By Dirk Esterline-KG8JK, Editor of AThe Static,@ the newsletter pf the Straits Area ARC. You can check out the SAARC web site at http://www.ncmc.cc.mi.us/dirk/news.htm. ARNS August 1999.

One of the most enjoyable parts of Amateur Radio is sending and receiving QSL cards. The excitement of breaking through the pileup and working that rare dx is relived the day the card comes in the mail. Most hams display their cards proudly like a big game hunter does with his trophies and behind each one is the story of the hunt.The down side of qsling is the cost. One look in the back of any Ham magazine and you will see what I mean. You can find some good deals if you look but the cards will be in black ink and have some impersonal design that says nothing about yourself. To get the really good deals you have to buy 1000 cards! After changing calls three times would probably have 1500 useless cards laying around the shack. They work great as scratch pads and coaster. You could even make a couple of decks of playing cards out of them if you like.

There are many alternatives to buying remade QSL cards. Making your own cards gives you the flexibility to make a card that is truly personalized and that you can change at will. You only need make the amount that you will use and when you run out you won’t have to wait for weeks for a new batch to arrive.

The simplest solution to the QSL card dilemma is the postcard. If you live in a tourist area it will be easy to find a card. Here in Petoskey, MI, you can find cards with pictures of Lake Michigan and the historic Gaslight District of downtown. At four for a dollar you can mix and match the cards that you like The pictures are usually of very high quality. My favorite is a picture of a Petoskey Stone in the Shape of Michigan sitting on a piece of quartz. Many computer programs have an option of making labels that you can just stick on the back of the card. With a computer and little experimentation you can make your own confirmation grid for filling in the pertinent information. If you don’t own a computer you can have a rubber stamp made up at your local print shop with your call and a grid. Hey, nobody says you can’t just fill in the information by hand. Try writing it like a letter… “Thanks for the QSO last night on 20 meters.... your 59 signal was booming into Michigan.” If you own a computer you can make your own cards from scratch. Programs such as “Print Artist” and “The Print Shop” have options for making postcards. I purchase 8.5 X 11 card stock at 5 cents a sheet and can fit four cards onto each sheet. If you send a lot of domestic QSL’s, why not purchase postcards from the post office. They already have the postage on them and the card stock is free! You can download images from the Internet or take a picture of your shack and scan it. (Don’t buy your own. Use your friends scanner) I scanned the QSL grid off of one of the cards I received and saved it as a bitmap file and use that on my cards.

The real fun is sending and receiving the cards. Seeing what other hams do will give you more ideas. Use your imagination and change it as many times as you like. You may end up with three or four different designs that you like and can use them all. But remember, you’ve got to send ‘em to get ‘em.