RAC Outgoing QSL Bureau

P.O. BOX 11156 Station "H" Nepean, ON, K2H 7T9 C A N A D A

The QSL Bureau Tips

• RAC Membership
• RAC Affiliation
• Packaging and Mailing Strategy
• Sorting Strategy
• Some Other Tips
• Why is the QSL Bureau so slow?
• Return to QSL Bureau page

 

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The Outgoing QSL bureau is available to RAC (Radio Amateurs of Canada) members only. Before you send QSL cards for distribution via this Bureau make sure that:

• You are an RAC member.
• Your RAC membership has not expired. You must be an RAC member when the Bureau RECEIVES your QSL cards.
• You have indicated the call sign for which RAC membership has been paid. This is important if you have recently changed your call sign (e.g. 3-letter to 2-letter suffix) or if you have used a special callsign or prefix.
• You have verified your membership on the RAC WEB page. This is the page we use to check the membership, because it is frequently updated, and expired memberships are automatically deleted.
• Your club is an RAC Affiliated club.

 

We check the RAC membership no matter how the VE/VA cards are sent to us: Directly by the members, via Provincial bureaus, or via the incoming QSL bureau. VE Non-member's QSL cards are returned with the notice. We return all QSL cards to foreign bureaus if the cards have been misdirected to our QSL system. We also send foreign QSL cards to provincial QSL bureaus, whether the foreign QSL cards are destined for an RAC member or a non-member VE station. We do not handle QSL cards for Canadian SWLs, but we do distribute QSL cards for VE amateurs from and to foreign SWLs (if sent by RAC members) .

 

RAC Membership

The eligible RAC members are:

• Individual members who have paid-up their membership.
• Family members who live at the SAME address as the paid-up member. Family members should always indicate the paid-up member's call sign.
• RAC members with several call signs (even in different VE provinces), with the membership paid for at least one call sign. The name should be identical on all QSL cards for all call signs. Always indicate the call of the paid-up membership.
• Portable operation of the member (e.g. VE3EXY/2 and P49MR are OK since VE3EXY and VE3MR are both RAC members).
• QSL cards for foreign amateurs handled by the VE QSL managers. The requirement is that the QSL client (but not necessarily the manager) is a fully paid-up RAC member. The manager must be a paid up member if he sends his own cards.

 

RAC Affiliation

RAC offers QSL card processing to RAC Affiliated clubs. You can find more on club affiliation, which is free of charge, on the RAC web page:

http://www.rac.ca

 

Details of Affiliation:

• The affiliated club must follow RAC approved affiliation procedure.
• It must be listed on the RAC WEB page. Always indicate the club name as written on the RAC WEB page (e.g. not KWARC but Kitchener Waterloo Amateur Radio Club).
• Affiliation applies to club's call sign, not to its members. This means we do not handle QSL cards for members of RAC Affiliated clubs, unless they are RAC members themselves.
• If the trustee of the club is an RAC member, the club is not automatically affiliated. The RAC affiliation procedure is to be followed.
• If the club is using a special call sign, indicate the name/call under which the club is affiliated.
• Frequently check RAC WEB page for your affiliation status.

 

QSL Card Packaging and Mailing Strategy

The overall strategy of the QSL bureau is to send QSL cards as frequently as possible, while keeping operating costs as low as possible. The strategy we use is based on minimizing postal expenses through careful packaging.

QSL cards are always sent via surface mail to the foreign QSL bureaus listed on IARU WEB page http://www.iaru.org/.We package QSL cards in 'small packets' in the following weights: 250 gr, 500 gr, 1 kg, and 2 kg. We always package as closely as possible to those values, to maintain the desired frequency of QSL cards mailings. However, there are extremes: There are bureaus to which we send QSL cards every two weeks, and others to which we send once in several months when we have accumulated the minimum number of cards for a packet. On average, out of 25.000 cards that we handle every month, 80-85% are sent in the same or the next month.

For VE QSL cards, we act as focal point for inter-VE provincial bureau card exchange (RAC members only). We send QSL cards to VE provincial QSL Bureaus every 3-4 weeks or more frequently, depending on the QSL traffic for the province. Foreign QSL cards that are sent to us, typically returns from other provincial bureaus, are send at the same time, no matter if the VE station receiving QSL card is the RAC member or not.

You should apply a similar strategy when sending QSL cards to the bureau. There are amateurs who send cards every week, others once a year or less. Frequent sending has benefits, in that the probability of missing our mailing to a foreign bureau is minimized. On the other hand, by carefully choosing the weight of the packet, you can minimize your postal expenses.

Another benefit of frequent sending is that the foreign amateur will probably get his/her card sooner, and respond sooner, rather than later.

 

Sorting Strategy

 

Sorting QSL cards is definitely the area where you can help a lot. The general rule is that cards should be sorted by the DX QSL BUREAUS, not by the alphabetical order of prefixes. One good idea is to follow the order given in the IARU list of QSL bureaus.

The most frequent sorting errors are related to US QSL cards sorting. One should remember that there are 11 (eleven) QSL Bureaus in the contiguous US states. They match call areas 0-9, but the W4 call area has two QSL bureaus: one letter prefix bureau, and two letter prefix bureau. In other words N4, W4 and K4 go to one bureau, all other Four Area cards in the two letter prefix bureau. Note also that US Possessions and Outlying areas have separate bureaus: KP3/4, KP2, KH6/7, KL7, KH2, and KH0. Observe their N, and W pairs (e.g. NH6=KH6, WL7=KL7, etc). The only two other countries that have more than one QSL Bureau are VK, and VE. Corresponding sorting is required (8 bureaus in VK, and 11 in VE). Cards for countries with several prefixes should be sorted together (e.g. G and M cards, HL and DS cards, SP and HF cards go together).

You are responsible for finding a DX station's manager. If you don't, your cards will end up in the wrong bureaus. Do not expect someone else to do this job for you. We handle tens of thousands of cards and trying to find the manager for each DX QSL card would be an impossible task for the volunteers at the Bureau.

Today, finding the QSL manager is much easier than previously. There are many WEB sites, as well as CD-ROMs that serve this purpose. Some WEB sites even have multiple database searches, and provide comparison of search results. Here are a couple of web sites to help finding QSL managers. The list is not considered exhaustive.

http://www.qsl.net/pathfinder/WebClient

http://www.t93y.com

http://www.ng3k.com/

http://www.ac6v.com/callbooks.htm

http://www.algonet.se/~sm5arl/qslmgr.html

http://www.eham.net/qslmgr/

http://callsign.ualr.edu/callsign.shtml

http://www.daylydx.com/qslmanagers

http://www.daylydx.com/qslamaners/search

http://www.qslinfo.de

http://www.ampr.spb.ru

http://www.ik3qar.it/manager/ (Explorer only)

http://www.arrakis.es/~ea5eyj

http://www.qsl.net/rw9mc

http://www.ddxg.dk/oz7c

http://f6cyv.free.fr/f6cyvqsl.php

http://www.sp5zcc.waw.pl/qsldb/index.php3

 

Once the manager is found, his/her call should be written in the right top corner of the card on the same side as the DX call. The card will be sorted into the QSL bureau of the MANAGER, not the DX station.

For example, K5K QSL card (recent Kingman Reef operation, manager K4TSJ) would be sorted to the W4 (single letter prefix) QSL bureau, not to the W5 bureau.

Portable operation should be sent to the 'native' country. For example, SV5/VE3EXY/P should be sent to the VE bureau, not to the SV bureau, unless specified differently by the DX station.

 

Some Other Tips

Here are some other details of QSLing that make handling and processing of QSL cards faster and easier:

Type of paper: Choose 130gr/(sq) m, or (50 lb/stock) type of paper for QSL cards. Use 90x140 mm (3.5"x5.5 ") card size. Cards made of lighter paper can easily be bent, damaged, or lost. Heavier and out-sized cards unnecessarily add to the weight of the QSL packets.

Special Call Signs: If you are an RAC member, or an RAC-affiliated club, and use a special (typically unlisted) call sign, make sure to notify your local QSL bureau, as well as other VE QSL Bureaus. For want of this notification, some cards go through several bureaus before they reach the right one. Sometimes they never reach the operator.

Not interested in QSLs?: If you do not want to claim your cards from QSL Bureau, please notify your Provincial bureau. This will reduce the costs and storage space at the bureaus.

2400 QSL Cards limit: To limit the over-use of the QSL Bureau, typically by some contest stations, currently there is a limit of 2400 QSL cards per year/per member. We charge for extra cards.

QSLs for Countries without QSL Bureaus: We have listed the countries for which we do not handle QSL cards. Unless you specify a manager served by a bureau, most of these QSL cards will be returned to the sender. Note that we do not send cards to individuals, but to QSL bureaus. Exceptions are some QSL managers for which we know return QSL cards via the bureau.

 

Why is the QSL Bureau so slow?

 

Sender: Each and every QSO in the log is not necessarily QSL-ed. Some people are not interested, some send QSL cards only to DX stations, and some do not QSL contest QSOs. Some people only respond when they receive a QSL card, or simply do not have cards printed. Also, people have different hobbies and life styles, and may leave QSL writing for 'later', typically many months, if not years, after the QSO was made. Computerized logs make it easier for sticker printing, and effective QSL card sending. In some cases, the call sign is received wrongly, and cards are sent to wrong station/bureau.

Outgoing VE QSL Bureau: The mailing strategy has already been described. In some cases it can take up to several months before the cards are actually sent from the bureau. In most cases it is much less. In addition, it may take several weeks for the QSL cards to be transported via postal system (and Customs) to the DX country's bureau.

Claiming the cards: In many DX countries the principle is much the same as in Canada. Amateurs claim QSL cards from the bureaus, and pay a minimum handling fee and postage. However, there are amateurs, including managers, who do not know how, or where, to claim the cards. Sometimes they intentionally avoid claiming the cards, leaving them at the bureau for years. Some bureaus destroy the cards. Some bureaus, like ours, return the cards. Some amateurs claim the cards but do not respond to cards received through the bureau. In some other countries, organizations are subsidized, and delivery is done through clubs free of charge.

Foreign QSL Bureaus: Many QSL Bureaus in the world are chronically under-funded. Some exist only as an address for incoming QSL cards. In some cases they even regularly package QSL cards, but they defer sending until they get some funds. This extends the QSL card waiting period for cards from these countries.

Incoming VE QSL Bureau: The QSL cards arriving from DX QSL bureaus are sorted by VE call area bureaus, and sent every 3-4 months to provincial bureaus. Typically several thousand QSL cards are sent at once.

Provincial QSL Bureaus: Arriving at the provincial QSL bureau, the cards are further sorted by volunteers by the first letter in the suffix. This may typically take another week or two. Finally, cards arrive to letter sorters, who wait until some minimal number of cards for the VE client station is accumulated before sending them out. Typically cards are sent 3-4 times a year (as soon as they are received), or once every year or longer for less active users. Sorters keep the cards for several years. If the cards are not claimed, they are returned to the DX Bureaus.

If you still think this is too slow see some alternatives

We hope you find this information useful, and that it will help you to send and receive cards more efficiently.

 

 

73 Nenad VE3EXY ....

 

 

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"After seeing all those cases in my practice, I can hardly believe I am still alive"

The Pathology Professor

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