I've spent the better part of the day cleaning up my radio log book, and WOW...discovered I'm way behind on sending out contact confirmations. QSL cards represent a written confirmation of contact between two amateur radio stations. The traditional card has been in use for just shy of one hundred years. With the advent and prevalence of the internet, and computerized logging systems, a lot of QSL'ing is now done electronically through various online systems. At my station, I use two online systems, and get a fair amount of feedback through them. It's quick, easy, and free.
However, there's something missing from a simple online confirmation. Getting a printed card in the mail from other amateur radio operators in far-flung locations is far more fulfilling. Instead of an electronic notification, the QSL card includes that personal contact - handwriting, pictures, tidbits of interesting information - from someone in another land.
I've relied exclusively on electronic confirmation for too long. It's time to put my hand back to my own cards, and send them out to the world. Cards to Portugal, the Canary Islands, French Polynesia, France, Panama, Italy, Japan, Northern Ireland, Finland, Aruba, Brazil, Ukraine, New Zealand and the Dominican Republic will be sent, along with cards to closer to home in Mississippi, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
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