Tour the ARRL QSL Bureau: forwarding your QSL cards around the world!

Meet ARRL staff member Rose-Anne Lawrence, KB1DMW and enjoy this video tour of the ARRL QSL Bureau, located at ARRL's headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. Exchanging paper QSL cards to confirm a two-way radio contact is a tradition that dates back to the beginning of amateur radio. Today, many amateurs prefer to confirm their contacts (or QSOs) electronically with Logbook of The World (LoTW), however there are those who like to swap paper cards. Exchanging QSL cards directly with your QSO partner can be very expensive. If you calculate the cost of postage to send an envelope overseas, plus any money enclosed to cover the return postage, a single QSL card request can cost up to five dollars or more. Confirming QSOs electronically through LoTW is a rapid and cost-effective way to earn QSO credit for awards, but for the paper card collector, the ARRL QSL Bureau offers an alternative to the postal mail method. To use this service, you only need to provide proof of ARRL membership and pay the fee according to the current fee schedule. Cards sent via the Bureau are sorted by the Outgoing QSL Service staff, who handle hundreds of thousands of member cards each year. Cards are shipped from ARRL on a near-quarterly basis. The Service ships QSL cards to QSL Bureaus throughout the world, which are typically maintained by the national amateur radio society of each country. Please be advised that the ARRL QSL Service cannot be used to exchange QSL cards within the 48 contiguous states [US to US]. Sending QSL cards via the Bureau takes a little longer than mailing them directly, but keep in mind that what you might lose in speed is more than made up in the convenience and savings of not having to address and mail each QSL card separately.


The QSL Bureau is another reason to be a member of ARRL! Join today at www.arrl.org/join.

For more information:

www.arrl.org/qsl
www.arrl.org/join
www.arrl.org/lotw
www.arrl.org

Produced by ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio. Copyright 2021.

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