QSL Bureaus

Related wiki page: Callsign Databases

QSL
QSL means either "do you confirm receipt of my transmission" or "I confirm receipt of your transmission". It can also mean "please send me a QSL card".

QSL is a Q-code.

QSL Cards
A QSL card is a written form of QSL, a confirmation of contact between two parties. Traditionally, amateurs traded QSL cards. These are usually about the same size as a postcard, often elaborately decorated to express individuality, and were mailed from person to person. QSL cards can also be used to confirm one way communication ie, to a listener from a radio station either commercial or amateur.

A number of amateurs use electronic QSL "cards". These are available through eQSL. This website has a logging facility with which users can email other registered users and exchange QSL cards electronically. Some hams display these electronic QSL's on web pages.

Modes such as SSTV lend themselves to another way of exchanging QSL's. In the case of SSTV, each station will send a screen that contains contact detail.

The minimum information on a QSL card is:
 * Callsign of each station
 * Time - usually in UTC
 * Date
 * Frequency of operation
 * Mode of operation
 * Signal report, usually using the [RST] code.

QSL Bureaus

 * IARU IARU QSL Bureaus

There is no incoming bureau in the following countries:

Bureaus:

Canada
Outgoing:
 * RAC (for members of Radio Amateurs of/du Canada)
 * RAQI (for members of Radio Amateur du Québec Inc.)

Incoming:
 * RAC (national)

Incoming cards are forwarded to individual provincial bureaux. To receive cards from the provincial bureau, a radio amateur must provide self-addressed stamped envelopes, payment or both (depending on the bureau) to cover forwarding costs. The incoming bureau does not require that the recipient of the cards be a member of a club or association.
 * VO1/VO2
 * VE1
 * VE2 Québec
 * VE3
 * VE4
 * VE5 Saskatchewan
 * VE6 Alberta
 * VE7 British Columbia
 * VE8
 * VE9
 * VY0
 * VY1
 * VY2

USA

 * ARRL outgoing (members only, does not accept cards where both stations are in continental US)

Incoming (48 contiguous states):
 * ARRL incoming

Incoming cards are forwarded to one of individual regional bureaux for radio amateurs in the continental US. Alaska, Hawaii and US territories and possessions are not handled by the eleven main regional bureaux, although some may have a local bureau. Recipient must provide SASE, payment or both to cover forwarding costs, depending on policy of the individual bureau - ARRL membership is not required to receive cards.
 * W0 Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,Nebraska,North-Dakota,South Dakota
 * W1 Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
 * W2 New Jersey, New York
 * W3 Delaware, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania
 * W4 single-letter, two-letter prefixes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
 * W5 Arkansas, Louisiana , Mississippi , New Mexico , Oklahoma , Texas
 * W6 California
 * W7 Arizona, Idaho , Montana , Nevada , Oregon , Utah, Washington , Wyoming
 * W8 Michigan, Ohio , West Virginia
 * W9 Illinois, Indiana , Wisconsin

USVI (WP2): http://www.atthehelm.com/qsl.htm

There is no incoming bureau for the following US possessions:
 * KG4         Guantanamo Bay
 * KH0         Mariana Is.
 * KH1         Baker & Howland Is.
 * KH4         Midway Island
 * KH5         Palmyra & Jarvis Is.
 * KH7K      Kure Island
 * KH9         Wake island
 * KP1          Navassa Island
 * KP5          Desecheo Island

Online QSL

 * ARRL Logbook of the World, accepted for ARRL awards but does not deliver a paper QSL card
 * eQSL eQSL serves amateurs internationally, and provides an Authentication Guarantee to help contesters and avoid false QSO claims.

Sending and receiving QSL's
You will need to familiarise yourself with the rules and guidelines of your bureau. Some terms that are used by Bureaux are :

SAE

SAE stands for Self Addressed Envelope

This is an envelope with your name and complete mailing address written on it. This is usually sent along with your QSL card to the person you wish to exchange QSL cards directly instead of going through the QSL Bureau.

To help defray the cost of sending the SAE back to you, a Green Stamp or an IRC (International Reply Coupon) is normally enclosed.

If the other person is within your own country, it will be more convenient to use a SASE.

SASE

SASE stands for Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. This is the same as an SAE except that it has a postage stamp of sufficient value for the envelope to be mailed back to the sender.

This method works only if the sender and sendee from withn the same country. You cannot send a SASE with a U.S. stamp to a country outside the U.S.A. as U.S. stamps are not accepted by foreign postal agencies and vice versa.

Green stamp

Cash enclosed in mail, usually one or two US $1 bills, as an alternative to using IRC (International Reply Coupon). Used only when sending directly to a DX station as enclosures cannot be made when sending cards through bureaux. If used, must be carefully concealed due to the risk of theft.

QSL card checking
A common problem in acquiring QSL's is the broken call; the station and contact were originally valid, but a callsign was incorrectly recorded or transcribed. This may lead to acknowledgement being sent to the wrong station or to individual QSO's not being credited to operators engaged in contesting and otherwise eligible for awards.

In some cases, broken calls can be spotted by checking the station's log against a callbook for the region contacted; a lookup of an incorrectly-recorded callsign may return "no such station" or identify another station situated far distant from the reported location.

Problems can also arise when QSL cards are missing a key piece of information (such as callsigns, location, band and mode) or contain handwritten text which is not clearly legible.

Less often, issues arise due to a distant operator's wilful use of an incorrect callsign or location on-air:
 * A "pirate" is a transmitter unlawfully using the calls of some other station; the licensed station will be puzzled to be flooded with QSL's and enquiries about bands and modes on which it may have never even operated.
 * A "Slim" is a station incorrectly reporting its location, often to claim origin from a rare or exotic DX location. The term is believed to originate with a 1960's-era station briefly identifying as "Slim", call 8X8A and location "Cray Island," an island newly-emerged from the ocean floor due to volcanic activity. The claims were debunked and the station quietly left the air. A DXpedition claiming to be P5RS7 (North Korea), operated by 3W3RR Romeo Stepanenko in December 1992, obtained similar notoriety after being exposed by radio direction finding techniques as operating from Vladivostok, Russia.
 * A "bootlegger" is an unlicensed transmitter operating using a call which does not legally exist. This may be a station which had lost its license or an operator who had acquired equipment only to fail to obtain competences necessary for licensure. Similar issues may arise where a station is duly licensed in its home jurisdiction but operates a DXpedition in a nation in which it lacks reciprocal operating privileges or authorisation from the host government.

In some cases a bogus radioamateur operation has issued QSL cards which look to be valid and these may be unknowingly collected by legitimate amateur stations. In order to maintain the integrity of contest and award programmes, QSL's from contacts with any station known for historically fraudulent or illegal operation are normally rejected by contest organisers.

QSL card printers

 * QSL card printers/designers and management systems: Make your own QSL cards, AC6V
 * AF4K's QSL & QTH information
 * eHam's list of QSL printers; callsign badge engravers
 * QSL card printer sites list, W1WC
 * VA3RJ's list of QSL printers