I recently found an interesting article over at eham.net (which if you don’t know of it is well worth a visit) by Reg Beck (VE7IG). It’s all about sending and receiving QSL cards and can be found by following this link - QSLing, Reg Beck, VE7IG.
Reg discusses not only the means by which QSL cards are exchanged but also the ethics of choosing not to QSL (either as a conscious policy decision or through just not getting around to it).
I’d recommend checking it out because it’s a well written piece and maybe you’ll also agree with Reg, as I do, when he says “If you take time from your busy schedule to operate, save some of it for QSLing.”
Dean Amateur Radio bureau, buro, QSL, VE7IG
It’s always a nice surprise when a batch of cards arrive from the bureau, as much as anything because there doesn’t seem to be any particular kind of schedule that’s adhered to. They just arrive unannounced 2 or 3 times a year, about 70 or 80 cards a batch spread over three envelopes in my case.
This collage shows a selection of the cards received. Of particular note are those confirming new ones for me, V51XG (Namibia) and 3A/DL3OCH (Monaco). This brings to 159 the number of DXCC entities now confirmed by QSL card (of 171 worked).
some of the QSL cards received from the bureau recently
These and other cards are also shown in the QSL picture pages linked from the menu above.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures bureau, DXCC, QSL
It is always nice to receive QSL cards and the beauty of the bureau system is that you get a lot of cards delivered all at once. It’s great to then look back through the log and remember some of those contacts.
Many contacts can be short & sweet though - this is the case with contest or special event stations who are intent on logging as many contacts as possible as quickly as possible. The cards shown here from OE2008A and HB2008VC are from two such special event stations setup to celebrate the Euro 2008 football tournament co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland. There were many such stations and I received over 30 of their cards in my most recent delivery, a mix of Swiss and Austrian stations for SSB, CW and RTTY contacts.
a selection of the more colourful QSL cards received from the bureau
Here (bottom right) you can also see the card received from Peruvian station OA4WW, this means that of 168 countries logged I now have 151 of them confirmed by paper QSL (rather than some electronic form such as LOTW or eQSL).
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures bureau, CW, Euro 2008, G0RIF, LoTW, QSL, RTTY, SSB
Three envelopes containing some 80+ cards arrived at the G0RIF QTH over the weekend. It’s always a nice surprise when cards arrive from the bureau because it only happens about twice a year.
I’ll sift and sort and scan a few and upload a few pictures - there look to be some nice cards in this latest batch, including a new one confirmed in the form of OA4WW (40m CW) in Peru!
Dean Amateur Radio bureau, G0RIF, QSL
The frequency with which cards arrive from the bureau depends entirely on how active you are and how many cards you send out. I’m not particularly active but I do make a point of sending out as many cards as is sensible for new band/mode slots. I tend to get packs from my sub-manager about every 6 months so it’s always a nice surprise when they arrive.
a selection of the QSL cards received from the bureau today
Todays pack contained a few cards I’d been waiting a long time for (from Guyana, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan) in amongst the usual selection of colourful cards from around the world. I’ve compiled a little collage of a few of the cards received - you can see these and more in my QSL picture pages.
Dean Amateur Radio bureau, QSL