QSL

The QSO is not finished until the card is in the mail!

          But what often happens when you send your QSL? Well, that depends on how you send it. If you send it via the Bureau, and you are a very lucky person, you may get 10 cards back for every 300 to 400 that you send, and they just might take 2 years to get to you. The problem actually is not with the ARRL Bureau, but with others. If you send a QSL Direct...... many hams ask for a "green stamp" (dollar) or two to defray mailing costs, or/and an IRC. There are some crooked letter carriers in many places across the globe, who know that the envelope with the callsigns on it just might have some money that they can take, and toss the card away.... lost in the mail.
    With the postcard type of QSL cards, that you send to more localized contacts, you are very lucky if the card does not get lost in the mail, or is eaten by a postal machine... Most cards make the trip, but you can depend on most of them being at least bent, and most have postal routing codes pasted across the bottom of the card, or there is a large  ink smear from when the stamp gets cancelled.
    What happens when you finally get that 100th Country confirmed, and you bundle up all of those cards, and mail them to the CM to get that DXCC Certificate that you worked so long and hard for? You might want to insure the package, but, if they are lost in the mail, be it coming or going, or if they are eaten by a postal machine, money could never replace the time, effort, and expense that you went through.

ENTER 21st CENTURY

        My wife Carolyn and I have been working a lot of PSK31, as well as some of the popular digital modes, such as SSTV, Hellschreiber, etc.  With Cycle 23 finally showing some signs of good propagation, we are seeing something new....  QSL's via E-Mail.  Now this does not help everyone, as everyone does not have a computer, but everyone using PSK, etc, has a computer, and these days, there is free e-mail nearly everywhere.
  For several years, we have been making our own QSL cards at home, on our printer. They look as good as the ones made by QSL printing companies, but are a fraction of the cost. We send these to folks to confirm our contact, and others around the world do the same thing as we do.
Recently, we have been receiving QSL's via e-mail, to confirm our contacts. We merely print them out on our printer from the e-mail --  the QSL is usually a filled out .JPG picture.   The same bottom line.... we receive a QSL from a contact, and we confirm the contact the same way, via e-mail.    The differences being.... NO 2 year wait. NO Postage costs. NO middleman (buro). NO lost in the mail. NO money stolen by carriers. NO defaced cards.
    Now, we have heard that these types of cards are not good for dxcc, etc. confirmations.  For all practical purposes, we collect cards for our own enjoyment, and welcome e-mail cards. What I do wonder though is WHY, are these cards not valid for dxcc????  Some say that it makes cheating easier..... get a life! If someone wants to forge a card, they can do it without a contact. Who is going to go from house to house to check each log to see if the contacts are listed? Not I!
Some say that it would take away revenue from QSL printers, or the ARRL. There might be something to this, but I don't know.    We are members of the ARRL, but not everyone can afford to belong to the organization to use their outgoing QSL Bureau. Amateurs in many countries cannot afford the postage to QSL, so you seldom receive one back from them.
     Think about this...... When we receive an E-QSL, we print it to card stock, for our collection. If we were going to send our cards in to receive a certificate, we could merely make a copy on regular 20# paper of the QSL, to send in... not a problem if it gets lost in the mail. We can make another. No original QSL's lost. When the cards are checked in, and the award is issued, the regular paper copies could be thrown away instead of the extra postage in returning them.
Bottom line... If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it must be a duck.
   Anyway, Carolyn and I WELCOME any E-QSL's, and are going to actively pursue changes to existing rules, and make QSLling more practical, economical, and above all, FAST.    PLEASE.... Contact the Bureau that you use, and also the ARRL, and demand change. If you are not seeking the awards, then this should be your best bet in confirming contacts.
   Very 73,
         Gary "Whitey" Donner - K8BE  & Carolyn Donner - N8ST

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