Tag: qsl cards

I’m enjoying the QSL card from Bob (WD4CNZ) I received in the mail today… what a neat design.
Here’s Bob’s info from QRZ.com:
Occupation: Teacher of Horticulture Ham Radio interests: DX’ing, ARES, island collecting, DX-peditions Awards sponsored by this station: DX DOZEN, GIANT STEP AWARD, SPECIAL TRIBUTE, MILESTONES AWARD (details via callbook address–OK since ’77) Age: Young at heart 10X#: 43270 Springbok#: 291 Fondest memory of ham radio: helping my Elmer’s daughter-in-law to get her ham license and pass the exam just before he died of cancer–he told me that I had repaid a debt of honor! Favorite bands: 10, 15, 20M (whatever is open and wherever the DX is!) ALWAYS WILLING TO STOP AND CHAT WITH ANYONE WHO CALLS ME AND AM ONE OF THE LAST STATIONS THAT STILL QSL’s 100 percent. 73 es DX de Bob WD4CNZ

Just received this QSL card via email:

This QSO was from Thanksgiving evening. WD9HZI (Albert) was waiting for the Rotten Apples Group Net. I heard Albert call CQ – I answered and he came back to me right away.

The Rotten Apples started almost 20 years ago. The Founders use to check into the “Classroom Net”, which starts at 7am, then they started meeting on 7.238 earlier and having a “Round Table Chat”. Later on, they started to drop out of the Classroom Net, Joe WB2JKJ called them a bunch of rotten apples and after that the name stuck and the Rotten Apples Group was born – hihi. The Original Group (what we refer to as “The Original 43”) had a RAG Certificate that AL, W9QHN put together. They had to earn the “certificate” by confirming three (3) QSL’S with other RA’s and to him. When Al died, the rest of the Original “43” Rotten Apples decided to discontinue the certificate in his memory and that’s where that saga ended. And now the saga of the “Drivers Permits” begins…

The Driver’s Permit Award: Donn WY5I got his drivers license after a 10 year injury. To celebrate the occasion, Donn received a RAG Driver’s Permit, then Leon, one of the other founders wanted one, then another and so on and so on, and the “Driver’s Permit” came about. NOW, to qualify for a Rotten Apples Group “Driver’s Permit” you must check in to the Rotten Apples Group between 6am-7am est. OR 7pm-8pm est. (these are the Official RAG Hours on the air) on a regular basis for a few months to indicate that you will be a faithful Rotten Apple participant. All “EARLY BIRD” check-ins will be accepted only if they stick around and check into the regular RAG sked hour. You will then receive a Driver’s Permit and a special welcome and that’s it. Everyone who checks in is already a member of the Rotten Apples Group but Driver’s Permits are given out as an Award to those stations who have become faithful Rotten Apple check-ins. It is really not like an Membership Certificate. This is no membership requirement, this is not a club and there is no dues. This is just a GROUP of guys and some gals that meet everyday on 7.238mhz. There are lots of visitors on the RAG morning and evening sessions, they come & they go never to be heard again.

Wikipedia says: QSL, or QSL card, is the confirmation of a QSO (a radio contact) between two radio amateurs. “QSL” is a Q code, which means “I confirm contact with you.” A QSL card is a (usually postcard-sized) hardcopy, containing the specific details of a QSO. It usually contains the callsign of both operators, the time and date of the QSO (usually in GMT), the radio frequency used, the mode of transmission used, and RST (Readability, Strength, Tone) reports exchanged. RST is a numeric code, that indicates how well (or badly!) the radio signal was received. Sometimes the QSL card will contain an image, perhaps of something associated with the operator’s home town. QSL cards are very important to the radio amateur since they confirm that a QSO took place and are used as proof when applying for a Ham Award.

… and a little more information from Amateur Radio Victoria: A QSL card contains some basic information – the amateur station’s callsign, location, licensee’s name and postal address, and often details about the amateur station equipment. It will also include details of the contact, the date/time, frequency, mode of transmission, and signal report. QSL cards should not exceed 140mm by 90mm or be less than 125mm by 80mm. They must not be printed on lightweight paper (such as 80gsm copy paper). Preferred weight is in the range 120 -180gsm. The callsign of the station to receive the card is written on the top right hand corner. The card size and placement of the recipient callsign were made standard worldwide some years ago to make it easier to sort and handle large quantities of cards. The QSL Bureaux only exchange cards between themselves, and there are a very few countries which don’t have a bureau. In these cases, radio amateurs wanting a card from a non-bureau country must QSL direct by using the normal postage system.

… I’m working on my own QSL card.