Ham Hacks: How to Fill Out a Lot of QSL Cards Fast!

If you absolutely have to print them, use a LASER printer. A thermal printer, as noted in this amazing "hack" is not the way to do it.

 

Thanks for the data.

I came home from a month long trip while running portable with a stack of about 150 waiting in the mail pile. I would love to do the Address and Contact data via a label and then write a quick thanks by hand. I learned a lot from the vid as well as some of the comments. Laser makes sense, now I can team up one of the mentioned software packages and make it all work!

Thanks!

 

I like paper QSLs even now, 50 years after my first license, but being lazy & being too poor to deal with & finance thousands of cards a year is a constant drag and sorrow! Woe me

 

You cant take it with you so I rely on experience.

 

+1

(Even emails are bouncing back from GlobalQSL contacts.)

 

To each his own, but I personally can't justify the cost of paper QSL's when LOTW, QRZ and other services are out there. The hobby is already demanding enough on my budget. It would be different if the return rate on paper QSL's was better, but I've found it to be black hole for $$$ in postage, administrative supplies and time. I have limited time and money for on-air time as it is now.

Sounds like a product that only addresses a small portion of the challenges with Paper QSL'ing.

 

If you get a single card in the mail, filling it in by hand is quick and easy. But what if you get a mailing from the DX bureau and it has 30 to 40 cards or more? Replying manually becomes quite the chore. And, yes, some of us get those bureau envelopes with a few dozen at a time. Any kind of shortcut helps. BTW, I have cards going back 50 years. Those filled in with various types of felt pens or markers have often faded substantially. Guys, just use regular ink pens. They have staying power when completing cards manually. And be sure to be accurate when completing your cards. I got one the other day filled out for K4KZ. I know him. Lonnie is a nice guy. But that's not my call. 73, N4KZ

 

The truth is the truth regarding thermal print. If longevity is desired then thermal isn't the way to go.

 

All the printed labels that I have received over the past year, are fading. I buy envelopes from Amazon, under $10 for 500, and run them thru my printer after I've copied the person's address. I have send a SASE inside the envelope with my QSL card (which I fill out by hand, I'm retired, so I have the time). One quick note - some countries are requiring a PRINTED envelope and will no longer take hand written envelopes. I have lots of Japan calls that I get on FT8 and that's just easier to send the printed envelopes so they aren't rejected. My son lives in Tokyo and I have him send me stamps. I love this aspect of the hobby. I love the personal touch of a hand written card. Recently I had a person in Japan send me an email inviting my wife and I to stay at his mountain cabin the next time I visit Japan.

 

i do mine one at a time and listen to the radio and sing songs all part of the fun lol 73

 

Maybe for the FT8 crowd (impersonal contact, impersonal QSL) where you're making a contact every minute. But the whole meaning of amateur radio to me is that personal connection, and that required nothing less than a personal QSL. You don't have to agree, but that's my view on how they get done here.