Sending one card costs me about two and a half hours and $4. Read below. (Not a joke)
There is no QSL bureau in Vietnam. There is only one Eddie 3W9T/XV9T (ex 3W1T/XV1X) on the air. Anytime and anywhere. Well, sometimes 3W3B and XV9Q. Rarely 2-3 more stations.
Everyone has different possibilities. Different expectations. Here are three ways to get my paper card.
<beer> Remember friend! There is no such thing as too much beer. With beer, it's either a shortage or it's in short supply, but you can’t drink no more. </beer>
QSL with beer. You send $5 to PayPal and I send you an card ASAP. And I'll drink a bottle of beer for you. (+LOTW)
QSL without beer. You send $3 to PayPal and I send you a card. And I'm out of beer.
Extra method. You send $10 to PayPal and I immediately send you a card by EMS. And I drink beer. (+LOTW).
This is because I can send EMS from the village. The village post office is a 10 minute leisurely walk from my house. But they only send mail within Vietnam and international EMS. It is expensive.
<joke> You send me $10,000. I'm boarding the next flight and will personally fly to your home with the QSL. And I'll bring a basket of fruit. This will be the most expensive fruit basket of your life. Add another dollar and I'll upload QSO to LOTW. :) </joke>
Do you understand that this is a joke? However, you can joke back.
IRC. Don't send me IRC. What should I do with them here???
<lotw> Today is April 12, 2024. 13623 QSOs were made. All of them are posted on LOTW. I won't post any more QSOs there. And don't ask why. Because. For LOTW inquiries please email and send a can of beer to Paypal. I'll drink to the health of the ARRL. </lotw>
You can send me your QSL in a self-addressed envelope to the following address:
Andrei Gromov
Zalo:0778483891
Nha Nghi Le Thi Nga khu pho 3, Ham Tien,
Tp Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan 801090
Vietnam
Or send me a message ([email protected]) with contact information and USD$ via PayPal ([email protected]). Please provide your callsign with paypal receipt.
Remember: to send a letter, I need to drive 20 kilometers to the post office. And then back. A long journey, dust, heat, a shy horse... All this for just a handful of dollars.
FYI. Details. One QSL costs $2 to print and mail. Getting to the post office by bus takes 40-45 minutes (not 23 minutes as it's written in the picture below) and costs $1. Same back. From me to the bus stop, walk 1 kilometer. 40 meters down and 40 meters up on the way back. It costs me about two and a half hours and $4 to send one card. Dot.
Or send me a message ([email protected]) with contact information and USD$ via PayPal ([email protected]). Please provide your callsign with paypal receipt.
Remember: to send a letter, I need to drive 20 kilometers to the post office. And then back. A long journey, dust, heat, a shy horse... All this for just a handful of dollars.
QSL. Let me tell you about cards. About my QSL world. Back in 1981, I became a radio amateur, received the call sign SWL. At the club station, I was fascinated going through the cards with my hands and saw something magical and unattainable behind each QSL. I still remember the card from Tahiti and my dream to get the same QSL.
I made my own rubber stamped cards and sent them out in envelopes with my first SWL I heard. And froze in anticipation. A week has passed. And I got my first card. It was a QSL from Dagestan club station UK6WAA. I remember this moment. This magical moment. Delight! Wings behind! It's been 40+ years. Thousands of cards received.
But the excitement remained. No computer pictures and digital confirmations will replace a paper card. I don't understand E-QSL. I don’t understand when they send me QSL pictures by email confirming our QSO. The paper card is the only tangible proof of intangible radio communication, a relic and memory forever in a box on my shelf.
