Teak Publishing, owned by Larry and Gayle Van Horn, published its first book in 2007.World QSL Book, by Gayle Van Horn, is a comprehensive resource and reference book on CD for any hobbyist who is interested in acquiring a verification of reception of almost any HF station, whether broadcast, utility, amateur radio, or unlicensed pirate or clandestine!
For those new to the hobby, the first 90 pages are devoted to the “how-to’s” of QSLing, drawn from Gayle’s 30 years of experience. This includes best general practices in logging, reporting, and mailing your report, and then it moves on to address specific recommended practices tailored to each global region.
How do you know where to send the report? Should you try to send a report in a language you don’t speak? What should you enclose in your report? How long should you wait for a reply? Should you send a second report? The book answers these common questions and much more. And lastly, Gayle addresses an often-neglected question: what do you do with your QSL cards and letters after they start to accumulate?
As to where to send the report, that is the subject of the remaining 430 or so pages. An astonishing amount of information is contained under logically-organized, easy to follow sections. Each station listing includes mailing address, plus email address, website, and whether the station provides streaming audio. And, being in pdf format, all links are active, so a click will take you directly there if you are connected to the internet.
World QSL Book is published in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) electronic format and is fully searchable and printable. It can be run on any computer platform and uses the Adobe Acrobat reader program (a free internet download). Navigation through the book is made simple by a very comprehensive Table of Contents. Although you cannot go immediately to a topic by clicking on it, if you keep Adobe Acrobat’s “Bookmarks” panel open, simply clicking on the desired page number “turns” right to it.
Are you looking for a specific station or country? Another way to navigate is by using Adobe’s search engine: Click on the binoculars, type in “Madagascar,” and a few seconds later, 26 entries pop up on the search panel. You can pick the one that looks like the one you want, or manually click through each entry.
World QSL Book is available from Teak Publishing, P.O. Box 297, Brasstown, NC 28902 USA teakpub@brmemc.net for $19.95 +$3 shipping in the US (check, money order or Pay Pal). It is also available at the same price from Grove Enterprises (800-438-8155; order@grove-ent.com ).
Reviewed by Rachel Baughn, Editor, Monitoring Times