A QSL card is a special document confirming radio communication. The connection is considered valid if it is documented. The size of the QSL card is 9x14 cm. Each amateur station must have QSL cards and distribute them at the request of the correspondent or warn during communication that the cards will not be sent out.
In Germany, Japan and some other countries, a QSL is sent for each connection made. Radio amateurs in other countries send QSLs only for those communications that they need for diplomas or confirmation of rare or record communications. If a QSL is sent to you with “PSE QSL” written on it, then your correspondent needs it.
You need to send a reply to this QSL. Timely sending of QSL cards is a long-standing tradition of shortwave operators. In general, a QSL card is a “business card” of a radio station; it indicates the owner’s call sign, information about equipment, antennas, the exact location of the station, membership in clubs, etc.
Traditionally, during personal meetings, radio amateurs exchange QSLs, signing them as a gift.
In Fig. 1 shows a standard QSL card; in the “To Radio” line the call sign of the station from which the connection is confirmed is indicated and, if necessary, in the “?ia” line it is indicated through whom the QSL card is sent. Next - the date and time of radio communication (UTC), range in MHz, type of operation (CW, SSB, RTTY) and assessment of the audibility of the correspondent’s signal on the RS(T) scale.
Depending on whether you want to receive a card from a correspondent or are already responding to one received, indicate “Pse QSL” or “QSL Тnх” respectively. Additionally, various information can be indicated on the cards, region, state, address, E-mail, WWW, etc.
Almost all radio station cards are unique because they are printed in a small edition. They can be with color photographs, drawings, etc. Every radio amateur can certainly be proud of the unique QSLs sent to him. All QSL cards are sent by mail.
Rice. 1. Type of standard QSL card.
Nowadays electronic QSLs have already been introduced and similar QSL cards count towards amateur radio diplomas. If you have issued a QSL card to your correspondent, you can send it to:
- or to his home address (QSL direct);
- or through a special QSL bureau of the national amateur radio organization (QSL via buro).
If you are sending a card through a bureau, you must be sure that the country where you are sending the QSL card has a national QSL bureau. Some countries do not have one; a list of countries that do not have a QSL bureau can be found at www.arrl.org/qsl/qsiout.html.
And also make sure that your correspondent is a member of the national amateur radio organization, otherwise the card will not reach him. QSL bureau addresses for IARU member countries can be found at iaru.org/iaruqsl.html.
QSL cards for radio amateurs of Russia are sent to the national QSL bureau of the Russian Amateur Radio Union. At the address 119311, Moscow, post office box 88, QSL bureau of the SRR. Soyuz Radiolyubitelei Rossii, Box 88, Moscow 119311, Russia.
League QSL cards Radio amateurs of Ukraine at 01001, Kiev, PO Box 56, QSL Bureau LRU UARL, Box 56, Kui?-1, 01001, Ukraine.
Then QSL cards are sent to regional and regional QSL bureaus.
If you sent the card through a bureau, do not expect a quick response. In this case, the exchange of cards can take years. QSL cards arrive for connections made many years ago. This happens for various reasons, since usually the card's path from you to the correspondent passes through two national bureaus.
They lie there for some time, waiting for the recipient.
If you want to receive a QSL card quickly, you need to send it to your correspondent's home address. There are two problems here:
- firstly, the cost of sending such a card increases to the cost of sending one letter abroad;
- secondly, for a response to your home address, you need to include a self-addressed envelope, and also cover the postage costs for your correspondent to forward the card for you.
If you do not have postage stamps of the country from which you are expecting a card, then the ideal option is to put 1 US Dollar in the letter (or as radio amateurs say “Green stamp”). However, our mail cannot always be trusted; the letter will simply disappear. And according to postal rules, sending banknotes by mail is prohibited.
In this case, there is a certain postal currency IRC coupons. The IRC coupon view is shown in Fig. 2 and fig. 3.
Rice. 2. Type of international IRC coupon.
Rice. 3. View of the reverse side of the international IRC coupon.
Theoretically, IRC coupons in any country in the world can be exchanged for postage stamps for the cost of sending one letter abroad, but in practice it is not practical to exchange them at the post office. It is better to save until you need to receive a QSL card from abroad DIRECT. IRC coupons can be purchased at the Main Post Offices of major cities.
Until recently, the problem with the addresses of radio amateurs in Russia and Ukraine was very relevant. In the USA, the so-called CALLBOOK was produced - a list of call signs of radio amateurs around the world with addresses. It was difficult to get them, then they began to be released on CD-ROM. With the spread of the Internet, this problem disappeared.
You can always enter your address (if, of course, you want to receive QSL-direct) to the QRZ.COM server, and also make a request there for the call sign you are interested in. Nowadays, most stations, when working on the air, indicate to correspondents that their address is on QRZ.COM. Send your cards to the established stations, thereby speeding up the receipt of the desired QSL card.
I recently ran out of old cards and decided to print special ones for trips under the RDA program. After considering the suggestions and advice, I decided to print two different cards, 1000 pieces each, with different QSL prints and make a comparison. It was necessary to print an inexpensive card in 1-2 colors. And so that the paper is not too heavy and thick. The choice fell on RA4HT and R9MC.
It turned out that recently orders to print in one color are very rare. I didn’t want to wait a long time for the circulation to be completed, so I chose 2-color printing. RA4HT said that the circulation was almost completed, R9MC had to wait a little. I was fine with that. What came out of all this is given below.
1. Both responded promptly, expressed their willingness to develop a layout and tolerate my demands.
2. We started developing the layout immediately after receiving a package of my minimum requirements.
3. The feedback was very good, I received several corrected and revised layouts per day.
4. I looked at my special album, in which I keep one form of all the QSLs I ordered. There are almost fifty of them there. Naturally, there is no longer any desire to order cards with only letters. QSL according to the proposed template, where only the call sign changes - this, in my opinion, is already a thing of the past. If you're going to pay money, you should get something different from everyone else.
As for the originality of the card, it is difficult to invent something new, but we must try. Well, at least in the little things...
RA4HT agreed to do the original drawing, fortunately he has a person on staff who is capable of drawing. R9MC does not have an artist, he works in a slightly different style.
5. Thanks to prompt work, the layouts were completed in a few days. All my comments and suggestions were taken into account, both offered their own layout options for consideration.
6.
Payment for printing and postage: The RA4HT website has various payment options other than postal order. But personally, it’s most convenient for me to use mail.
After correspondence with RA4HT, it turned out that it is possible to pay by postal order. It would be advisable to immediately indicate this option. R9MC has two payment options.
I paid for both by postal order, it’s easier for me.
7. Price: RA4HT has a price for printing of 850 rubles + a table from which you can try to calculate the cost of sending. It’s a little complicated, I couldn’t calculate everything exactly myself. RA4HT said that shipping will be 250 rubles, a total of 1100 rubles.
R9MC has a printing price of 750 rubles + shipping 250 rubles. Just in case, I asked again how much money was needed and received an amazing answer:
only 900 rubles, including packaging and shipping!!! I didn't argue.
8.
The RA4HT printed faster, as expected. True, the post office pulled another trick - the cards sat in my post office for a week, and the notice never arrived in the box. Only after correspondence with RA4HT and my appeal to the post office was the parcel delivered.
A couple of weeks later I received a package from R9MC.
9. Both cards are on approximately the same, decent paper, just what you need. The print quality is good.
10.
Surprises.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that on the QSL from RA4HT the DIG emblem was distorted - the inscription on the poster held by the eagle was unfolded
in some twisted way. It's a shame. Moreover, nothing like this was observed on the mock-ups. RA4HT advised painting the poster black
with a felt-tip pen so that it is not so noticeable.
The cards from R9MC did not contain errors, but for some reason they were about 7 mm smaller than the usual size. As it turned out, “this is according to the Italian standard,” apparently to reduce weight.
11.
Conclusions.
Draw your own conclusions, I understood one thing for myself - next time, if I have to order something else, I’ll immediately stipulate the condition - a printing defect that does not correspond
approved layout, redone free of charge.
My QSL -card and list of sent/received items.
After purchasing a receiver Degen DE 1103 the idea arose to send QSL -cards for observing connections. First, I had to make these cards or order them somewhere. My broadcast comrades KK and QFN were somehow skeptical about this idea, but QDD He said that he ordered it on the Internet and was also skeptical about my idea. Not in general mailings QSL , but for observing connections, because in response they will send only a few. In addition, I decided that I would send by direct, without any bureaus and so on. Experience with Voronezh diplomas left a negative impression on the work of organizations associated with amateur radio operators. So I didn’t want to get involved with QSL -bureau, SRR and who knows who else, pay money for it, wait six months for a card. Perhaps my opinion will change over time, but today it is like this.
After surfing the Internet, I found a number of programs for creating these very QSL - cards. Of all of them, I liked isbaysoft QSLprint extended. There are templates for this program, including in the format psd , but I drew everything from scratch, using the card as a basis QDD . It took 2-3 hours, taking into account the experimentation of printing on plain paper. Later I printed the cards on a laser printer on matte and glossy photo paper. In my opinion, it turned out quite tolerably.
Yes, self-propelled! Yes, black and white! But I believe that what is important is not what the card looks like, but what is written on it.
For the sake of experiment, I sent several cards for connections in the World Cup in doubles and naturally Kolya RN 3 KK . He laughed for a long time when he received the letter. The first response card came from UA 3 OB and RU 3 ZT . I continued to send out cards for contacts made by direct for a deuce in the World Cup, and also several inSSB, and later and for ten. I apologize to those correspondents with whom I communicated when I was /3, but I forgot to indicate this on the card. Also in the first versions of the card RDA: VR -02, but in fact it turned out that VR -06. At the moment, all the shortcomings have been corrected, I am filling out cards with all the details and indicating the equipment. Send often QSL - a direct card may be impossible due to the lack of an address or any information at all in the databasesqrz.ruand so on. network resources.
The list of sent and received cards is presented below:
| № | Sent | Received |
| 1 | RN3KK | |
| 2 | RX3QFN | |
| 3 | RN3QRY | |
| 4 | RN3QDX | |
| 5 | RN3GB | + |
| 6 | RN3QOG | |
| 7 | UA3GLS | |
| 8 | UA3RUF | |
| 9 | RN3ZPM | |
| 10 | RU3ZT | + |
| 11 | UA3OB | + |
| 12 | RW3ZZ | |
| 13 | RN3ZEU | |
| 14 | UA3ZOW | + |
| 15 | UA3ZNQ | |
| 16 | RA3ZHL | |
| 17 | UA3ZFS | |
| 18 | UA3ZTS/M | |
| 19 | RW3WW | + |
| 20 | RN3ZDO | |
| 21 | RA3ZM | |
| 22 | UA3GKH | |
| 23 | RN3ZDR | |
| 24 | RA3ZW | |
| 25 | RU3WC | |
| 26 | RN3QNO | |
| 27 | UA3ZZ | |
| 28 | RA3WND | |
| 29 | RA3EW | |
| 30 | RV9YP | + |
| 31 | RN3ZBW | |
| 32 | UA3OX | |
| 33 | RA3QRD | + |
| 34 | RA3QKK | + |
| 35 | RK3OS | |
| 36 | RL3QJ | |
| 37 | RW3QSB | |
| 38 | RD3QA | + |
| 39 | RZ3QK | |
| 40 | UR5TW | |
| 41 | RZ8U | + |
| 42 | RV9UCN | + |
| 43 | RK9JD | |
| 44 | RN3ZOB | + |
| 45 | UA9MGU | |
| 46 | RL3QDC | + |
| 47 | UA0A | |
| 48 | UA9UKO | + |
| 49 | UI8U | + |
| 50 | UA0ADX | + |
| 51 | RA0AC | + |
| 52 | UA9HDV | + |
| 53 | RA9YTB | + |
| 54 | YO7BID | |
| 55 | HA8IC | |
| 56 | RW9LL | + |
| 57 | UA9YHD | |
| 58 | UA9UNA | |
| 59 | RA6WY | + |
| 60 | UA6YD | |
| 61 | UA6EKC | |
| 62 | UA6HHZ | |
| 63 | RA3ZT | |
| 64 | UB9WAL | + |
| 65 | RA9WLW | + |
| 66 | R1945HS | + |
| 67 | RK9UEP | |
| 68 | RV9UBV | |
| 69 | RV6HE | |
| 70 | RW4LMR | + |
| 71 | UA4CVL | |
| Total: | 25 |
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Update almost 2 years later.
Around the fall of 2011, the number of cards became large to maintain a list of sent/received ( due to active work on HF -bands other than 10m), therefore, changes in the “movement” of cards are no longer reflected here. Moreover I actively use the system electronic QSL cards eQSL. I don’t specifically send paper documents to anyone anymore, as I did in the beginning, however, if someone asks or sends them, I definitely answer, but only by direct message. I am not friends with the QSL bureau (or they are with me).
Addendum 7.2.2013.
Towards the end of 2012, I received an interesting QSL -direct card. Of interest was the presence in the envelope of a postal coupon or, as it should be called, an “international reply coupon.” From my fellow broadcasters I heard mentions of such a unique postal “currency”, but I have never seen, held or used it before...
Somehow it so happened that the letter was put aside due to pressing problems, but not so long ago it caught my eye again. I decided to try to use this coupon, and if it doesn’t work out (our mail is very strange), then at least send a letter with my QSL , simply by purchasing stamps (fortunately, a return-addressed envelope was included).
Climbing via the Internet, I gleaned information based on which Russia seems to be a member of some kind of postal union, and there is a chance to use the coupon in my village. By filling out your response QSL I, full of hope, went to the main post office (I saw absolutely no point in going to some regional post office). Whether for a long time or for a short time, I walked from one reception window to another several times showing this same coupon, and everyone told me something like: “Oh, I don’t know what this is, ask there next, maybe they know." As a result, I finally got to the window dealing with postcards, stamps and envelopes. I voiced my question to the girl at the window, she ran to ask someone and, quickly returning, said that they don’t work with coupons. Sighing, I inquired about the required amount to purchase stamps, began to count out the coins and said out loud: “Well, should I throw it away now...?” The girl at the window, hearing this, asked to wait and ran away somewhere again, returning and offering to sit down and wait for another employee. After some time, a second employee came, took the coupon from me, turned it over in her hands, and said that they still work with coupons, but for the specific procedure for exchanging stamps (for what denomination, etc.) clarification is required from someone else . On this note, the second employee retreated into the bowels of the building with my coupon, asking me to wait again. After she returned and explained to the girl at the window what and how to do with the coupon, I was finally given stamps. Hooray!
Isaac,4 Z 5 TT , thank you very much for QSO , as well as for the coupon. Not because sending a response letter cost me completely free, but because of the experience gained in using this “banknote”.I really hope that the letter reaches the address without incident.
__________________________________________________
Updated December 2013.
I ran out of cards from my first design, so I made a new design. The printout is still homemade, black and white. Also registered in the system LoTW. So now I use three ways to exchange cards - eQSL, LoTW and direct. Everything is still complicated with our local QSL bureau, but it has become possible to buy cards from them at a price of 1 piece for 1 ruble, but the bureau does not work at all for sending. Now I’m racking my brains about how I can send reply QSLs to about 300 foreign correspondents... .
The table with the first 71 sent and received paper QSLs is updated as of December 19, 2013.
A receipt card (QSL card) is a document that confirms the fact of establishing two-way communication between amateur radio stations or monitoring their operation. For this reason, certain requirements are imposed on the design of receipt cards and their completion. Currently, QSL cards are usually produced by printing according to the individual order of a radio amateur or a collective radio station.
When producing individual QSL cards using printing methods, you should adhere to several basic rules. The QSL size should be 9 x 14 cm (in accordance with the recommendations of the International Amateur Radio Union). The maximum accepted size of a receipt card is 10.5 x 14.8 cm (same as standard postcards).
For forms, it is advisable to use colored or white paper with a density of at least 180 g per square meter.
When composing the text of QSL cards, expressions from the amateur radio code and from the Q-code are used. The name of the locality in which the radio station is located is given in English transcription. In addition to the basic information about the communication carried out, the QSL form indicates the conditional number of the region, the conditional number of the zone of the International Telecommunication Union (ZONE ITU ...), as well as the conditional number according to the WAZ diploma list (ZONE WAZ).
You can also indicate other data on the QSL card. For example, the district identifier for the RDA diploma program, the island number for the IOTA or RRA diploma list, conditional numbers for the WFF diploma program and others.
QSL cards come in single-sided, double-sided, and special ones with 4 or more sides. If the card is double-sided, then on the front side there is a call sign and some information (country, QTH, conventional numbers of regions and zones, sometimes the operator’s name). All other text is located on the back of the QSL. Here (for the convenience of mail processing) it is advisable to duplicate the information on the front side of the card.
The QSL text is based on data about the radio communication: the call sign of the correspondent to whom the card is sent; date and time of the QSO; range or operating frequency; type of radiation and assessment of audibility. This data usually supplements information about the equipment and antennas used, expressions of gratitude for communication and QSL (if this card is a response card), etc.
Front sides of QSL cards
Back side of the QSL card
When developing a sketch of a personal QSL and, finally, filling out a card after a radio connection, you should always remember that this is a document, and one that can be sent to another country in the world (by the radio amateur himself or his colleague - along with an application for a diploma). This QSL will give you an idea of both the radio amateur himself and our country.
When filling out a QSL, corrections to the basic information about the communication that took place are not allowed - cards with such amendments are not counted towards amateur radio diplomas.
The correspondent's call sign is entered in block letters. Radio amateurs who have little experience working on the air or do not know a foreign language well need to pay special attention to the clear writing of similar letters of the Latin alphabet (for example, U and V, V and Y), and not confuse unequivalent, but similar in spelling, letters of Russian and Latin alphabets (for example, Russian “ve” and Latin “be” - V).
The date of communication is indicated as day, month and year, and it is advisable to write the month either in words (May, June, etc.) or in Roman numerals. This will avoid difficulties when checking QSL, as some countries have a different order of writing the date (for example, month, day and year).
Universal time must always be indicated, even on QSLs intended for internal exchange with shortwave operators in your country. After all, such a QSL card can be useful for filling out an application for a foreign amateur radio diploma and, therefore, can be sent for verification to a foreign amateur radio organization.
The use of local or even Moscow time on cards sent to foreign radio amateurs sometimes guarantees... non-confirmation of communication. The fact is that some radio amateurs, especially competition participants and radio expedition operators who conduct thousands of QSOs per day, due to the difficulties of finding the desired connection in the hardware log, do not respond to cards at all if the universal time is not indicated on them.
It is recommended to indicate the range on which the communication was carried out in megahertz: 1.8; 3.5; 7; 10.1; 14; 18.1; 21; 24.9 and 28 MHz. It is also acceptable to indicate the range in meters: 160 m, 80 m, 40 m, 30 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m, 10 m.
The type of radiation should be indicated as 2 x CW (or 2 WAY CW), 2 x SSB (or 2 WAY SSB), 2 x RTTY (or 2 WAY RTTY), etc., and for mixed communications as CW/SSB, AM /SSB, etc. The fact is that for many amateur radio diplomas, connections are taken into account when both correspondents worked with the same type of radiation, and QSLs on which this is not clearly indicated are not counted towards these diplomas.
If the QSL card is sent to the so-called QSL manager (a shortwave operator who assists his colleague in sending out cards), then the QSL manager’s call sign is also indicated on the card with the VIA code combination (for example, VIA W3HNK). It is advisable to highlight the QSL manager's callsign using some bright ink or paste (red, blue). This allocation of the call sign will allow you to avoid erroneous addressing of the card when sorting QSLs.
The manager's callsign on a double-sided card is indicated on the back of it in the upper left or right corner (depending on the location of the text on the QSL).
The ethics of amateur radio communications require mandatory confirmation of communication (if it has taken place, of course) upon receipt of a QSL from the correspondent. Up to this point, sending out your cards is at the discretion of the shortwave operator, for example, only to those correspondents from whom he is interested in receiving QSLs.
If a radio amateur follows this practice, he should refrain from promising to send a QSL. In these cases, the International Amateur Radio Union recommends using the combination QSL L, which means “I will send a receipt card after receiving yours.”
The current rules allow confirmation of observer (and only observer!) QSLs not only with the shortwave operator’s personal card, but also by placing a call sign stamp on the SWL QSL, the code phrase “CFM SWL” and the shortwave operator’s personal signature. The observation card issued in this way is returned to its owner.
The shortwave radio operator exchanges QSL cards with both Russian and foreign radio amateurs through the local radio club. Having sorted the cards by country of the world (in alphabetical order of prefixes), the radio amateur hands them over to the local club. If he lives away from the club, then he sends the cards by mail.
Cards for QSL managers are usually best sent directly to your home address rather than through national QSL bureaus, but you can also send them through a CPP bureau.
In addition, in a number of countries, membership in the national amateur radio organization is not mandatory for a shortwave operator, but in this case he does not use the services of the corresponding QSL bureau, sending (and receiving) cards only to his home address.
In this case, a Russian radio amateur can send his card directly to the foreign shortwave operator or his QSL manager. To do this, he puts his QSL in an envelope on which he writes the full postal address of the foreign radio amateur (in Latin letters or in English), and sticks Russian postage stamps on the envelope in the amount established in our country for this international postal item. At the top, you must also write the name of the country to which the letter is sent, in Russian.
QSL cards received from foreign radio amateurs are sorted by the QSL bureau of the SRR and sent to Russian radio amateurs through local radio clubs.
QSL card
QSL card (receipt card, in everyday life - QSL) - documentary evidence of the fact of a radio communication session (QSO) between two radio amateurs. The name comes from the QSL code, meaning “Your information has been received.” They are used as evidence of a radio amateur's achievements and are the basis for awarding amateur radio diplomas and other awards.
QSL card is a paper card, usually about 140x90 mm in size, which contains information about the QSO: call signs of both operators, time and date of contact, radio frequency used, type of modulation, RST (code describing the quality of reception), data on the location of the radio station. In addition, additional information may be indicated: characteristics of the antenna and transmitting and receiving equipment, communication conditions (presence of interference, fading, etc.), holiday greetings, etc. Radio amateurs usually try to make their QSL cards more attractive by placing various images on them - views of their area, their own portraits, etc. Some national radio clubs order inexpensive forms of QSL cards for their members in bulk, on which the operator can put his call sign using a rubber stamp or other method.
The delivery of QSL cards is usually carried out by the QSL bureau of amateur radio associations, but direct forwarding is also practiced. At the same time, many stations require you to send them an advance payment for sending the card - postal coupons or cash. Stations with a large volume of QSL traffic and those operating temporarily (for example, radio expeditions and memorial stations) use the services of a QSL manager - a radio amateur who takes care of processing QSL mail. On the QSL card for such a station you need to indicate the manager’s call sign: “VIA WD9EWK”, that is, “send via WD9EWK”. There are also independent QSL exchange services that operate on a commercial basis. The most famous of them is WF5E DX QSL SERVICE. In the USSR, the postal service, under an agreement with the Central Radio Club, carried out free forwarding of QSL mail between local radio clubs and abroad.
QSL samples
See what a “QSL card” is in other dictionaries:
- ... Wikipedia
QSL is one of the Q codes, meaning “I confirm your reception”; QSL card confirmation of QSO (radio communication) between two radio amateurs ... Wikipedia
- (short for card): Business card Bread cards Payment cards QSL card In sports Yellow card Red card In philately: Postal card Marked postcard In computer terminology: Video card Network card In ... ... Wikipedia
- (by amateur radio code (See Amateur Radio Codes) QSL card) a special card, most often like a postcard, confirming the fact of establishing communication between amateur radio stations or monitoring them ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia