QSL Via the Buro

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I was going through the Pile of Mail that had accumulated over the past few months. This is the non-urgent stuff that got pushed aside to be looked at later. I had two envelopes from the Zero QSL bureau, with about a dozen total QSL cards. Most of these cards were from my KB0CY/C6A Mini-DXpedition to The Bahamas.

So here it is January 2008 and I am just getting QSL cards from contacts made in December 2000. This is not really new news, as most hams are familiar with long delays for cards sent via the buro. But still, this is a really long time for our instant gratification society. In this case, I received these QSL cards 7 years after the contact.

How do you think this happens? I am not sure. I suspect that the typical ham might wait up to a year to send cards into their outgoing QSL bureau. Then the cards may sit there for a while….maybe another year? Then the cards get mailed to the US, ending up at the appropriate incoming QSL bureau…so add another year. Let’s say they sit there for another year and then get mailed to me. Add it up, it is 4 years, assuming long delays at each stage. It still doesn’t account for the full 7 years. Maybe the sending ham didn’t realize he needed the QSL card until he was scanning his log with an eye towards DXCC or some other award. This could cause an additional delay in when the card is initially sent.

Of course, I sent out cards in return, also via the Buro….wonder when they will arrive at the other end?
This points out the advantage electronic QSL systems such as eQSL and the ARRL Logbook of the World. Yes, I do appreciate the value of a well done QSL card that you can hold in your hand. But seven years is a long time to wait.

73, Bob K0NR

P.S. This is not a criticism of the volunteers that make the incoming QSL bureaus work…I appreciate their efforts.

One Reply to “QSL Via the Buro”

  1. I think in some cases it’s that the QSL sender just hasn’t realized that he needs the card for some award. I am a case in point: As I discussed in my own blog recently, a few weeks ago I sent out a ton of cards, both direct and via the bureau. A few were from relatively recent contacts (within the last few months), but most were from a few years back. What happened was that I had gone through my logs and decided to “clean up” and QSL for things that I needed. As a result, I found a bunch of grids that I needed for 6m VUCC, some new band or modes for DXCC, etc. I marked those QSOs for QSLing, but didn’t actually do anything about it. This “clean up” happened a while back, but I didn’t get around to sending the cards then, and so I did another round, but this time printed the labels and actually sent them.

    As a result, I’d say that at least 25% of the cards that I sent were for 2004 or earlier. So I figure that at best, I’d see the returns maybe late this year, but more likely next year.

    I’ll bet I’m not that unusual in doing this.

    73,
    David, K2DBK

    http://k2dbk.blogspot.com

    P.S. (Sorry for the obvious plug for my blog 🙂 )