QSL Cards


QSL Cards are a formal confirmation of a contact with another station and at that level you can take them or leave them. I would always send a QSL card when asked for one, ideally via the RSGB Bureau. I tend to save my QSL card requests for those times when a contact was in some way more memorable – a personal DX milestone or a particularly enjoyable chat with a new friend.

Often QSL cards give an insight into the person themselves, like S51GL’s interests underwater or EI5JE’s interests up in the air! Special event cards usually say something about the event that the station is commemorating.

As time has gone by QSL cards have become digital of course and I no longer post bundles of them like I used to. There’s no reason not to put some effort into a digital QSL card and my current one has an image of my new QTH city’s Minster (cathedral) on the front.

York QSL

 

75th anniversary of  Trans-Atlantic contact in 1978

The first QSL card I received was back in January 1978 when the Cornish Amateur Radio Club ran a special station GB3MSA to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Marconi’s first two-way contact between the USA and Europe…

60th anniversary of D-Day

The cards below commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day and are particularly interesting to me as they represent 2 contacts made on 80 and 160m with the same station within a few hours of each other. The 160m QSO was my furthest on 160m under a M3 call-sign…