Frequently Asked Questions

Question: How do I QSL a station that has a QSL Manager when I'm using the Bureau? How do I Indicate the Managers call on my card? How do I sort cards with Managers, by the Contacted station's call or the Manager's call?

Answer: A NOTE ON QSLING VIA A MANAGER

When QSLing via a Manager please write via and the Manager's call on the back upper left corner of your card. If the back of your card is not blank please write it on your card near the contacted stations call and if possible make it stand out in some way (highlight it, use different color pen, etc.)

When sorting these cards please sort them en-masse with your regular QSL's by the Manager's call (if the Manager's call is on the back of the card please sort with the Managers call facing up).

DO NOT use envelopes, slips of paper or post-it notes to separate the cards with QSL Managers. Because these cards go through so many hands before they reach their destination slips of paper and post-it's will most likely fall off and envelopes can become damaged, possibly damaging the enclosed card.

Please try and follow these guidelines to ensure your cards are routed properly and arrive in good condition.

Question: Can I send QSL cards to US QSL Managers through the Bureau?

Answer: Yes you can as long as you or the station you made contact with was outside the 48 contiguous states at the time.

Question: Can I QSL US Amateurs through the Bureau system?

Answer: No you cannot send cards to other US hams through the Bureau UNLESS you or the other station was DX at the time and your QSL card indicates this. (ex. you make a contact with XE/K1TLK or you are in Mexico and your QSL card indicates that is where you were at the time of the contact.)

Note: DX means anything outside the 48 contiguous states, which means you can send cards for Alaskan and Hawaiian calls as well as those for US territories or military bases through the outgoing bureau. (The prefixes for these areas are as follows: All AL, KL, NL, WL, AH, KH, NH, WH, KP, NP, WP calls as wells as KG4x2 calls (ex. KG2SV), KA6x2 calls and KA2x2 calls.) Please refer to the "Countries Not Served" list on the Outgoing QSL Service information sheet because there are a few US territories we can not forward to.

Question: I made a contact with RA/ZS3RAS, do I sort this card with the RA's or ZS's?

Answer: Whenever you are sorting this type of card always sort it by the FULL callsign, which in this case is ZS3RAS. If you encounter a call such as RA4WXS/HA3TL you would sort it by the FIRST full callsign unless the contacted station indicates otherwise. If the card needs to go to the second callsign you must indicate this on the card in some way. (please refer to the section on QSLing via a manager at the top of the first page.)

Question: How do I go about changing my address with my Incoming Bureau?

Answer: You need to contact the Incoming Bureau Manager for your call area, you can do this by mail or e-mail. You can find the mail and e-mail addresses for the various Bureaus or you can call the Outgoing Bureau at (860) 594-0274 and we will be happy to give you the information you'll need.

Question: I just changed my call sign, who within the QSL service must I contact?

Answer: You must let the Manager of your Incoming Bureau know and you must have envelopes or money credits on file for both calls for at least one to two years after the change. Also, if you had a 1-land call and your new call is a 2-land call then you must have envelopes or money credits on file with both Bureaus. The reason we ask that you do this is because the Bureau system is slow so even if you have not made any contacts in a few months you may still receive cards for contacts you made before then.

As for the Outgoing Bureau you don't need to do anything unless you happen to be sending cards for your old call as well as your new call in a shipment. If you do this just write on a slip of paper that you have included cards for your old call in the shipment and put it in the package with your cards.