saying that the frequency is in use makes it worse.

While all this is happening, the sun is moving, the ionosphere is moving, propagation is moving, the whole thing is like the Cat in the Hat balancing on a beach ball, complete with cake, rake and a fish still in its bowl.

The first thing you need to do when this happens is stop and take a breath. Nobody owns any frequency, so claiming that this is your frequency is not going to help anyone. If the other station is having a QSO and you're calling CQ, it's time for you to move, change frequency and QSY.

If you're Amanda or Marc, you can tell your contact that there is some interference and then call the other station that the frequency is in use. If they change frequency, all good, if they don't, tell your contact to change frequency.

There's no need for aggravation. There is no ownership. There's no point in getting upset and no mileage in making life hard for the other station. The fact of the matter is that there was what we call in networking, a collision. It's time to back off and renegotiate.

All this is exactly the same if you're using voice, Morse, FT8, or any other mode.

Take a breath, renegotiate, move on.

Now, if you're a QRP station like me, it's much more likely that you'll not be heard most of the time. In that case it's often much quicker to just to move without going through the negotiation process. Of course you can attempt to make a QRP contact with one of the other stations, but it's considered pretty rude to stick your head between two people who are having a cup of coffee together and ask them for their autograph, so don't do it on air either.

If you assume malice from the get-go, you'll find yourself unhappy most of the time. If you celebrate that all of a sudden there's propagation between VK6, VK4 and VK2 you'll end up much happier with your on-air experiences.

While I'm giving out advice, here's something I learnt during the week.

If you break a toe, tread carefully. Stubbing a broken toe hurts. Really. Badly. In case you're wondering, my new boot is not a fashion accessory.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB