Are you waiting for a QSL from VA7ST?
Paper QSLing is becoming an unsuitable option for me. All contacts in my log receive a confirmation using the ARRL’s Logbook of the World.
I am a ham radio enthusiast, not a stamp collector. I complete more than 20,000 contacts each year. I don’t need a paper QSL card to confirm a contact from a contest — an electronic QSL via LoTW or eQSL is a sufficient courtesy.
Save money, time, paper and energy; please only send a QSL card if you absolutely need paper confirmation from VE7, the VA7 prefix, or perhaps grid square DO00.
If you sent me a card via the bureau, thank you. Due to sheer volume, time and cost, I am not able to reply with a paper card — electronic alternatives are freely available.
As of May 2017 I am listed among the top 15 most active users of the eQSL service — with 265,000 QSL cards sent via that service since 2003.
Those who mail me a card with a Canada-stamped envelope, or money for postage, will receive a card in reply. Today’s mailing costs mean I am not able reply to QSL cards that arrive in the mail without sufficient return postage.
Postage to the US from here is $1.20 and international letters are $2.50. That all adds up very quickly today.
My current QSL card was printed by UX5UO Print in the Ukraine. It’s an excellent service and I highly recommend Gennady’s QSL cards — they’re very inexpensive, of the highest reproduction quality, and I received mine in less than three weeks from ordering via e-mail to finding a package of cards in our mailbox.
I designed my card front and back using photos from our July 2006 vacation trip to Longbeach on Vancouver Island. It features our dog Tippy (who lived a long happy life until 2014) on the front, and me on the back.
I do not collect paper cards, either direct or via the bureau. I QSL almost exclusively via the ARRL’s Logbook of the World and try to keep my eQSL records up to date. I keep LoTW very current; eQSL can go a month or two between updates.
If you choose to send a QSL card direct (via the mail), please be patient. I receive a lot of cards, and I have to process them in batches — usually six times a year. I am not able to reply to cards sent via the bureau or sent by direct mail without return postage. Frankly, postage rates make paper QSLing no longer affordable.
If I receive an envelope with correct Canadian postage to send my card to you, I may be able to get it done right away, as it doesn’t require a trip to the post office (just to the post box down the block). Many operators include a US$1 or $2 bill, and this really helps keep down costs for QSLing — often, your donation helps me send cards to DX stations that don’t or can’t include self-addressed stamped envelopes (SASEs).
My QSL card collection represents about 120 countries, although some REALLY long-time QSL collectors have over 350 countries (or “entities” as they are also called, as some places in the world aren’t countries, but are still considered unique ham radio locations.)
Like many hams who have been around for a couple of decades or longer, I have cards from some countries that no longer exist — such as the USSR and East Germany. There are about 337 active DXCC entities around the world and 48 deleted entities.
While the politics of a country’s demise may be up for debate, I do feel nostalgia when I go through all my cards and see some of the history of ham radio and the world in the mix. Alas, the days of paper QSLing are virtually over for me, due to rising postage costs.
