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:

A3 Tonga A5 Bhutan A6 United Arab Emirates C2 Nauru C5 Gambia C6 Bahamas CN Morocco D2 Angola E3 Eritrea E5 North & South Cook Is. HH Haiti HV Vatican J5 Guinea-Bissau J8 St. Vincent

P2 Papua New Guinea P5 North Korea PZ Suriname S0 Western Sahara S7 Seychelles S9 Sao Tome & Principe ST Sudan SU Egypt T2 Tuvalu T3 Kiribati T5 Somalia T8 Palau TJ Cameroon

TL Central African Rep TN Congo TT Chad TY Benin V3 Belize V4 St. Kitts & Nevis V6 Micronesia VP2E Anguilla VP2M Montserrat XU Cambodia XW Laos XZ Myanmar

YA Afghanistan Z2 Zimbabwe ZD9 Tristan da Cunha 3B Agalega, Mauritius, Rodrigues 3C0 Pagalu Island 3C Equatorial Guinea 3DA Swaziland 3W Vietnam 3X Guinea 4J Azerbaijan 4W Timor- Leste

5A Libya 5R Madagascar 5T Mauritania 5U Niger 5V Togo 7O Yemen 7P Lesotho 7Q Malawi 8Q Maldives 9L Sierra Leone 9N Nepal 9U Burundi 9X Rwanda

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.

External link

• QSLing suggestions, ZS6EZ
• Inside Your League--QSL Service, ARRLweb

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