Cards for me at the Bureau

[ab8ma]

I got a call. I was told that I had 8 ounces of cards at my section bureau. I said that I certainly wanted them, and that I would send envelopes and postage, which I did - a couple of weeks ago.

I made my first DX contact in December, 2002. I quickly obtained the paraphernalia to qsl via Direct, and have had excellent results.

I never thought of using a bureau for outgoing, I wanted results.

All my contacts were to dx who were calling. I have not been one for calling dx myself.

So, I am certanly curious how I have 8 Oz of incoming cards with the bureau. There cannot be that many dx that I have not sent cards to myself.

Am I missing something? I have only been dx-ing for less than 3.5 years.

[N6WK]

Quote[/b] (ab8ma @ Mar. 30 2006,00:45)]I got a call. I was told that I had 8 ounces of cards at my section bureau. I said that I certainly wanted them, and that I would send envelopes and postage, which I did - a couple of weeks ago.

I made my first DX contact in December, 2002. I quickly obtained the paraphernalia to qsl via Direct, and have had excellent results.

I never thought of using a bureau for outgoing, I wanted results.

All my contacts were to dx who were calling. I have not been one for calling dx myself.

So, I am certanly curious how I have 8 Oz of incoming cards with the bureau. There cannot be that many dx that I have not sent cards to myself.

Am I missing something? I have only been dx-ing for less than 3.5 years.
Bob,
I get an Envelope every 3 months or so from My local Bureau, ( 6 land) packed full of cards from all over the place.
I ALWAYS QSL everyone in return. If I receive the card by Bureau, Then it goes back out via the Bureau. If I get it Direct, It goes back Direct But if someone sends me an IRC with their Card, I always return it. No Problem here.
I try to keep 10 or 20 bucks "in the bank" at my 6 land Bureau to cover any extra Postage needed and or Envelopes.
I Love going to the mailbox and finding a package of unexpected QSL cards in there!
73,
gordon
N6WK

[af2cw]

One thing to keep in mind Bob is that there are SWL stations out there that will send you a card. #Most are earning their way to get on the air themselves. #They have to spend X amount of time listening and recording stations and getting cards back as evidence of their time and stations heard. #I've received numerous SWL cards over the years. #I'm not saying all the cards there are from SWL stations, maybe some, for whatever reason, have not received your direct card. #It happens. And as Gordon said, it's always a good idea to keep a few bucks at your bureau for just such a reason. If your particular bureau prefers SASE's then send them a few to keep on file.

[ab8ma]

I will certainly send to those requesting... That is a givin.

[K9STH]

Also check http://eqsl.net (note there is no www in the URL). You will find that there are DX stations that routinely upload their computer logs, especially those that work contests or that work a lot of stations.

If you want a "hard copy" just "click" on the "display" icon and then "click" on the printable copy.

I have a lot of bristol board (thick paper that is basically cardstock) that I print these QSLs on. You can print on card then turn the paper over and insert it in the printer the opposite way and get 2 cards for each piece of paper.

The ARRL won't accept these for any awards (they only accept QSOs using their version of eQSL which is called LOTW - logbook of the world). However, other organizations will accept them for awards and many of the cards are quite attractive. Of course there are some really plain "stock" cards but they still are QSL cards.

As for your QSL all that you have to do is to "click" on the green checkmark and go through 2 more "clicks" (don't have to do anything else to issue your QSL).

As for cards through the bureau, there are all sorts of reasons why stations QSL first but through the bureau. Going through the bureau can take up to a year, or even longer, for a QSO to be confirmed both ways. But, you do get an "official" QSL card that anyone, including the ARRL, will accept for awards.

Glen, K9STH

[WA3KYY]

Bob,

Even though you QSL direct, I would venture that a lot of the cards waiting for you from the bureau were sent before the DX got your direct request. I routinely get several unsolicited QSLs via the bureau after every DX contest I enter so some may also have come from DX that you did not send a request to but who wants your QSL card. I assume you also included an SAE and either an IRC or greenstamp when sending direct. If not, the DX station may have replied via the bureau to save some of his/her own money.

So do find out that the 8th Area QSL bureau requires and keep envelopes or $$ on account to collect those additional QSL cards. I was quite surprised to receive the Special Event QSL for the Crown Prince of Spain's Wedding before I had even sent my request. You never know what jewels will appear in a bureau envelope.

73 and good DXing,
Mike WA3KYY

[WB2WIK]

Lots of possibilities:

1. If you've been actively working DX, you probably have worked a lot of JAs by now and haven't QSL'd all of them. They are prolific QSLers, and almost all JAs send out a card via the bureau, to everybody including us not-rare-at-all Americans. Every month I get JA cards...

2. Somebody with a call similar to yours might also be working DX, maybe more than you are, and the DX stations are confusing the callsign and sending you cards. That surely happens, and quite a bit. Once you retrieve the 8 ounces you can look through them and you'll know.

3. 8 ounces of cards actually isn't very many. With thicker cards, there's only about four per ounce -- and the envelope weighs something, too. 8 ounces could be as few as 25 cards, although it could be as many as about 60 cards, if they're all thin ones. A lot of DX cards are thick and heavier than mine.

WB2WIK/6

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (af2cw @ Mar. 29 2006,17:03)]One thing to keep in mind Bob is that there are SWL stations out there that will send you a card. #Most are earning their way to get on the air themselves. #They have to spend X amount of time listening and recording stations and getting cards back as evidence of their time and stations heard. #I've received numerous SWL cards over the years. #I'm not saying all the cards there are from SWL stations, maybe some, for whatever reason, have not received your direct card. #It happens. And as Gordon said, it's always a good idea to keep a few bucks at your bureau for just such a reason. If your particular bureau prefers SASE's then send them a few to keep on file.
Not a bad idea for getting a license HERE, in my warped opinion. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[W3MIV]

Glad I saw this thread the other day.

I messaged my 3-land buro and, lo and behold, a bunch of cards were there waiting for me to send postage and covers. Amazing.

I never encouraged any QSL cards, using mainly LOTW. Then I uploaded to eQSL when requested to do so. Then a couple of cards came to me direct, so I responded. Now I find that folks have been sending them thru the buro for quite some time. I guess they must have wondered what kind of bozo they were dealing with.

Well, all of you, dear readers, know what kind of bozo.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[K9STH]

If you happen to work some of the low power JA stations be prepared to get at least 3 cards and maybe more for each QSO. Those operators will have one in the mail within minutes of when you work them (direct, of course). Then 10 days to 2 weeks after that they will send you a 2nd card "just in case" you didn't get the first one. Then "just to make sure" that you get their card they will send one through the bureau.

Now, when you reply to them (I always go through the JA bureau) you will usually get another card thanking you for your card.

Now the low powered stations are fairly easy to work on the higher bands (17, 15, 12, and 10 meters). However, especially on 80 meters and 40 meters they are a "bit" weak (at least in the eastern 2/3rds of the U.S.).

On 40 meter CW when the JAs are coming in you can often hear a slight "buzz" in the background, then you can just make out a JA call. When you work that station then about 10 times the number of stations will start to call you. These operators all know those who are the low powered stations and when you work one of them all of the rest then know that you can hear the low powered stations. That is when the "pile up" really starts.

In a few seconds another of these "little guys" will "pop out" and you will get their call and work that station. This gets the frenzy going even more. It is just like the old Amazon River movies where they show a bunch of Piranah fish attacking an animal. The "feeding frenzy" can be intense.

Since every station that you work is going to send you a QSL card the return postage can get pretty expensive. That is why I usually wait a few weeks and let all of the cards come in. Then I write out the reply QSLs and send them direct to the JA bureau. The postage isn't that much, the cards get there pretty fast, and the JA bureau gets the cards distributed in a timely fashion.

Glen, K9STH

[WA2ZDY]

Timely fashion Glen, as opposed to the cards from the Soviet Union that dribbled in for years and years?!

[K9STH]

Box 88, Moscow!

Glen, K9STH

[N6WK]

Quote[/b] (K9STH @ April 01 2006,06:14)]On 40 meter CW when the JAs are coming in you can often hear a slight "buzz" in the background, then you can just make out a JA call. When you work that station then about 10 times the number of stations will start to call you. These operators all know those who are the low powered stations and when you work one of them all of the rest then know that you can hear the low powered stations. That is when the "pile up" really starts.

In a few seconds another of these "little guys" will "pop out" and you will get their call and work that station. This gets the frenzy going even more. It is just like the old Amazon River movies where they show a bunch of Piranah fish attacking an animal. The "feeding frenzy" can be intense.



Glen, K9STH
Yes Glen,
I have done that MANY MANY times. I feel like the receiving end of a DX station. One thing I have found about the Japanese stations is that they are the BEST QSLers I have found.
I have worked 46 of the 47 Prefectures in Japan. I still need Nagasaki in JA6 land, But I will get it.
I find 15 and 17 are open to japan around 22:50 to 01:00 z almost everyday from Southern California.
Many like to work the US just to practice their English.
I enjoy working them Very much!

Gordon
N6WK

[ab8ma]

Well folks. The cards came in today.

Nothing new as far as DXCC count - but I do not care. Never got so many cards all at once. What a treat!

I did the dork thing. I made sure I had them in my log. I piled them in such a manner that I knew which cards I had already received by regular mail, which cards I had not already received, and the couple that were not in my logs.

Plus the SWL cards.

I plan to respond to all those with the "pse" checked. Direct.

What a thrill.

[W3MIV]

I am always astonished at the SWL cards. Particularly those for PSK QSOs.

[M3KCK]

A Friend of mine has had a similar thing happen.

He has had Qsl cards from contacts he has Never had and with dates and times that he was not on the Air!!

And even worse he once heard someone using His Call sign, And I take it that is the Answer as to why he is getting these cards?

It is Easy for someone to look up any Call sign here @ Qrz.com and then Use it,
es 73
Regards,
Andrew M3KCK

[KE5FRF]

Ok, this thread peaks my interest, so I will inquire...

what we are saying here is that the buro keeps a file for every callsign that comes through, wether you solicit your QSLs to be sent via buro or not? So, concievably, if you are working a lot of DX entities, and haven't recieved QSLs, it is possible that they are in a file at the regional buro?

So, all I have to do to is send some SASEs to my buro for incoming QSLs and I might have some waiting for me and I don't even know it?

Interesting...

Ok, how does that work if you aren't an ARRL memeber yet? Do they throw the QSLs in the trash?

[nr4aw]

No you dont have to be a member of the league to use the incoming buro. The outgoing buro is another story.

[KB3LIX]

I'm prepping my first batch of outgoing cards to the ARRL Bureau. 75 cards filled out so far.
More to be filled out, but I'm almost out of cards.
I sent envelopes & $$$ to the #3 Bureau some time ago, but NOTHING from the bureau yet. I look every day in anticipation, but NOTHING !
Something will come one of these days (I Hope)


Maybe NOT....Too !!!

[k7mh]

Quote[/b] ]I am always astonished at the SWL cards. Particularly those for PSK QSOs.
Gimme a break! You are a three on the east coast in Maryland! You could get SWL cards talking to your kids in the back yard with FRS walkie-talkies!! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[ac3p]

I am amazed at some of the cards I get from the Buro.

Some of them are for QSO's that took place 5 or more years ago. I figure if it took 5 years for the card to get to me, it will take 5 more years for my reply to return.
By then the other fellow may have moved or be sk.

[NN3W]

Quote[/b] (KE5FRF @ July 26 2006,18:29)]Ok, this thread peaks my interest, so I will inquire...

what we are saying here is that the buro keeps a file for every callsign that comes through, wether you solicit your QSLs to be sent via buro or not? So, concievably, if you are working a lot of DX entities, and haven't recieved QSLs, it is possible that they are in a file at the regional buro?

So, all I have to do to is send some SASEs to my buro for incoming QSLs and I might have some waiting for me and I don't even know it?

Interesting...

Ok, how does that work if you aren't an ARRL memeber yet? Do they throw the QSLs in the trash?
Yes,one of the MAJOR headaches that incoming bureaus have to deal with - unclaimed cards.

Many, many hams work DX or maybe dabble in a DX contest. Often times, a QSL will be generated by the DX station and sent via the "buro". Additionally, many DX contest stations automatically generate QSL cards from an operation and send them out after the contest.

Those cards filter their way to the incoming bureaus and stack up until someone comes to claim them, or has instructed the bureau to destroy them. Its the policy of most incoming bureaus to hang onto cards for lengthy periods of time since hams' interest in DXing waxes and wanes.

I was inactive from about 1992 to about 2003, with brief guest contest operations in 1994, 1996, and 1999. I recently sent off to the 6-land bureau some envelopes. About 3 months later, I received 8 ounces of cards, with a note stating that I had two ounces still awaiting postage.

In my current operations which include both semi-active DXing and active contesting, I usually get 75 to 100 cards a month from the bureau.

BTW, as I've said before, you DO NOT have to be a member of the League to receive cards.

[KC9JER]

So how does one find out they have cards at the Beauru? Send money and wait to see? Call? Website? ESP?

--PK

[WA3KYY]

Quote[/b] (KC9JER @ July 27 2006,12:16)]So how does one find out they have cards at the Beauru? #Send money and wait to see? #Call? #Website? #ESP?

--PK
Go to the ARRL web site and look up the information on the Incoming QSL Bureau for your call district, in your case the W9 Bureau. There should be contact information for you to ask if you have cards waiting. If you have been activiely DXing for a year or more there is a good chance cards are waiting for you.

73,
Mike WA3KYY

[ab8ma]

Yet another batch arrived today. That is three this week. I think that should be about all of the cards I had accumulating at the bureau since I started DX'ing in December, 2002.

Remember, I had been sending direct all this time. Never once have I received an unsolicited card direct requesting that I pse qsl. Now, just about every one of these bureau cards are requesting a card from me.

Got my work cut out. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif