IRCs Discontinued Effective 31 December 2026

getting and sending a real qsl card is the best and it should remain around for a long time...you have to send them to get them

 

But I still want to exchange paper cards, it's just a joy and respect. The spend standard of posting domestic letter in China is 1.2 yuan（15 cents) if the weight is under 20g, and for registered letter should pay another 3 yuan(nearly half a dollar). Maybe it's barely able to afford, but international post is more expensive as a level (ES the letter always LOST WITH NO REASON if you don't pay 18 yuan for registration).

 

For me, exchanging paper QSL catds has already become our tadition and virtue between us, Like giving greetings of "73".

 

I have neither the time or money to send QSL cards unless I absolutely need to for an Award like its an ATNO that doesn't do LOTW which is unlikely.
LOTW works well, and the QRZ logbook accepts LOTW imports.

Chasing the QRZ 250 Award;

I worked 378 Stations on several bands between January 1, 2026 11:07 utc and Jan. 3, 2026 12:03 utc and kept uploading my
N3FJP log intermittently {Usually every 10 contacts} to LOTW and about once an hour would download from LOTW to QRZ.
Finally the QRZ Awards page showed I was eligible for the 250 QRZ Award.

I am no way going to send 378 QSL cards out, as slow as I able to write, lets guess I can do one a minute with addressing the envelope;
that would be over 5 hours of work for me, plus the cost of the envelopes and stamps. LOTW and QRZ Logbook are free and takes a second or 2.

Book Totals: 50564 QSOs 36601 confirmed
https://www.qrz.com/db/K2HAT

 

not one person said you HAD to send qsl card to ALL your contacts, but if you get one then it would be nice to send one........of course logging them to QRZ or LOTW works fine as far as logging but getting and sending QSL cards is up to the people whom make contact with you...if only 20% of the people you made contact with sends you a qsl card....if would be nice to send one...but again that is my opinion

I only send them when i get them, if i was to send a qsl to every contact a qsl card it would be dead for everyone got one...so ya

 

The only way I know of that you can is for the creator of the eQSL to also create their own awards that can be earned (I use that term loosely) with their own eQSLs. eQSL has everything from certificates to plaques.

If it isn't already happening, it probably wont be long before all the various emailed QSL systems will have there own awards. They kind of have to. Because no one else will recognize the confirmation (again, I use the term loosely).

 

As I read through this thread it got me to thinking about how times have changed. Back in the day when awards were earned with paper QSLs only, this is how my operations were typically done, which included QSLing.





All my logbooks were ARRL paper logs until I started using N3FJP's PC log in about 2003. I have 13 paper log books. And most pages resemble the two above pages that I scanned. If a station was a new DXCC entitie for me I notied it by writing NEW in the right margin of the log. That helped me flip through the log quickly to find new entities with QSL still pending which needed follow up.

As you can see, lots of QSL went out to the bureau several times per years.

And lots of IRCs went both ways as well.

My usual practice was to keep a stack of QSL cards ready while I was operating, and I would attempt to fill them out and stick them in my outgoing QSL bureau card stack, alphabetically as I operated. Sometimes I couldn't keep up, but I would catch them up after operating. I learned the hard way not to try to catch up once a week or so.

The two above pages represent about 9 days of operating. Back then I sent a paper card for pretty much every DX contact. Because I didn't have a quick means to know if I already sent a QSL to the same station for a contact on the same band and mode, I may very well have sent multiple cards to the same station. Now with a PC log I can quickly tell if I have.

All of the above QSLs were sent via the bureau, unless they were stations served by the US Postal Service, like KH6, KG6, KP4, etc.

QRZ.com was on-line by the time of the second log page above from 2003. I'm not sure when I started using it. It didn't happen immediately when it went on line. I see that I made a note on my QSO with T20MW about QRZ.com, and by using CBA (Callbook address). Our local club bought both DX and US callbooks and had them available at club meeting for all to use. It seems like we also donated both to the local library.

At that time I work at the Sheriffs department which shared a parking lot with the library. I used to go to the library and use the PC terminals there to look up addresses on QRZ.com for needed DX entities and QSL managers. This was before I had that availability at home. How convenient things have become. I loved the old days and old ways, but I really don't want to go back in time.

Now a days, and especially since LoTW went on-line, I will only initiate a paper QSL exchange for an ATNO, of which I have only had a couple in the past several years. But I will respond to any request for a QSL.

 

I managed a school radio club at an elementary school back in the 1990's and we would receive paper QSLs from around the USA and the world. I laminated them and posted a montage of qsl's in the hallway going to the cafeteria. As kids lined up for lunch, they relished in examining the many geographic and culturally diverse locations with which our school had made contact.

 

I got one of those a couple of days ago, Dave. YV5HUJ sent one from QSL World for a QSO he had with me on 24 Jul 1982--9 years before I was even a ham!! I just figured he talked with the previous owner of my call, but . . . .

 

I only use paper logbooks.....always have and always will !
If someone sends me a card, I will QSL 100% and they don't need to send me a SASE.

 

Not really a big deal here ... Canada Post stopped accepting those years ago, and I had to return all IRCs I've received in the past few years as they are not accepted in any of post offices at least in my area.

 

我对这个决定十分痛心，在中国，只需要付很少的邮资就可以寄送QSL卡片，而在其他爱好者需要回复卡片时常常会要求夹带一张IRCs或者2USD/2EUR，要知道，我们国家还是以CNY货币为主的，兑换其他货币十分麻烦。。。。

 

I am deeply grieved by this decision. In China, we only need to pay a very small amount of postage to send QSL cards. However, when other radio amateurs need to reply with cards, they often request enclosing an IRC or 2 USD/EUR. As you know, the currency used in our country is mainly CNY, and it is very troublesome to exchange other currencies.

 

I recently received my first ever QSL card mailed directly to me from Japan, from 'Fuji', JA8DCR. Inside the envelope were several QSL cards, a photocopied sheet with greetings in many languages, a self-addressed return envelope, and a Japanese IRC. I wasn't sure what it was at first, because I've never seen an IRC. He went to a lot of time and expense to prep and send his kit. I remember working very hard to complete the QSO exchange with him through difficult conditions.

Can I take the return envelope with my card inside to my local (small town) post office and expect them to honor it and affix the appropriate postage?

Thanks for any thoughts
Nylo