QSL Card Care and Feeding
David F. Doler Jr. (WA3YAY)
on
February 26, 2007
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If you're going to print your own QSL cards, have a look at www.wilhelm-research.com first. What you're sending to that other ham might not last very long if you using a generic brand ink and photo paper. In fact, using the cheap stuff, your card might last less than a year before it fades into oblivion.
I received a home printed QSL a couple of days ago from a Ham in Florida. It was a pretty one with a nice bright sunset and all the QSO information printed on it. Knowing from my experience with digital photography and printing, I'll have to keep that card in a closed box unless I want to see that sunset disappear in relatively short order.
On my desk are about two hundred cards that I've received that were printed in the 70's and 80' by commercial printers like 'The Little Print Shop'. These were offset printed or maybe by 4-color CMYK process for photos. Done properly and cared for, these cards will last a lifetime. Cards made by at-home inkjet methods probably won't.
When I was a novice in the mid-70, I had the stamina to stay on the air for hours on end happily pounding out 20 watts of CW on 40 and 80 meters. This netted me lot of QSL cards. Ever so proud of my accomplishments, I made the mistake of cellophane taping my favorite cards up onto heavy poster boards and sticking the whole think up on the wall.
Even the best quality QSL cards are probably not printed on archival quality, acid free paper stock and they eventually my cards interacted with the adhesive on the tape and turned brown - and fell off the board too. To compound my mistake, I attempted to pull of some of what tape remained only to damage the back surface of the cards and is some cases ripped the card too.
During a recent work project repairing old engineering blueprints, I discovered a small company in New York City called Talis (212-219-0770) that sells bookbinding supplies. They have an archival quality pressure sensitive, thin, transparent paper tape called Filmoplast P that's made from a special wood-free paper that virtually disappears leaving a mend that both looks and feels like the original paper. It won't discolor or damage the QSL card over time. Needless to say, I bought a roll and brought the old cards out into light and did my best to repair the tears and rips. It worked well and the cards should be stable for quite a while.
You should store QSL cards in an archival-quality, acid-free box. Tamis also sells these. But if you want to display the cards either on the wall or in a ring binder, be sure that the clear oversheets do not contain unstable chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyether or acetate as these can, under the right conditions bind to the surface of the card. Also never, ever use the cheap "static"-type photo holders. They are about as un-archival as they come and will surely stain your cards over time. The best combination is a binder with acid-free fiber materials and 'foggy' Polypropylene for a coversheet. These offer the best environment for the cards survival.
The way I see it, QSL cards, like a well-kept logbook are a history lesson about your life as a Ham. It's worth sending good quality cards and taking care of the ones your get. One of my favorites is from K1HO aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's R/V Knorr research ship. I had a QSO with them while they were at sea right over the site of their discovery of the RMS Titanic in 1985.
That's one that will last a long time.
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by KG4RUL on February 26, 2007
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Look around the house, at a garage sale or a flea market for 5 1/4" floppy disk boxes. They are a good size, often can be locked and have multiple dividers for organizing your card collection.
Dennis KD4RUL/AE
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by W3JXP on February 26, 2007
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As a bit of advice the anyone just starting out QSl'ing. Think about storage and display before you get a large number of cards. I started DXing in earnest in 2002 and now have over 2000 DX cards. My storage is a mixture of methods. I have some on the wall in those plastic card hanger, some in photo albums, some in boxes and some just in a pile waiting for me to do something with them. The problem is I can't find cards I'm looking for, They are in no kind of order and the job of putting them in order with 2000+ cards is overwhelming. So start out with a system and stick with it.
John W3JXP
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by W3JXP on February 26, 2007
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As a bit of advice the anyone just starting out QSl'ing. Think about storage and display before you get a large number of cards. I started DXing in earnest in 2002 and now have over 2000 DX cards. My storage is a mixture of methods. I have some on the wall in those plastic card hanger, some in photo albums, some in boxes and some just in a pile waiting for me to do something with them. The problem is I can't find cards I'm looking for, They are in no kind of order and the job of putting them in order with 2000+ cards is overwhelming. So start out with a system and stick with it.
John W3JXP
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by WS4Y on February 26, 2007
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I like to store my cards in the large photo albums
that hold 300 4 x 6 cards in clear pockets 3 to a
page. It make them easy to view and enjoy and
protects them long term. I have separate albums
for cw, ssb and 160 meters but now with so many
cards I am considering separate albums for each
band/mode. Whenever a non ham guest shows any
interest I hand them one of the albums. Generally
5 minutes and they are done hi hi. They mean more
to me than anyone else that is for sure.
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by W4SK on February 26, 2007
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For storage, sorting, and chasing DX awards, do yourself a great big favor and take a look at http://www.hamstuff.com for the very best in storage and sorting accessories.
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RE: QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by W6TH on February 26, 2007
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.
With over 64,000 qsl cards, I prize them all.
To my sorrow, my pride and joy qsl card has somewhere vanished and cannot be found, no-where.
The card is the KDKA qsl I received sometime back in 1934/1935 as a swl'er.
The rest of the qsl cards are packed and kept in darkness, not sorted, which someday in the future will bring joy to watch over them once again.
I have commercial and home brew qsls. For the home brew use I use Inkjet 4x6 Photo Paper and C6656A for use with HP deskjet. (color). So far no fading.
W6TH.
.:
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by WB2WIK on February 26, 2007
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This is interesting.
Other than display cards, which I limit to a very small quantity, most of my QSL cards are in storage boxes that protect the cards from light. So far, they've lasted very well (some are 41+ years old).
But I admit the stuff I've printed on color ink jet printers for various reasons (not QSL cards) do fade pretty quickly if left laying around and exposed to normal room lighting.
Good point, and timely article!
WB2WIK/6
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Homemade Cards
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by WO5I on February 26, 2007
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To share my experience with making my own cards, I simply buy 4x6 inch index cards (you can get color or white stock at any office supply store, such as Office Max or Staples). I use a laser printer and print in only black ink. I use MS Publisher to do the layout of the card design, including the necessary QSO info block, address, wallpaper info (10-X number, etc.), and even some simple cartoon art. They're cheap to produce, and even get some nice feedback since I took the time to put some artwork on them. No, they aren't fancy 4-color, glossy, professional cards, but they do last and achieve the purpose of confirming my QSO with the recipient.
My laser printer is a Brother, and I usually configure it to print my cards as though they are envelope stock. I had to make some minor mods of layout on MS Publisher to get the info on the card to print in the right place, but with some simple tinkering, it came out great.
If I were in a highly-desired QTH or was producing cards for some DXpedition, I'd go with pro printed cards. But for simple QSL'ing, these are hard to beat for the price.
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by N7YA on February 26, 2007
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I get my cards printed cheaply (about $35 per 1000) at Office Depot, but i also have in's at printing firms.
As far as storage and display, my storage of cards needs to be reworked, but for display i have one album that is constantly changing, heres how it works if you care...I will put one card that is representitive of the country into a slip page, each slip page holds two per page (4 total) and i put them in no particular order. every time i get a package from the buro, or i get a card in the mail, i will divide the new incoming cards into DXCC piles and find the representitive card in the album, then i will put each new card up against it to see if it represents that country better than the one thats in there. I look for nice graphics, the country name and call clearly, not a lot of clutter, etc...if one is better, i pull the incumbant card and replace it with the new one, i go through all the stacks this way. basically, i want the card to say something about the country, traditions, the people, etc. if i only have one card from an entity, but its unattractive or vague, well, ugly and vague it is! into the album it goes until i can get a nicer one...if i can.
The upside to this is simple, i make my album for more than just myself, i want non-hams to be impressed with all the exotic places you can reach by ham radio. so far, everyone who has looked at my album hasnt put it down until they were done, and i have a few hundred cards in there. oh yeah, its also fun.
73...Adam, N7YA
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RE: Homemade Cards
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by N6AJR on February 26, 2007
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my earliest cards only go back to 1978, so I can comment on the really LONG term storage, I qsl 100% for cards recieved, and send out for the cards I "need" at the time, like for WAS on 160 or any new DXCC country , and sometimes I do requests for particular cards on a specific band for dxcc on 20 or 40 etc. I order my cards for about $55 per 1000 delivered from W4MPY, the QSL man.
But
the reason shoe boxes were invented is to store QSL cards......
73 tom
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by N0AH on February 26, 2007
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Good topic. I have a great stamp collection to go with my cards. I keep the stamps inbtween wax and the cards are in plastic card containers in file order. I don't wedge them in the boxes.
My rare QSL are in frames. I only have around 10 like this but most are on poor paper stock and ink to begin with-
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by K8MHZ on February 26, 2007
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I think that 4 x 6 photo albums are the way to go. I have been using small ones that hold 80 to 100 each. They are great for showing the cards off. I would think the larger albums to be just as good. The albums allow people to look at them without touching them. All the acid free paper in the world won't stop the acid from fingerprints from ruining pictures over time.
I use Walgreens for printing my cards. For 19 cents each I get really nice glossy's on good paper. I can order them on line.
I also print my own on pre-stamped post cards. I use Epson printers and ink. The post cards cost 26 cents each and include the postage. I figure I have less than 40 cents per card including postage.
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by W7WV on February 27, 2007
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I am not a chaser of QSLs. I get some and always respond of course to those I get.
My wife decided one day that she would achieve my QSL collection.
I had some from my days as a Novice in the 1970s and then some since my return to radio a few years ago.
She scanned the cards into the computer for me.
Kind of an interesting way to maintain the records and preserve the cards I do have.
Of course she's the pack rat in the family. If it had not been for her I would not have the cards from the 1970s at all. She had put them away as mementos when I left the hobby at that time.
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by WO0Z on February 27, 2007
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Nice article.
A couple of added things:
1. The real trick for QSLing for me is to make shorter and shorter runs. 35 dollars for 1000 cards is an excellent price, but I'm willing to pay a bit more to keep from having quite so many blank cards laying about. I change my card design quite often. Even 1000 cards is too many at once.
2. Done properly, inkjet cards are amongst the cheapest, but it is easy to spend a lot of money on them in ink. Inkjet ink is very expensive. Be sure to have a lot of white space on the card or else it will be much more expensive, in the end, than offset printing. Doubly so if you use photographic paper. If you want to do full color photo cards, don't do inkjet. Learn to print the card as a photo at Walmart and hand trim it to 3.5 by 5.5. Even at twenty cents, it's cheaper than inkjet ink and it's much better quality. Use "matte" paper if you do this -- glossy tends to collect fingerprints and stick to envelopes. 4x6 cards are generally painful to mail. What you save on some 4x6 scheme in price, you lose on the envelopes for larger cards. Price it out and see. I always cut down 4x6 to 3.5 to 5.5 one way or another.
3. The biggest problem for inkjet cards is that they are very vulnerable to water! This is also true, by the way, for QSL cards whose author wrote them out in felt pen. As an experiment, I took a two day old inkjet printed card I created an put a bit of water on it. It ran at once (after two days!). A card I had made with a laser printing process did not run at all.
So, whatever else you do, keep your cards dry!
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by W6TH on February 27, 2007
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.
A couple of addings:
I have sent out close to 1000 qsl cards made with my Inkjet Photo Paper sheets. I paid just $1.00 for 100 sheets of 4x6 Photo Paper, I buy several at a time. The HP Deskjet that I use is remanufactured ink cartridge and the cost is $3.00. I buy the envelopes that match, 100 for $1.00 a box.
Try beating this price for lets say 1000 qsl cards. I see no reason for my qsl cards that are sent to be damaged by any means, especially by water. I am sure the receivers care as much about my qsl cards as I do about theirs. Never a report of fading colors.
To mail thesse cards cost 3 or more times what the cost is of each card for the stamp.
The Inkjet 4x6 Photo Paper is for Inkjet Printers and my cards are custom made and enjoyable to receive and have.
W6TH.
.:
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by W6TH on February 27, 2007
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.
A correction please.
The HP Deskjet that I use is remanufactured ink cartridge and the cost is $3.00.
Sorry, they sell for $18.95 and I get them for a little lower in cost of just $13.00.
W6TH
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by K3TJ on February 27, 2007
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N6AJR nailed it... QSL collecting is what shoe boxes were made for.
My personal pet peeve is that many cards written in the early 70's and 80's used that neat new toy... "The Felt Pen" (magic marker, for those unfamiliar with the term). The ink fades over years pretty much no matter what you do.
I have a wonderful card from a 3X4 on gloss card stock that the manager used a red felt pen for the QSO info. This dates back to about 78. I couldn't tell you for sure because the ink faded and I now have a pretty much blank card. The card stock held up well, as did the professional printing. As for the QSO info, perhaps a magnifying glass. Or actually looking at my old logs :-) and rewriting it... but that would be cheating, and I have worked the country many times since then, but it does make you think about what will last.
Respectfully, Ed k3tj
PS: not a day goes by that I don't get a card for my "operation" on VP2, C6A, KP4, KP2, etc.
It is not me.
I know the operator and he has a solid fist. Learn to copy and you will get the call right. I'd tell you who it is but that, too, would be cheating.
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by AG0A on February 27, 2007
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Scanning the cards into the computer and archiving them to CD is not a sure proof way of keeping them. I do genealogy also, have the complete family history of pictures dating to the late 19th century on CD. Remember the famous computer phrase, back up, back-up!! Even CD's can go bad over time!! I had to reinstall the genealogy into a new computer recently, the first four CD's would not read into the new computer. The fifth did!. It became a new master for new cd's.
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by K1EEB on February 27, 2007
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Hi All...
I would like to add my 2 cents. My other passion is Photography and there are many good printers out there with archival quality Inks and paper. Epson has a great line of archival quality printer's. They have a new printer Epson Stylus Photo R380 . It does a lot, very flexable. I have the Stylus 1270 and the Stylus Photo R2200. Largest photo print is 13"x43" w/100+ year archival quality. I have had the 1270 for 6 years no problems and I print a lot of photos. Epson had a sale on the R380 $139 w/Free shipping. As far as QSL Cards I use Avery 4x5 Post Cards #8387. total cost to print front and back about 5 Cents. Even Archival quality inks will not stop fading if cards are left in the direct Sun light, it will slow down the process. You should keep all printed material out of the direct Sun light. In Acid Free storage box's or photo albums. You can print a QSL Card that will last 100+ Years.
73's Joe
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by VE3LXL on February 27, 2007
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Archiving to CD-ROM is not necessarily any safer than keeping the original paper. Average quality CD-ROMs have a limited lifespan due to oxidation of the aluminum coating that is used as the recording surface. Some estimages are as short as three to five years.
So not only should you back up your files to multiple copies, you should probably not rely on CD-ROMs as your primary archive media. I'd think that to be safe a large capacity external hard drive might be safer, or tapes as one of the links below recommends.
See:
http://science.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/mathematics-numbers-computers/what-lifespan-cd-rom-disc
and
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,124312-page,1/article.html?RSS=RSS
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RE: QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by WO0Z on February 27, 2007
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>I paid just $1.00 for 100 sheets
>of 4x6 Photo Paper, I buy several at a time.
That's a tremendous price, far better than what I have seen.
Where is the source for this? I would be interested in price and quantities. Also whether you can get "matte" for that price (I already have had several difficulties with glossy -- no sale there for me).
Also, if you mail them as 4x6s, how do you manage the envelope costs? When I have made photo QSLs, I have always done so in a way that they could be trimmed back down to 3.5 by 5.5 (not with scissors, of course), for easy mailing in ordinary envelopes. Otherwise, it's easy to give back any savings over traditional QSLs (to my knowledge anyway).
As for the "best price" for full color cards, the best I know of advertises on this site (UX5UO) for about 7 cents a card, shipped to your door (minimum quantity 1000). For black and white, it's probably about 4.5 cents (haven't done that one).
My main complaint with the professionals is that it is hard to get a really good price (less than 10 cents) for quantities below 1000. To me, its the low quantities for a good price which "shines" about inkjet made QSLs. You just have to resign yourself to the fact that such cards will be far more "mortal" than offset printed ones. Not that most DX are pining for a Minnesota card, but still. . .
At any rate, anything under 10 cents a card is good.
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by WB4QNG on February 27, 2007
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The sorry thing is that the only one that cares about my cards is me. When I die mine will go to the space called the local land fill. So I guess it really doesn't matter how long mine will last.
Terry
WB4QNG
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by K9DY on February 27, 2007
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It's sad, but a fact that most people don't care anything about QSL's except for the person who collects them. I have seen them for sale on ebay by people who no doubt picked them up cheap at estate sales, and list them as "old radio cards".
My DXCC, WAS and rare cards are stored along with my old logbooks in a fireproof safe, but I doubt if anyone else in the family has that much regard for them. I have heard "why do you keep all this stuff" more than once
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by N1XBP on February 28, 2007
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What good are they if you can't look at them because they are locked away in a hermetically sealed, acid free archival storage vault? Isn't looking pretty the point of the pretty cards? What exactly are you saving them for?
I keep a few out above my desk and rotate them in and out as I get new ones or ones I remember as an especially fun contact. The rest are in shoeboxes around my desk that I flip through once in awhile.
I even have a few cards from the 20s (not mine) that were given to me by someone who found them, and they are still in great shape despite having sat unprotected on a New England barn window sill for 80 years.
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RE: QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by VE3LXL on February 28, 2007
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If you want your QSL collection to remain intact after you leave for that great hamshack in the sky, there are a couple of organisations that exist to preserve QSLs. Check out:
The Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications at http://www181.pair.com/otsw/index.html. I think this one is focused mostly on broadcast station QSLs but they might also be interested in amateur QSLs.
and
The Documentary Archive Radio Communications, QSL Collection at http://www.qsl.at/english/welcome.html . This one seems to be focused on amateur QSLs. It is located in Austria.
You can also leave instructions that your QSL collection be sold or put up for auction. I think there are people who collect them.
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by KB3OLK on February 28, 2007
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You could store them safely AND display them by scanning/printing a copy to hang on the wall and put the original in storage. When the display copies fade, scan/reprint.
Hmmm... I have an EPSON 2400 printer for my photography hobby and routinely use 13x19 inch paper. I could scan the cards and lay them out to print like posters on the 13x19.
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by WB9AUJ on February 28, 2007
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I have printed QSL cards for N6VOA at home with a ink jet printer. AFTER they have dried, I spray them with clear high voltage varnish, and have not had any fade as far as I know. I did invest in some commercial cards lately.
73 John WB9AUJ
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by N3AIU on March 1, 2007
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I have a few thousand QSLs. I wanted to try and scan them all (front and back) and save them to DVD two years ago, but my scanner was too slow at high resolution. Have they improved?
73, Nick N3AIU/DL1NE
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by PLANKEYE on March 1, 2007
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I guess this topic really depends on how you look at it and what you value in your life. My QSL cards are TACKED to my shacks wall. All of them. Everyone of them mean something to me, and I remind myself what they mean to me by putting them up in my shack. When my parents died, when I was at a very young age our house was sold. All of everything was pretty much auctioned off. When I was a little older I went back to our old house about 15 years later and the man that bought our house welcomed me in and showed me what he had done with the house since he had bought it. When we went down in the basement where my old shack was as a kid, three QSL cards were still TACKED TO THE WALL. One was my first contact from 1983 from my High School Radio Class. He said he didn't know what they were but I could have them if I wanted them.
You can have 10 shoeboxes full if you want. Thats up to you. I don't think I could fill a shoebox with my QSL cards. The ones I do have mean something to me and they are not in a shoebox, they are on my walls as a reminder. They remind me of fellowship that I had with another person that meant something to both of us. You can look at this a variety of ways. I'm not telling anyone how to look at this or how to act. I'm really just saying, care about one another. This is just me and my experience, you guys do what you need to do. If you get something out of this post, or don't. That is up to you!!
God Bless!!
PLANKEYE
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by AD1OS on March 1, 2007
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I moved a total of 60 years (two ops in the house) worth of QSLs, MRCs, and "Last County" cars. After looking at the three bins, I've narrowed down my keepers to two QSL cards and my first "car plaque". My wife has yet to clean her stuff out yet.
Part of my motivation was that no one was really interested in this stuff, and it took up too much room.
Also cleared were boxes of dx envelopes. I always figured somebody would want foreign stamps from way back but, no takers. How many IRC's did that run????
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by K6MM on March 2, 2007
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For long-term storage, I've been using semi-transparent Rubbermaid plastic containers. They're about $5 at any home office supply or drugstore. Sturdy, insect-proof, and look good.
An even better "active storage method" (for me at least): Online Storage. You can see my QSL Gallery at: www.k6mm.com
I like to view my cards electronically and I'm able to "show off" one of the great aspects of this hobby to family, friends, and prospective hams -- anytime, anywhere.
Fun topic.
73, John, K6MM
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by KA1BTI on March 3, 2007
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A word to the wise. If you go the three ring binder route, and you leave your home with it, DO NOT let it out of your sight. I brought mine into work to show some co workers, who were fascinated. I left it in my unlocked desk, and at the end of the day, forgot to take it home. It was GONE the next day. Fantastic cards, exotic places...Easter Island, French Polynesia, Djibouti, The list goes on.
Who would steal them, I thought. I still get a sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach when I think about it. What a mistake. I should have left them on the wall.
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RE: QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by KB3MMX on March 4, 2007
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oh my.... it's like i heard my wife ltalking here!!
..She is a "Creative Memories" dealer who specializes in preservation of photo memories, scrapbooks, etc...
She has told me to get on the ball and has given me some of the things to keep my QSL's looking new for the duration...
I guess I should put a plug for her if anyone is curious and is looking for supplies of this nature..
www.mycmsite.com/danaypyatt
to contact her
---or---
the company website with thier preservation products..
www.creativememories.com
good luck & 73
DE KB3MMX--Chuck
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by K4JF on March 6, 2007
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Your local craft shop sells a spray preservative for inkjet items. I went looking for the standard old "fixative" used for charcoal and pastels and found they also have one specifically made for inkjet-produced items. A small can should do many dozens of cards.
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QSL Card Care and Feeding
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by WA8MEA on March 6, 2007
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You really know you've been in ham radio a long time when the paperwork starts turning yellow. Log pages, old licenses, clippings from CQ & QST magazines...and of course...QSL cards.
I don't really know how I got in this habit. I think I just laminated something else...maybe a driver's license....and found out how inexpensive the process really is!
So now I stick my cards in a big envelope, and when it gets fat enough....between 25 and 50 cards...I take them to "Legacy Printing" for lamination! About .50 cents per card.
What's nice is I get to use that poster putty on them, and the putty doesn't make that oily mark on the cards as they did when they weren't laminated.
I also have some in:
-coffee cans
-boxes (plastic and cardboard)
-on the walls
-inside notebooks
-scattered on my desk
-on the bookshelf
Geez! I've just realized!! They're everywhere!!!! In fact, they're taking over the place!!!! HELP!!! Somebody, HELP ME!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They...they won't stop GROWING!!!!!!!!!! AAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
(dead silence......)
73, Bill - WA8MEA
http://HamRadioFun.com
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