One thing to remember when we are talking about QSLing is that many hams were never required to keep a log at any time since they first became licensed. From many discussions on the Zedd, it's clear that many hams don't ever keep a log at all. If someone is requesting a QSL to qualify for some type of award from a ham who does not keep a log then the response QSL's contact info should be left blank and a big red VOID should be written in that area in ink. I have wondered how many hams who do not keep a log return QSL requests and just copy the contact info from the card they received.
If it’s the station I think it is, they have a very nice oversized QSL card, which I bet is very expensive to have printed.
It is, and it is... and they surely get THOUSANDS of requests a year for them.... a great many from SWL requests But they are not a wealthy club Dave W7UUU
Wouldn't be a bad idea for them to note on their QRZ page that they don't acknowledge SWL card requests.
Good point @WA9SVD might want to pass along... really should be clearly stated on their site Dave W7UUU
How many active satellite operators do you think would reply to such requests? The reason I ask is that it just dawned on me that even though SWLing doesn't have much that would be of interest to most kids, it might be a different matter to explain that they can listen to a satellite every time it goes over their heads, and that you can listen to it on a pretty cheap piece of equipment. If they could follow up by getting a few QSL cards in the snail mail, they might actually be impressed.
Many that I personally know. We satellite ops probably have a higher percentage of us who send cards than the general ham population.
If it's the station I think you think it is, YES, our club did have an oversized card for a LONG time, and as you surmise, expensive. But the newest batch are a bit different, and are standard "QSL card" size, ( thankfully.) They will fit in a standard size letter envelope. Work the station, send your card and a SASE, and you will get the NEW card to boot! I will not (or need not) elaborate further. BTW, if the station I think you think is in question, it IS our club station, and the equipment is owned by our club, and not owned by the commercial entity that operates a hotel/attraction there.
An apology, eh? All that is required is that someone fill out a small piece of card stock, put it in the SASE, and let the mailman (sorry... mailperson) pickup it up. Instead, you insert a cheap piece of paper with an apology on it??? It is an extremely inexpensive affair and in my view is a common courtesy congruent with the spirit of the hobby. But, as you note, YMMV. Sorry, I cannot afford to reply to your expected retorts.
Well, if they get thousands of QSL requests, they must have a pretty good setup, as in mucho dinero. Maybe they should rethink their QSL printing preferences, and go cheap. Heck, it wouldn't be much time, trouble, or expense to design a QSL and print it on card stock on an ordinary inkjet printer. Maybe they should revise their 40 year old rules. Who knows? But to utilize a SASE to send an apology instead of what was requested strikes me as a club with its collective head up its collective derriere. Sorry, just my take on it. I don't understand it. But, as has been mentioned many times in this thread, YMMV. :-|
