The UK QSL managers continue to deal with large volumes of outgoing QSL cards both direct letters and bureau parcels to all the IARU Bureaus. This is a summary of the postage for the year 01/04/2016 to 31/03/2017.
Direct items are slightly down by -1.3% on last year.
An increased postal cost of +4.45% on last year which is mainly due to our increased Bureau work over the last year along with an adjustment of exchange rate against the US dollar.
Our Bureau outgoing volume is counted from 01/01/2016 – 31/12/2016 at 58,512 bureau cards up 45.3% on 2015.
There are currently 2,131,698 QSOs in the OQRS database in which you can make QSL requests.

TX5T Austral Islands ALL 616 direct letters will be posted Wednesday 29th March 2017.

OQRS Open  Please use OQRS for your QSL request. 

We ask you to please not send us any cards Via Bureau as they are not required.

TX5T Austral Islands QSL card has been deisgned and is now in the print room. I expect to post all direct QSL cards on April 1st. You can still request your TX5T QSL on OQRS for a fast return.
Please remember do not send us your card through the Bureau USE OQRS ONLY.

Thank you to Dennis F5VHY for the donation of IRC’s in support of our Outgoing QSL Bureau.

Do you have any old out of date IRC’s?

By sending your old out of date IRC’s to the United Radio QSL Bureau you will be helping keeping our QSL Bureau going.

Just 300 old out of date International Reply Coupons is enough to post 20,000 Bureau cards to world IARU Bureaus.

Bespoke QSL Management Cloud Platform 1st March 2017
With computers well entrenched in DXing and amateur radio in general the underappreciated QSL managers that work in the background are the recipients of thousands of e-mails (mostly all inquiring – sometimes complaining – about one or more missing QSOs), an untold number of snail mail pieces containing even more snail mail pieces, currency, IRCs, postage stamps and one or more QSL cards, even some with QSL cards for multiple DX stations or DX operators. This avalanche of paper is time consuming and labor intensive, sometimes requiring teams of volunteers to process. Add to this the hundreds of DX logs (in various formats), millions of DX contacts, donor lists, and consolidated DX club log submissions, all of which require accurate accounting and more importantly preservation.

QSL managers use different methods to recover their operating costs which include items such as toner, labels, envelopes, and sometimes pizza lunches for the volunteer teams. Some managers personally absorb the cost while others pass the cost to the DX-pedition.

In late 2014 Pista HA5AO and Gene K5GS began discussing an OQRS / QSL management platform specifically for the QSL managers that handle our projects. While Michael Wells G7VJR ClubLog is an outstanding application which made significant positive contributions to the hobby and introduced many new concepts in confirming contacts, we were looking for something that addressed the backend QSL management processes. The complexities of handling tens of thousands of QSL cards, e-mails, Not in Log / busted calls requests, returned postal mail pieces and a host of other tasks which were done manually for so many years needed to change.

We began by collecting requirements and creating detailed process flowcharts. Pista coded the application and we soon had a skeleton platform that offered some flexibility as well as functionality. The usual and familiar DX Log Search and OQRS functions were delivered in Phase 1.

After a number of enhancements and tests we switched it on for the 2015 TX3X DX-pedition. Of course, no amount of testing will uncover every bug. We learned what users expect and how they use OQRS software. Realizing we needed input from people with more experience than either of us in handing large volumes of confirmation requests we contacted Tim Beaumont M0URX (who previously handled cards for us) and his QSL Manager partner Charles Wilmott M0OXO. After e-mails and Skype conference calls we had a comprehensive list of process steps, additional requirements and a written agreement on how to proceed. As the new requirements were sorted, prioritized and coded each was tested by the team.

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A mailing of all 238 letters will be posted on Friday 3rd March, mostly ZC4A & ZC4ZM QSL cards plus others.

Our OQRS is open for all call signs that I am manager for please use OQRS for all your QSL requests. 

Please also remember that we do not need your incoming bureau cards, so PLEASE only use OQRS if you want to use the Bureau route.

The CanAm DX Group will be operating as TX5T, for its upcoming trip to the Austral Islands, Raivavae Island IOTA Ref OC-114 February 20 – March 3, 2017.

Operators VA7DX Neil, VE7KW Keith, W5MJ Madison & W5RF Robert plan to use KIO Hex beams and Spiderpole verticals for 160-6 Meters on CW, SSB and digital modes.  The team will be using Elecraft K3s and amplifiers to be able to work antipodal into Western Europe, where FO/A is rare. 

They will be updating their website at www.Australs2017.com
QSL Via M0URX OQRS preferred.

Please do not send us any bureau cards as they are not required. OQRS is fast and free! Thank you

Busted / Missing calls should be directed to the OQRS link above where you will find the “Busted / Missing Call” form, just enter your data and I will check the log. Please do not email me. USE OQRS for your inquiries. Thank you. Corrected log entries will automatically be uploaded to LoTW on the next upload.

The QSL designs for ZC4A and ZC4ZM are now both in the print room. Thanks to Max ON5UR for the designs.
OQRS is open HERE Please remember do not send us any bureau cards. USE OQRS! Thank you.