Archive - April 2015

Ok, here I am again lifting my head above the parapet! Over the last year I have seen quite a lot of comments about how much the LoTW upload has affected direct QSLing. As a QSL manager I am in an unbiased position to do a little research. Obviously like for like is very difficult due to rarity of the DXCC, total Qs, unique calls in log and many other variables.

As I am NOT in a position where I am balancing huge budgets for rare DXpeditions I have the opportunity to look at this in a way many others cannot and here are some statistics from a couple of recent DXpediiotons.

EP6T was uploaded to LoTW during the DXpedition and daily to the end.
E30FB has NOT been uploaded to LoTW yet and the team have asked me not to until after 3 months.

So a good chance to look at this in more detail. Please note that E30FB worked 3,583 MORE unique call signs than EP6T so would be expected to receive more QSL requests.

E30FB 06/03 – 17/03/2015        EP6T 16/01 – 27/01/2015
Total QSOs 64,560                   Total QSOs 68,044
Uniques      20,326 – 31.5%      Uniques      16,743 – 24.6%    

Log uploaded to LoTW  
E30FB      NOT YET                 EP6T Daily from the 20^th January at the time of the expedition

Direct QSL requests received.
E30FB 3,969                   EP6T 3,747

The Cliff
E30FB                                  EP6T
OQRS 4 weeks                     OQRS 4 weeks,
Direct letters 6 weeks              Direct letters 6 weeks

Bureau Reuests
E30FB 2,237                                  EP6T 2,400 (Aprox)

We have all read the arguments on here for and against, and when to upload to LoTW.

Last year at the RSGB Convention I recall one lecturer say that:

“Once you have uploaded the DXpedition log to LoTW you may was well watch the direct requests fall off the cliff” or words to that effect.

Every DXpedition I have been QSL manager for, QSL cards arrive steadily for some time and then, as you see with the above stats that after 4 weeks the OQRS will suddenly drop off followed by directs two weeks later, known as “The Cliff” once this point is reached for me it is the most economical time to post out all the QSL cards. However this has nothing to do with LoTW uploads.

Although not a scientific experiment the above shows me that uploads to LoTW make very little difference to Direct QSL requests. As we have said all along!

I have noticed an increasing willingness for people to PAY for LoTW uploads, which for those DXpeditions where funding is critical I think this will become a more common practice.

I have also noticed a lot of people pay for the direct QSL saying that “NO QSL required please LoTW only” but I also noticed this with EP6T where the Qs were ALREADY uploaded to LoTW so I would not take much notice of that.

The latest incoming box from the RSGB Bureau arrived 3 weeks ago and has been sorted and processed and in the Bureau bins ready for the next bureau dispatch.

It is quite clear that many people are confused by OQRS, Bureau and Direct QSL’ing which leads to a huge problem of “Bureau Usage Abuse” Let me see if I can make it clear for you so that we can reduce this abuse and reduce costs within the bureau system and also reduce the wasted time that is spent on sorting bureau cards and processing them.

Out of 3,600 bureau cards received 75% of them should NOT have been sent. Yes, 2,700 cards that you have sent me should NOT have been sent.

For all DXpeditions that are QSL Via M0URX the correct way to request your QSL cards is by using my OQRS. (Online QSL Request System)

Once you have requested your DXpedition QSL using OQRS you must NEVER then put your cards through the bureau – This is NOT required and is ABUSE of the bureau system!

Once the cards are processed they are BINNED.

It is quite clear that many of you do NOT understand this, ESPECIALLY DL stations that send for EVERY QSO Via Bureau – THIS IS ABUSE of the bureau system Please DO NOT DO IT!

Once I receive your OQRS request, your QSL is processed and stored until it is time to send the card to your bureau. You must NOT then send your card through the bureau.

If I need YOUR QSL I will email you and ask you for it!

You MUST ALSO correctly mark your log as “QSL Requested” When you receive your QSL from me you will see “THANKS QSL” This means your reply is NOT NEEDED. DO NOT SEND a reply QSL to DXpedition cards.

The Bureau service is NOT free, it costs national societies (AND ME) vast amounts of money to ship the cards around the world, abuse of the system is clogging it up and is extremely wasteful and will NOT be tolerated. This is the strongest language that I have used to highlight this massive problem. My next step will be to name and shame the abusers.

Work on processing the E30FB QSL requests continues and I have an important update for you.

During the DXpedition the team experienced computer and network issues that could not be resolved on site A few days ago the laptops arrived back in Japan and the team have managed to get the raw logs to me for inspection. Around 2,000 QSOs that were missing have been recovered so far.

Action taken – These QSOs have been added to the log. QSL requests for both direct and bureau have been matched to the new QSOs found.

You DO NOT need to take any action other than check Club Log to see if your QSOs are there.

OQRS is open here – http://www.m0urx.com/eritrea_oqrs/  Thank you.

An update on the EP6T QSL mailing. I am getting some reports from USA that some letters did not arrive, letters with the post codes beginning 4, 5, 6, & 7. Whilst most letters HAVE arrived it looks like the USPS have mislaid a bundle or incorrectly routed them.

The missing letters were posted on the 17th March in an International mail bag labelled for USORDA Sorting centre in the USA. It would appear that one bundle was then sent to the wrong state. So although I am sure the letter WILL arrive, any non delivery I will just re send from here, no drama so anyones letter that did not arrive should contact me privately. Thank you