Observations on QSLing

January Chat column

Edwin Southwell

The availability of current radio station handouts has been a recent topic in theses pages. For my part I have received schedule/handouts for the present season from Radio's Netherlands, Bulgaria, Kuwait and Taiwan International, which I suppose is not bad considering I don't report to stations seeking QSL cards all that often nowadays. However in 2009 my reports to Radio Prague requesting QSL cards of their steam train series, which were quite good, was a one off exception.

This goes to show that if a station puts itself about and comes up with a good theme and a good service then listening followed by reporting will increase. That may prove difficult for some stations as they have used their national treasurers as QSL card subjects long ago. Australia and African stations for instance have exhausted wild life and animal subjects and perhaps have not much else left. In east Europe portraits of 'national heroes' or drab buildings do not inspire one to write for a card. With an increase in listening a station needs to match this with inspiring and interesting programming to back the coverage of local news that's not reported abroad. On the down-side stations which have discontinued sending cards due to increased costs and no doubt a declining number of listeners are unlikely to change their minds and recommence this style of publicity.

Radio Sweden are the latest station to stop issuing schedules and sending out QSL cards, so if a person does not receive a schedule it is nothing to do with any suggested anything else as its up to the stations to decide whether to or not to printout and send schedules. I strongly support the view that we should concentrate on sending a station comment on programme content and presentation and I also add in doing so a report on the quality of rception saying it is good, fair, poor or difficult to hear due to co-channel interference but never do I include a request for a QSL card for any reply other than any future one-offs as with the rare exception to Radio Prague as mentioned above.

In having heard several mailbag programmes from a number of stations you may have heard many requests from listeners for QSL cards with some saying they never received a reply to their report. There was a time when requests for maps, stickers, pennants and t-shirts etc., were plentiful; sadly those days are long gone. When I first started listening to short wave in 1969 many stations sent out publicity in the form of pennants, stickers, t-shirts and tourist info. Today short wave stations concentrate on Africa, Asia and Latin America and big business sees that suitable sets are readily available in those countries. Shops in the UK no longer sell shortwave radios and as for asking about DRM you get a blank look.

Thus, if shops don't carry short wave radios how are new faces going to be attracted to the hobby? However, for us at World DX Club it's a case of writing to stations with comments on programming, content and the quality of reception to help keep them on the air. I never seem to see the logs or the QSL cards received by some who say they write regularly with or without success in the monthly column for that subject.

Finally, may I wish you all a Happy New Year and please make your resolution one of supplying some input to our magazine and not leave it to the regular few every month even if they are doing such a grand job. (ES 465)

(worlddxclub/Contact Jan 2010)