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Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montanna, Hams, have one thing in common, their own “trading” cards. QSL cards are no different. As long as ham radio been around, so have QSL cards. They are as unique as the ham themselves. Trading QSL cards is a big part of ham radio. Not to mention many awards require verification, and QSL cards are no exception.
Designing Your QSL If you plan on QSLing, then you’ll need your own QSL card. Designing QSL cards is rather easy, they can be simple or as fancy as your imagination. Once you figure out what you want on your card, you can have them easily made through various sources (check our links for some recommended sites). And take a peek at some of the QSL’s this station has received here, for ideas on making your own. Let’s discuss the basic info all cards require...... -Your Call -Your Name and Address -A Place to Write Call sign of the station you called Date and time in UTC (also known as Greenwich time) Frequency or Band Mode (Phone, SSB, CW, ETC) RST -a request to QSL or thanks for a QSL received You can also put some optional things on your QSL cards -Your station info, such as radio equipment -Your CQ and ITU zones -The Country Your In -Your Grid Location -Photo, Club and Organization Logos Again if you need some ideas check out these QSL Cards
Sending QSL’s When sending out QSL’s you have two options. Direct through your post office or via a QSL Bureau. Let’s discuss each options......... QSL Direct When you QSL direct, you send your card directly to the person you contacted. Let’s say you had a QSO with this station (KD0JZI). First thing you need is the address. This is rather easy to find, online. Visit a site like QRZ, and type in the call sign in the search box. Now you simply fill out the card, address it and place it in the mail box, and wait for a reply back. Sending a QSL card to a DX country is almost the same. The only thing is it’s a good idea to include a self addressed envelope for them to return your card in and return postage. Do not use the postage of your country as it will not be valid for use in the DX country. Instead use what is called an International Reply Coupon (IRC) which you can purchase at the post office. Basically this is a universal certificate, good almost anywhere, for return postage. Remember that DX amateurs, especially those in rare countries, get a lot of requests for QSL cards and so it is only fair to them that you provide the cost of postage. One more good practice, when sending direct is to enclose your QSL card in an envelope so it does not get damaged. The benefits of QSL’ing direct is a faster reply time. The downside is it can get pretty expensive, especially if you send 100’s of cards overseas. QSL Managers Qsl Managers are used by some countries when mailing to that country is difficult or even non-existent. Some countries even use managers here in the US, making it cheaper on the postage for you. When you search a call sign, you’ll become aware if the person your sending a QSL to uses a manager or not. Sending a QSL to a manager is no different then the above, just remember the IRC and return envelope. Bureaus By far the cheapest, but slowest way to send out QSL cards. In simple terms you box up a bunch of your QSL cards, and send them off to the Bureau. The benefit in this is you get bulk rates, which are cheaper then sending off individual cards. They then send them off for you. Their are many QSL Bureaus available, and each have their own ways of doing things, and costs. So do some research first, and make sure you are doing it correctly. And if they require membership in a club, it’s worth the price, you can save. Especially if you send out hundreds of cards. Do a Google search for QSL Bureaus for more info.
eQSL With the invention of the internet comes the newest way to QSL. The Electronic QSL. There’s many sites out there that have the ability to send QSL cards via the internet. Some give you the ability to even design your own, organize them, print them and so on.. However a few awards you are applying for may not recognize eQSL’s. So double check with them, before you apply for one. The most popular one is Eqsl.cc. It’s free to signup, they offer various awards to members also, and allow for designing your own cards. Some others ham social sites also offer eQSL’s. The downside to this is, if the person you contacted is not a member of the site, you may not get a reply back.
QSLing is a great part of the ham radio hobby. It’s fun to collect those cards and display them to your friends and family. You never know what you may get. . |
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