Category - Blog

With the significant changes to International mailings now being enforced by world Customs areas, it has meant that this also effects QSL management and i believe that we are the only QSL management team in the world that has been working with our national mail provider, Royal Mail, to discuss mailing solutions and secure access to the right products to keep the direct and bureau QSL cards posted.
The products that we had been using for many years were getting more expensive and were not suitable in the current Covid and customs climate.

Royal Mail had made the decision that these products were going to be removed and replaced by a new stream of mailing products that had to be accessed only by an online mailing solution to give us the correct customs clearance for the Bureau dispatches, however we urgently still require IARU to discuss a unique commodity code to reflect the “0” value at customs of QSL cards. It is quite clear that we are a long way off from this if it happens at all, the result of this no action is that Bureau boxes are now attracting TAX and handling fees around the world which some IARU Bureaus are failing to understand and refusing to pay the TAX and i have to say that I predicted this as far back as 2017, which begs the question why has no action been taken to secure the future of QSL’ing?

For “Direct QSL cards” we are proud to announce that we have secured access to a new mailing product which secures a better package for our daily mailing of direct QSL cards around the world. Prices are considerably more competitive and means that there will be no price rises for your QSL requests going forward into 2022. This is great news for those that enjoy QSl’ing and excellent news for DXpeditions using our QSL services. We are very confident that our UK QSL managers are the only worldwide QSL providers that work with our national providers to give you the best QSL service out there today.

Kapp Linné – Isfjord Radio

Finally, our eye fell on Kapp Linné a place where also Isfjord Radio is located. From this location we have a nice open view towards the QO-100 satellite and no mountain tops to make life difficult for us.

During the month of April, it is still very cold winter weather, so Kapp Linné is not accessible by boat because the sea is completely frozen. The only way to get there is by snowmobile. Via the mainland, this is a trip that takes at least five hours in temperatures of -20° a -25° Celcius. If the weather is very bad, this can quickly increase to seven hours.

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Thank you for the excellent feedback on my last Blog entry regarding the Universal Postal Union UPU’s postal regulations called Electronic Pre Delivery Advice Data that was introduced in 2017. I have had some emails asking for a further explanation and understanding of the new postal regulations. 

The reason for the new regulation was to prevent terrorism by ensuring that every parcel sent internationally was linked “electronically” directly to a person both the sender and the recipient. Also so that every parcel can clear customs more quickly through the new S10 Bar Code system.
It is no longer enough to send a Bureau parcel by address only as done in the past.
The sender must now provide the following, full name, email address, telephone number of sender & recipient and UPU commodity code.

January 1st 2021 these regulations were enforced worldwide.
I informed IARU of the new customs laws back in 2017, however they felt that making the data public was against GDPR so did nothing. 

• It is important to remember that QSL cards as documents are exempt from these regulations. BUT…. Without following the regulations it is down to the customs officers in your country to enforce the regulations.
  
  The customs officers will do one of 4 things:
  1. Allow the parcel to its destination.
  2. Add a customs TAX + handling fee to the parcel and forward on.
  3. Return the parcel.
  4. Destroy the parcel.
  
  So doing nothing is not an option as it will lead to all of the above! We are currently relying on |Number 1, the customs officer allowing the Bureau parcel to be forwarded  on to the Society.

I have a problem putting a UPU commodity code 9705000090 on the parcel the nearest code is for Post Cards, but this could / will result in a TAX being put on the parcel. As this code does not distinguish between commercial product or hobby document.
Ideally we need IARU to pay for a UPU commodity code to show the parcel contains QSL Cards with no value and show as documents. So as you can see this is what the new worldwide customs regulations are about for shipping bureau parcels.

I have no control over your customs officers decision. Bureau card delivery is now at serious risk. The very survival of the Bureaus is in the hands of the IARU, who at this time and for the last four years have ignored this situation developing. 

Andy, 5Z4VJ continues his activity from Nairobi, Kenya. After a break for his summer holidays Andy is back and has installed his Hexbeam on top of the apartment building at 40m above round. 

Please note that Andy’s logs will be uploaded periodically to OQRS. Always check the “LAST QSO DATE & TIME” on the log search before requesting your QSL. 

Very important  – Andy has uploaded his  CQWW SSB entry to OQRS. Due to Andy’s work commitments Qs from before CQWW have not yet been uploaded. These Qs are not missing, busted or lost, please be patient. Please do not email me, just wait. Thank you.

PJ4BAR Bonaire Amateur Radio Club was recently active with the first activity and the QSL card has now been designed.
OQRS is open and logs will be uploaded to LoTW as they come in from club activities. 

The United Radio QSL Bureau is a service to assist DXpedition Teams send their QSL mailings at discounted postal costs, so that the team can divert finances to where they are most needed at the DXpedition.

United Radio QSL Bureau has a rather unique international mailing contract with Royal Mail, which has been tailored for the use of UK QSL Management.

The international mailing contract allows our QSL managers to send QSL cards using Business Air Mail for fast delivery of QSL cards Worldwide at Royal Mail’s most competitive international rates.

Our UK based QSL managers have an instant access to the Online Business Account from where ever they are situated in the United Kingdom.

We can deal with all your DXpedition QSL management requirements. Please contact me for further information. 

The latest log update 1,579 Q’s from Andy 5Z4VJ has been uploaded to Bespoke OQRS.

Andy reports: 5Z4VJ – update – I will be moving QTH this week to a different location in Nairobi so likely to be off the air for a while. All antennas down here now. 170k QSOs in the log. Many thanks all. Especially to Tim, @M0URX for handling all the QSLs!

Continuing with our Blog Series exploring the features of Bespoke OQRS and how you as a DX’er or DXpedition Team can use our tools and features to enhance your DX experience. Today we look at the Band Activity Module / Live logging tool which is available for any of the managed call signs on Bespoke OQRS. This feature can be enabled on our “Logsearch Configuration” tool by the QSL manager.

Many DX’peditions like to use a live logging feature which Bespoke OQRS can provide. Live logging can only be a consideration if the location of the DX’pedition has a reliable internet or satellite connection. Many high latitude locations such as Southern Ocean / Antarctic DX’peditions may not have access to satellites that have a reliable connection. Out in the field on DX is a completely different scenario to operating from home few understand that on many islands there is no internet or satellite to upload logs.

If the Band Activity Module / Live Logging is enabled move the mouse over the green spot to see the TX and RX QRG of the station. If no QSO broadcast and received by system for more than 5 minutes than the green colour changes to yellow. It means that the station QRX or lost the network. After 15 minutes if no QSO received the station considered inactive or not connected to the network. If all spots are grey, then no operation or the internet connection is lost at the DX station side.

For our DX’pedition clients using our N1MM-OQRS Gateway, set up is easy. In the event of an interruption to satellite / internet connection the gateway offers unattended operation, (by which I mean that the team do not have to monitor the system for continued operation, leaving all the team for on air activity) so the QSOs are stored in the buffer as soon as the internet connection lost. The upload process of the QSOs from the buffer to the OQRS database will automatically start when the internet connection is restored and the next QSO is logged. Also possible to upload and empty the buffer manually.
Enjoy your DX experience using the tools and features of Bespoke OQRS. Please contact me for more information.