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Text File | 1993-10-05 | 15KB | 427 lines

Subject: THE ARRL INCOMING QSL BUREAU SYSTEM Purpose Within the U.S. and Canada, the ARRL DX QSL Bureau System is made up of numerous call area bureaus that act as central clearing houses for QSLs arriving from foreign countries. These "incoming" bureaus are staffed by volunteers. The service is free and ARRL membership is not required. How it Works Most countries have "outgoing" QSL bureaus that operate in much the same manner as the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service. The member sends his cards to his outgoing bureau where they are packaged and shipped to the appropriate countries. A majority of the DX QSLs are shipped directly to the individual incoming bureaus where volunteers sort the incoming QSLs by the first letter of the call sign suffix. One individual may be assigned the responsibility of handling from one or more letters of the alphabet. Operating costs are funded from ARRL membership dues. Claiming your QSLs Send a 5 x 7-1/2 or 6 x 9 inch self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) to the bureau serving your callsign district. Neatly print your call-sign in the upper left corner of the envelope. A suggested way to send envelopes is to affix a first class stamp and clip extra postage to the envelope. Then, if you receive more than 1 oz. of cards, they can be sent in the single package. Some incoming bureaus sell envelopes or postage credits in addition to the normal SASE handling. They provide the proper envelope and postage upon the prepayment of a certain fee. The exact arrangements can be obtained by sending your inquiry with a SASE to your area bureau. A list of bureaus appears below. Helpful Hints Good cooperation between the DXer and the bureau is important to ensure a smooth flow of cards. Remember that the people who work in the area bureaus are volunteers. They are providing you with a valuable service. With that thought in mind, please pay close attention to the following DOs and DON'Ts. DOs * DO keep self-addressed 5 x 7-1/2 or 6 x 9 inch envelopes on file at your bureau, with your call in the upper left corner, and affix at least one unit of first-class postage. * DO send the bureau enough postage to cover SASEs on file and enough to take care of possible postage rate increases. * DO respond quickly to any bureau request for SASEs, stamps or money. Unclaimed card backlogs are the bureau's biggest problem. * DO notify the bureau of your new call as you upgrade. Please send SASEs with new call, in addition to SASEs with old call. * DO include a SASE with any information request to the bureau. * DO notify the bureau in writing if you don't want your cards. DON'Ts * DON'T send domestic US to US cards to your call-area bureau. * DON'T expect DX cards to arrive for several months after the QSO. Overseas delivery is very slow. Many cards coming from overseas bureaus are over a year old. * DON'T send your outgoing DX cards to your call-area bureau. * DON'T send SASEs to your "portable" bureau. For example, AA2Z/1 sends SASEs to the W2 bureau, not the W1 bureau. * DON'T send SASEs to the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service. ARRL INCOMING DX QSL BUREAU ADDRESSES First Call Area: All calls* - W1 QSL Bureau Y.C.C.C. Box 216, Forest Park Station Springfield, MA 01108 Second Call Area: All calls* - ARRL 2nd District QSL Bureau N.J.D.X.A., P.O. Box 599 Morris Plains, NJ 07950. Third Call Area: All calls - C-CARS, P.O. Box 448 New Kingstown, PA 17072 - 0448 Fourth Call Area: All single-letter prefixes (K4, N4, W4) - Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Club P.O. Box DX Charlotte, NC 28220 Fourth Call Area: All two-letter prefixes (AA4, KB4, NC4, WD4, etc.) - Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club Call Box 599 Sterling Park, VA 22170 Fifth Call Area - All calls* - ARRL W5 QSL Bureau P.O. Box 44246 Oklahoma City, OK 73144 Sixth Call Area: All calls* - ARRL Sixth (6th) District DX QSL Bureau P.O. Box 1460 Sun Valley, CA 91352 Seventh Call Area: All calls - Willamette Valley DX Club, Inc. P.O. Box 555 Portland, OR 97207 Eighth Call Area: All calls - 8th Area QSL Bureau P.O. Box 182165 Columbus, OH 43218-2165 Ninth Call Area: All calls* - Northern Illinois DX Assn. Box 519 Elmhurst, IL 60126 Zero Call Area: All calls* - W0 QSL Bureau P.O. Box 4798 Overland Park, KS 66204 Puerto Rico: All calls* - KP4 QSL Bureau P.O. Box 1061 San Juan, PR 00902 U.S. Virgin Islands: All calls - Virgin Islands ARC GPO Box 11360 Charlotte, Amalie Virgin Islands 00801 Hawaiian Islands: All calls* - Wayne Jones, NH6GJ P.O. Box 788 Wahiawa, HI 96786 Alaska: All calls* - Alaska QSL Bureau 4304 Garfield St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Guam: MARC Box 445 Agana, Guam 96910 SWL: Mike Witkowski 4206 Nebel St. Stevens Point, WI 54481 QSL Cards for Canada may be sent to: CRRL DX QSL Bureau System Kennebcasis Valley Amateur Radio Club Box 51 St. John, NB E2L 3X1 QSL cards may also be sent to the individual bureaus: VE1, VE0* - L.J. Fader, VE1FQ VE2 - A.G. Daemen, VE2IJ P.O. Box 663 2960 Douglas Ave. Halifax, NS B3J 2T3 Montreal, PQ H3R 2E3 VE3 - The Ontario Trilliums VE4 - Adam Romanchuck, VE4SN P.O. Box 157 26 Morrison St. Downsview, ON M3M 3A3 Winnipeg, MB R2B 3V4 VE5 - B.J. Madsen, VE5FX VE6*- Norm Waltho, VE6VW 739 Washington Dr. P.O. Box 1890 Weyburn, SK S4H 2S4 Morinville, AB T0G 1P0 VE7*- Dennis Livesay, VE7DK VE8*- Rolf Ziemann, VE8RZ Delta 2 Taylor Road. BC V4C 4W7 Yellowknife, NWT X1A 2K9 VY1 - Yukon Amateur Radio Assn. VO1, VO2 - Roland Peddle, VO1BD P.O. Box 4597 P.O. Box 6 Whitehorse, YU Y1A 2RB St. John's, NF A1C 5H5 * These bureaus sell envelopes or postage credits. Send a SASE to the bureau for further information. *eof THE ARRL OUTGOING QSL SERVICE Note: The ARRL QSL Service should not be used to exchange QSL cards within the 48 contiguous states. One of the greatest bargains of League membership is being able to use the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service to conveniently send your DX QSL cards overseas to foreign QSL Bureaus. Your ticket for using this service is your QST address label and just $2.00 per pound. For those not quite so DX active (sending 10 cards or less), enclose $1.00. You can't even get a deal like that at your local warehouse supermarket! And the potential savings over the substantial cost of individual QSLing is equal to many times the price of your annual dues. Your cards are sorted promptly by the Outgoing Service staff, and cards are on their way overseas usually within a week of arrival at ARRL Hq. Approximately two million cards are handled by the Service each year! QSL cards are shipped to QSL Bureaus throughout the world, which are typically maintained by the national Amateur Radio Society of each county. While no cards are sent to individuals or individual QSL managers, keep in mind that what you might lose in speed is more than made up in the convenience and savings of not having to address and mail QSL cards separately. (In the case of DXpeditions and/or active DX stations that use U.S. QSL managers, a better approach is to QSL directly to the QSL manager. The various DX newsletters, the W6GO QSL manager directory, and other publications, are good sources of up-to- date QSL manager information.) As postage costs become increasingly prohibitive, don't go broke before you're even halfway towards making DXCC. There's a better and cheaper way -- "QSL VIA BURO" through the ARRL outgoing QSL Service! How To Use The ARRL Outgoing QSL Service 1) Presort your DX QSLs alphabetically by parent call-sign prefix (AP, C6, CE, DL, F, G, JA, LU, PY, 5N, 9Y and so on). NOTE: Some countries have a parent prefix and use additional prefixes, i.e., U (parent prefix) = ES, R, YL, 4K,... . When sorting countries that have multiple prefixes, keep that country's prefixes grouped together in your alphabetical stack. Addresses are not required. DO NOT separate the country prefix by use of paper clips, rubber bands, slips of paper or envelopes. 2) Enclose the address label from your current copy of QST. The label shows that you are a current ARRL member. 3) Enclose payment of $2.00 per each pound of cards -- approximately 150 cards weigh one pound. A package of ten (10) cards or less costs only $1.00. Please pay by check (or money order) and write your callsign on the check. Send "green stamps" (cash) at your own risk. 4) Include only the cards, address label and check in the package. Wrap the package securely and address it to the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service, 225 Main Street, Newington CT 06111. 5) Family members may also use the service by enclosing their QSLs with those of the primary member. Include the appropriate fee with each individual's cards and indicate "family membership" on the primary member's QST address label. 6) Blind members who do not receive QST need only include the appropriate fee along with a note indicating the cards are from a blind member. 7) ARRL affiliated-club stations may use the service when submitting club QSLs by indicating the club name. Club secretaries should check affiliation papers to ensure that affiliation is current. In addition to sending club station QSLs through this service, affiliated clubs may also "pool" their members' individual QSL cards to effect an even greater savings. Each club member using this service must also be a League member. Cards should be sorted "en masse" by prefix, and a QST label enclosed for each ARRL member. Recommended QSL-Card Dimensions The efficient operation of the worldwide system of QSL Bureau requires that cards be easy to handle and sort. Cards of unusual dimensions, either much larger or much smaller than normal, slow the work of the Bureaus, most of which is done by unpaid volunteers. A review of the cards received by the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service indicates that most fall in the following range: Height = 2-3/4 to 4-1/4 in. (70 to 110 mm), Width = 4- 3/4 to 6-1/4 in. (120 to 160 mm). Cards in this range can be easily sorted, stacked and packaged. Cards outside this range create problems; in particular, the larger cards often cannot be handled without folding or otherwise damaging them. In the interest of efficient operation of the worldwide QSL Bureau system, it is recommended that cards entering the system be limited to the range of dimensions given. [Note: IARU Region 2 has suggested the following dimensions as optimum: Height 3 1/2 in. (90 mm), Width 5 1/2 in. (140 mm).] Countries Not Served By The Outgoing QSL Service Approximately 270 DXCC countries are served by the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service, as detailed in the ARRL DXCC Countries List. This includes nearly every active country. As noted previously, cards are forwarded from the ARRL Outgoing Service to a counterpart Bureau in each of these countries. In some cases, there is no Incoming Bureau in a particular country and cards therefore cannot be forwarded. However, QSL cards can be forwarded to a QSL manager, i.e.; 3C1MB via (EA7KF). For this reason, the ARRL Outgoing Service cannot forward cards to the following countries: A5 Bhutan A6 United Arab Emirates A7 Qatar C9 Mozambique D2 Angola EP Iran ET Ethiopia J5 Guinea-Bissau KC4 U.S. bases in Antarctica KC6 Belau V6 (KC6) Micronesia KH1 Baker and Howland Is. KH4 Midway I. KH5 Palmyra and Jarvis Is. KH7 Kure I. KH8 Am. Samoa KH9 Wake I. KH0 Mariana Is. KP1 Navassa I. KP5 Desecheo I. OD Lebanon P5 North Korea S2 Bangladesh T2 Tuvalu T3 Kiribati T5 Somalia TJ Cameroon TL Central African Republic TN Congo TT Chad TY Benin TZ Mali V4 (VP2K) St. Kitts & Nevis VP2E Anguilla VP2M Montserrat VQ9 Chagos VR6 Pitcairn Island XT Burkina Faso XU Kampuchea XW Laos XX9 Macao 1Z (XZ) Myanmar (Burma) YA Afghanistan ZA Albania ZD7 St. Helena ZD9 Tristan da Cunha ZK3 Tokelau 3C Equatorial Guinea 3C0 Pagalu I. 3V Tunisia 3W, XV Vietnam 3X Guinea 4W North Yemen 5A Libya 5H Tanzania 5R Madagascar 5T Mauritania 5U Niger 5X Uganda 70 South Yemen 7Q Malawi 8Q Maldives 9G Ghana 9N Nepal 9Q Zaire 9U Burundi NOTE: SWL cards can be forwarded through the QSL Service. NOTE: We no longer hold cards for countries with no Incoming Bureau. Only cards indicating a QSL manager for a station in these particular countries will be forwarded.