I have devoted a significant amount of time to plow through QSL cards for my YI9MI operation in Iraq last year. The highlight was getting a few cards with actual valid CW contacts. The hard part was sending QSL cards back to folks who had contacts with the CW pirate station. I know this isn’t a news flash, but why does the Post Office never know what to do with an IRC? I handed over a stack and it took a few phone calls before the postman working the counter said I could get one 0.94 airmail stamp for each IRC. I know that is not the right answer, but at least I got the QSL cards in the mail. So now all the direct QSLs have been taken care of and I will get the QSL BURO cards finished by the end of the week. I have never used the ARRL’s outgoing QSL bureau before, so this will be a learning experience.
I have been reviewing the rules this year’s field day. It looks like my dad and I will be running a 2B field day site. Now we have to figure out what antennas we are going to use. I would like to try a wire vertical in addition to the flattop dipole we are putting up.
Tag: qsl cards
Saturday
I am (at long last) catching up on all the QSL cards from my YI9MI operation in Iraq. Lots of cards through the ARRL Incoming Bureau and good deal of direct as well. I was able to answer many of the cards from Iraq – those who acted quickly and sent their card early got them back. I just have not had a lot of time since I have been back to complete the task, but am finally making headway. The biggest issue was the pirate station who was using my callsign (YI9MI) and making CW contacts. The pirate was a very proficient CW op and worked most of Europe and Japan… from what I can see for the QSL cards I am getting. When I was operating from Iraq I’d see a spot for my call on the DX cluster showing a CW freq and quickly discovered my callsign was being pirated. I put a note on QRZ to check my logbook to confirm the contact before sending a QSL card but it looks like many did not.
The next step is to try to figure out how to get all the YI9MI contacts on LOTW. I think I got them all on eQSL, but I need to check.
A Sunday In November
Temperatures have dropped here in eastern Kansas, off the Missouri and Platte Rivers. Morning temps are getting down to the high teens but we’ve had generally clear skies – so no snow yet.
Been having a problem with my Toyota Tundra. I had the shocks replaced about two months ago, but I am still having a suspension issues. Often when I drive over uneven pavement I hear a type of popping or low banging. I’m dropping the truck off tomorrow morning at a garage in town and I hope they identify and fix the problem.
I popped the first cap on the KC Ale this past Thursday. One word: Tasty! I was so happy with the results that I brought in a 12-pack to distribute to my small group at CGSC. We will see what kind of feed back I get tomorrow. The KC Ale batch has a great cooper color, medium head, slight hoppy aroma. The taste is crisp and smooth, no off-flavors.
The California Common batch went into secondary fermentation last Tuesday (18 NOV). I’ll try to get it bottled up this coming Wednesday (26 NOV). Then it should be ready for a first by 11 DEC… a good day to celebrate my last night class for this term.
While the CGSC program here at Fort Leavenworth is considered a Masters-level program, it does not award a degree at graduation (unlike the Navy’s program in Monterey or the Air Force in Alabama). Therefore, in order to get a masters, I signed up to take two night classes a week and then by graduation I’ll get the degree. It is a bit of pain now, but this is really the only opportunity I am going to get to earn a master’s degree.
Back to beer: I need to get crackin’ and cook up the batch of Raspberry Wheat. If I am able to get it into primary fermentation today, I should be able to hit secondary fermentation by next Sunday (30 NOV) and then bottle by 14 DEC. It should be nice and tasty by New Year’s Eve.
I need to put together a sample pack for my Team Jedi brethren (Team Jedi are the fine folks I spent my last year in Iraq with). So it looks like the pack will consist of ESB, KC Ale, California Common, and the Raspberry Wheat.
I’ve also had a request from the 7-land Inbound QSL Bureau back in Oregon. I received an email from Marc, NC7M, who let me know I had 200+ QSL cards headed my way. I need to also replenish my postal funds for the bureau. And next week – I will answer all the YI9MI QSL card request that I have… which is quite a significant pile.
QSL Cards… what makes a winner?
My dad has recently upgraded to General and has been getting on the air making contacts. This isn’t the first time he’s been on HF or exchanged QSL cards. Back in his younger days, he held the call KN6ILL (I Love Lucy) and operated an HT-20 transmitter and a National NC-57 for a receiver with an 80 meter dipole. His license lapsed but now he is back in the game with an IC-718. He is making regular contacts using PSK-31 and has started to receive QSL cards. But he hasn’t made up his own cards yet. I figured I’d try an help with a rough draft – something to get the creative juices flowing.
Wikipedia defines a QSL card as a written confirmation of either a two-way radiocommunication between two amateur radio stations or a one-way reception of a signal from an AM radio, FM radio, or television station. A typical QSL card is the same size and made from the same material as a typical postcard, and many are sent through the mail as a standard postcard. QSL cards derived their name from the Q code “QSL”, which means “I acknowledge receipt.”
I really enjoy QSL cards, both receiving them in the mail from other hams verifying our QSOs and designing my own to send out as an acknowledgment of the contact on my end.
The appearance of your QSL card can be important for many. It gives the recipient a snapshot of you… and I find it difficult to do that on the small area provided by a 3.5″ by 5.5″ card.
The general agreed upon minimum elements of a QSL card are the following:
– Your callsign
– Basic information concerning the QSO
+ the other party’s callsign
+ time/date of contact in UTC/GMT/Zulu
+ band or frequency of the QSO
+ mode (SSB/CW/digital mode)
+ signal report (RST)
– Your name and mailing address
Additionally most hams include the following information which is useful for a number of different awards:
– County (for the county hunters)
– Grid (for the grid hunters)
– ITU and CQ zones
After that the door is wide open on what is found on a QSL card. Many include membership numbers which go towards earning awards (FISTS, SKCC, 10-10, etc.). Some also include one or more logos of clubs and organizations they belong to (ARRL, ARES, MARS, SKYWARN, contest club, local club, etc.).
Many hams like to individualize their QSL cards with a picture showing their hamshack, antenna farm, QRP rig, mobile setup. Others put a picture of a some notable location or landmark near where they live (National Park, major league stadium, civil war battlefield, etc.). And a few portray an additional hobby they are active in beyond (or complimenting) ham radio. This is where you can really set your card apart from others, make it stand out in a crowd.
I think some sound advise is to keep the card relatively clean and simple – don’t try to do too much in such a small space. Have fun and make your card something you are proud to share with others.
Here are some other sites with more information on QSL cards:
– eham.net: QSL Cards
– WA7S: QSL Cards – How to Make Your Own
– QSL Factory
– The QSL Man
Items of interest
Interesting post on W2LJ’s blog about his PDA. I have an assortment of PDAs:
– Palm Pilot Pro that I got an upgrade kit for to make it a Palm III (new chip along with IR sync capability)
– Palm IIIxe which I bought on eBay. It works well except that it eats up batteries even when it is turned off. I have used this PDA with my Kenwood TH-D7 to do mobile 2m packet and PocketAPRS.
– Palm m130. This was the first PDA I had that allowed you to use an SD card. I have used this to program my TinyTrack APRS device.
– Palm Tungsten 3 (or T3). First PDA with wireless connectivity, in this case Bluetooth. Also has a slot for an SD card. I used this PDA for mobile logging, mainly taking advantage of the voice recording function… I’d have a mobile QSO, pick up the Palm T3 and record a voice memo of the time, freq, callsign, and any other significant info. At a later point I used that to update my primary log.
– Some variant of an HP PDA that has WiFi and an SD card slot.
Also have an assortment of keyboards, cameras, and other doo-dads that go with these.
I have the Palm T3 with me now… I’m guessing it needs to be charged.
K3OQ has a post about his upcoming trip to the Outer Banks. He also plans to activate The Bodie Island Lighthouse (USA-067). I had the opportunity to activate that light back in June of 2006. Beautiful area out there – very relaxing. One of the highlights of any hams visit to the Outer Banks is using the Outer Banks Repeater Association’s 2m and 70cm repeaters. I had a few great exchanges with Jack, W2EHD who lives in the area year around. The repeater system also allowed me to stay in contact with the XYL while I was off activating lighthouses.
N9IK’s Radio Blog has a new post about his completion of the Rock-Mite 40 transceiver kit. He’s got some great pics of his work. I hope to develop my building skills to that level. Very nice work. I look forward to hearing about the contacts he makes with it.
K9ZW tries to solve the age old question of the best way to organize QSL cards with his latest post. I’m curious to see how others keep their cards organized. I don’t have a ton of cards yet, but I would like a solid method of keeping my cards organized that will last for years and allow me to access them as needed.
As always – I enjoy reading your blogs. It keeps my interest in amateur radio strong even if I don’t get on the air as often as I’d like.
FrostFest
I went up to the Richmond, VA hamfest (aka FrostFest) on Sunday. They had an ARRL card checker and I was able to get my QSL cards verified for the Worked All States (WAS) award. I spent the early part of Sunday organizing my cards (my QSL card organization needs some work). Most states I have multiple contacts for except for Alaska, Wyoming, and Delaware. The drive up to Richmond took about an hour and the parking lot was packed. Tons of cars and trucks with amateur radio license plates, most bristling with antennae. Arriving at 9:30am (the door had opened at 8:30am) I found no line and was able to walk right in. The hall was packed. I found the ARRL card checkers right away and dropped my cards off. Wondering around, I saw mostly junk… but some good stuff. I ended up purchasing a mobile antenna for 40M and 20M as well as a bumper mount. Ending up back at the card checker I was told that my cards were good to go and I can expect to get my WAS certificate in about a month.
Post Christmas Wrap Up
Christmas was good to me. I received a NorCal 40A kit along with David B. Rutledge’s The Electronics of Radio. Together these items make up a basic analog electronics’s course and my hope is to build the kit and learn more about electronics and radio.
Notes from the budding brewmaster: The final bottles of my first batch of beer were actually quite good. It worked out to the following: 2 weeks in the keg, 2 weeks in the bottle, 3 days in the fridge. Very tasty. Also – I’m sticking to regular white sugar for the carbonation.
I’ve also been spending way to much time playing Age of Empires III on my laptop.
I need to get in the radio room, tidy up, catch up on logging in a stack of QSL cards, and prepare for Straight Key Night.
425
Here’s my current roll up for DXCC – just need to get those QSL cards! I have 53 confirmed so far.
| CALLSIGN | DATE | BAND | MODE | DXCC | CNFRMD |
| OH0X | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Aland Is. | |
| 7X2LS | 12/11/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Algeria | |
| VP2EBR | 12/16/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Anguilla | |
| V26B | 10/29/2006 | 15 | SSB | Antigua & Barbuda |
|
| LW9EOC | 10/15/2006 | 15 | SSB | Argentina | |
| P40W | 10/28/2006 | 15 | SSB | Aruba | |
| VK4CZ | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Australia | |
| OE1DWC | 2/7/2006 | 40 | PSK31 | Austria | R |
| CU2/OH1VR | 10/28/2006 | 15 | SSB | Azores | |
| EA6ADM | 1/17/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Balearic Is. | |
| 8P2K | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Barbados | |
| EW7EW | 12/21/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Belarus | R |
| OO6FN | 11/29/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Belgium | R |
| V31LL | 10/17/2006 | 17 | SSB | Belize | |
| VP9LN | 8/20/2006 | 20 | SSB | Bermuda | R |
| PJ2T | 10/28/2006 | 80 | SSB | Bonaire, Curacao | |
| T94KC | 3/23/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | R |
| PS7LN | 12/11/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Brazil | R |
| VP2V/AH6HY | 10/1/2006 | 20 | SSB | British Virgin Is. |
|
| LZ1BJ | 1/26/2006 | 17 | PSK31 | Bulgaria | |
| VE9DX | 12/4/2005 | 17 | PSK31 | Canada | R |
| EA8/OH2NAF | 12/6/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Canary Is. | R |
| ZF2PP | 1/9/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Cayman Is. | |
| CE/VE7SV | 10/17/2006 | 20 | SSB | Chile | |
| HK3GXI | 4/30/2006 | 40 | PSK31 | Colombia | R |
| TK5IH | 2/10/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Corsica | R |
| TI8II | 10/1/2006 | 15 | PSK31 | Costa Rica | |
| 9A3LE | 1/22/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Croatia | R |
| CO3JN | 11/30/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Cuba | R |
| OK2VA | 1/2/2006 | 17 | PSK31 | Czech Rep. | R |
| OZ5ESB | 8/19/2006 | 20 | SSB | Denmark | |
| HI3/OK2ZU | 3/4/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Dominican Republic |
R |
| HC1JQ | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Ecuador | |
| YS1PY | 8/20/2006 | 20 | SSB | El Salvador | R |
| G3PGA | 1/7/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | England | R |
| ES7FQ | 1/9/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Estonia | R |
| RW3DQC | 12/9/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | European Russia | R |
| OH3GIF | 1/26/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Finland | R |
| F5RRS | 12/1/2005 | 30 | PSK31 | France | R |
| FY1FV | 11/27/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | French Guiana | R |
| DL5KSS | 12/4/2005 | 17 | PSK31 | Germany | R |
| SV3FUK | 1/22/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Greece | R |
| J3/DL3VFN | 1/8/2006 | 20 | PSK | Grenada | R |
| FG5JK | 10/29/2006 | 15 | SSB | Guadeloupe | |
| TG9SM | 1/21/2006 | 40 | PSK31 | Guatemala | |
| 8R1EA | 10/29/2006 | 15 | SSB | Guyana | |
| KH7U | 10/29/2006 | 15 | SSB | Hawaii | |
| HR2/LU1DY | 2/7/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Honduras | R |
| HA7TY | 1/13/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Hungary | R |
| TF4M | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Iceland | |
| EI7M | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Ireland | |
| MD4K | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Isle of Man | |
| IV3LBP | 12/8/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Italy | R |
| 6Y1V | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Jamaica | |
| RK2FWA | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Kaliningrad | |
| YL2AZ | 1/9/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Latvia | R |
| HB0/HB9AON | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Liechtenstein | |
| LY2ZZ | 10/19/2006 | 20 | SSB | Lithuania | |
| LX8DL | 12/13/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Luxembourg | R |
| Z35T | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Macedonia | |
| CT3DL | 10/7/2006 | 15 | SSB | Madeira Is. | |
| 9H1SP | 1/9/2006 | 17 | PSK31 | Malta | R |
| FM/K9NW | 10/29/2006 | 15 | SSB | Martinique | |
| XE2YWB | 1/7/2006 | 15 | PSK31 | Mexico | R |
| ER0ND | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Moldova | |
| VP2MHX | 10/28/2006 | 15 | SSB | Montserrat | |
| CN3A | 10/28/2006 | 15 | SSB | Morocco | |
| PA1FR | 1/13/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Netherlands | R |
| ZL6QH | 10/29/2006 | 40 | SSB | New Zealand | |
| YN2EJ | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Nicaragua | |
| MI3JQD | 10/22/2006 | 20 | SSB | Northern Ireland | |
| LB9JE | 1/10/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Norway | R |
| HP1DCP | 2/7/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Panama | R |
| ZP5MAL | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Paraguay | |
| OA4WW | 10/29/2006 | 15 | SSB | Peru | |
| SP4R | 1/2/2006 | 17 | PSK31 | Poland | R |
| CT1GTI | 12/11/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Portugal | R |
| KP4SQ | 12/19/2005 | 40 | PSK31 | Puerto Rico | R |
| XF4DL | 10/28/2006 | 15 | SSB | Revillagigedo | |
| FS/SM7DKF | 5/7/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Saint Martin | R |
| T77GO | 2/17/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | San Marino | |
| HI8HCJ | 5/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Santa Domingo | R |
| IM0GNF | 2/5/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Sardinia | R |
| GM0KWW | 1/27/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Scotland | R |
| 6W8CK | 12/7/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Senegal | R |
| YU6AO | 7/23/2006 | 20 | SSB | Serbia & Montenegro |
|
| OM5DP | 10/18/2006 | 17 | SSB | Slovak Rep. | |
| S51HA | 2/8/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Slovenia | R |
| EA3BDE | 11/28/2005 | 20 | PSK31 | Spain | R |
| V44KJ | 2/6/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | St. Kitts & Nevis |
R |
| PZ5RA | 12/21/2005 | 17 | PSK31 | Suriname | R |
| SM4FZW | 1/13/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Sweden | R |
| HB9ODP | 1/20/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Switzerland | R |
| 9Y4NZ | 10/29/2006 | 20 | SSB | Trinidad & Tobago |
|
| VP5VAC | 5/21/2005 | 6 | SSB | Turks & Caicos Is. |
R |
| UV5QB | 1/29/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Ukraine | R |
| CX7BF | 12/18/2005 | 15 | PSK31 | Uruguay | |
| K8LF | 11/17/2005 | 80 | SSB | USA | R |
| YV6QD | 1/10/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Venezuela | R |
| WP2Z | 10/28/2006 | 20 | SSB | Virgin Is. | |
| GW5PH | 1/29/2006 | 20 | PSK31 | Wales | R |
W4V – Special Event Station, Veterans Day 2006
… From The Shack
2006 CQ WW DX Contest: It has been a learning experience so far. Much more intense than Field Day. It seems as if the bands are jam packed – nothing but “CQ Contest” from 80M to 10M. I started last night a had contacts mostly on 80M, but also a few on 40M – mainly South America and the Caribbean. Today contacts are about even between 15M and 20M… more Caribbean island stations, Africa, and Europe. Not much heard from the Pacific. I did hear a KH6 station on 15M buried in noise.
When I wasn’t on the radio I was finishing the QSL cards from the W4M special event station. I now consider my QSLing activities for W4M complete.
I’ve also been cleaning up my log. As of right now, I’ve logged 1069 QSOs since I upgraded to General in Nov 2005. Of those, 102 are CW QSOs (the first was back in DEC 2005). I need to go back and look up FISTS information and see if I’m close to their basic award. I’ve contacted a total of 86 DXCC entities – maybe I’ll be able to get 14 more during the remainder of the contest. The total towards the Worked All States award is 47. I’m missing Hawaii, Alaska, and Wyoming. I’m also probably close to the basic award for Worked All US Counties. The basic award is for 500 counties, I think.
Best news this weekend – I got the ICOM CT-17 working!. It’s quite slick, I can now click on a DX cluster spot in my logging program and my IC-706MKIIG automatically flips to that frequency. Or, if I’m hunting and pouncing, the log will automatically grab the freq and mode from the radio and place it in the log. I wish I had done this earlier.
I also had a short 30M QSO with Bill, WD8RTW over in WV. The QSO was going well, but then he disappeared. He came back briefly but we ended the QSO.