QSL 100% OLD MAN VIA THE BURO...
ARRL INCOMING & OUTGOING DX QSL BUREAUS
Kevin F. Glynn, N2TO

The ARRL Incoming and Outgoing QSL Bureaus act as middle-men in distribution of QSL cards to and from foreign (DX) countries.  This can be a tremendous savings in addressing time and postage costs.  However patience is certainly a virtue as I ll explain shortly.  I will give a little background on the Bureau System and how you can begin to take advantage of it.

The ARRL sponsors the DX Bureaus in the United States.  The function of the Incoming Bureau is to distribute QSL cards for American hams that are received from DX bureaus around the world.  When a ham in a DX country tells you he or she will QSL via the Bureau (Buro on CW) they will send a QSL card to their Outgoing Bureau who will in turn forward them in bulk to the corresponding Incoming Bureau based on the call area.  This service is free and is made up of volunteers in each call area.  For example the ARRL Second District QSL Bureau run by the North Jersey DX Association located in Morris Plains, NJ is our bureau.

The volunteers meet monthly to coordinate card distribution to all hams with a 2 in their callsign prefix, regardless of where they actually live.  If you live in Brooklyn and your call is N2HAM and later decide to move to California and keep your callsign, you would continue to use the NJDXA Bureau, not the Bureau in California.  To use the free service you must send the Bureau self addressed stamped envelopes with your callsign clearly printed in the upper-left corner.  Envelopes must be 4-5/8" x 6-3/4" or 5" x 7-1/2" ONLY.  Smaller or larger envelopes will be returned to you.  They will use these envelopes to forward your cards to you when they are received from Outgoing DX Bureaus.

An easier approach is to send the NJDXA Incoming Bureau a check in lieu of envelopes.  They have envelopes on hand and will issue credits to cover any necessary postage.  It s a good idea to at least send the Bureau a $5.00 check (for 10 postage credits) in case they receive QSLs for you.  Otherwise they will destroy any unclaimed cards within 90 days after receipt.  Checks should be made payable to the North Jersey DX Association, and mailed to PO Box 599, Morris Plains, NJ 07950.  The Bureau always lets you know how many credits are left and if you are running low, they will forward an application to increase your credits on hand.

The ARRL Outgoing QSL Bureau is a service to ARRL members only.  The Outgoing Bureau sends all QSL cards received from members to DX Incoming Bureaus around the world (not within the US) in bulk.  The cards are then distributed by each Incoming Bureau to the respective hams.

To use the service you must sort your cards by callsign prefix; for example, CT2, CT3, DL3, DL5, F, G, JA, 5N, 9Y, etc.).  If a country has multiple prefixes keep those countries together by the first prefix.  You do not have to address each card, just clearly indicate the callsign and ensure they re sorted correctly.  That saves a lot of time in addressing.

Enclosed a copy of the shipping label from the current issue QST (I just make a copy of the front cover) and enclose a check for $4.00 for each pound of cards or $1.00 for 10 cards or less payable to the ARRL.  Ship them to ARRL Outgoing QSL Service, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111.

Earlier I said that patience is a virtue when dealing with the Bureau.  That s the truth, since it can take a year or more after the QSO to receive a return QSL card.  A good approach is to keep working the DX stations, write QSL cards as you go along and just keep adding to the pile.  When it looks big enough weigh them and send them to the ARRL Outgoing Bureau.  In time you will be checking off countries as you work towards your DXCC (100 countries confirmed) and perhaps 5 Band DXCC.  Good luck and see you at Field Day!

72/73, Kevin N2TO