What is a QSL card?
In amateur radio there are abbreviations of Q codes. QSL means “received and understood.” To confirm a contact, resembling a postcard, QSL cards are exchanged. In this way, the contact is confirmed by both parties. These cards contain details such as the band or frequency used in the contact, the time and date of the contact, the report, and finally the contact mode (such as SSB, CW).
The international standard size for a QSL card is 140 mm x 90 mm (5.5” x 3.5”), with a maximum weight of three grams. Your card may be smaller than these dimensions, but it should not be larger. Because in tasks such as card sorting, mailing, boxing, and bundling with rubber bands, it makes the work more difficult.
In our country, the oldest known card is the card sent in 1938 belonging to SWL shortwave listener Ercümend KURAN. The oldest known radio amateur (ham) card is the QSL card of TA1AA dated 1939. In 1936, TA1N Nijat ORKUŞ had QSL printed, but a sent QSL example has not yet been found.
QSL cards, are the most valuable documents that shed light on the deep-rooted history of amateur radio and the history of each radio contact (QSO). In the past, these cards were definitive confirmations of completed contacts. For example, to obtain the DXCC (DX Century Club) certificate, one of the most prestigious awards in amateur radio, it was mandatory to collect these physical cards from amateurs in 100 different countries around the world.
Today, however, in addition to increasing printing, postage, and envelope costs, the rapid development of technology has somewhat pushed the QSL card tradition into the background. LoTW (Logbook of The World) and similar online systems, it is now possible to receive digital confirmation over the internet within seconds, without the need for exchanging physical cards. In this way, today’s radio amateurs (hams) can obtain respected certificates such as DXCC much more quickly and at much lower cost.
A Living Culture and Vast Archives
However, despite all this digitalization and technological development, collecting QSL cards is not just a confirmation mechanism, but a deep-rooted culture. Radio amateurs around the world still continue, with great passion, to exchange physical QSL cards in order to keep this tradition alive and to give this culture the importance it deserves.
There are even important archives and collectors carrying out tremendous work worldwide to prevent these historical documents from being lost and to pass them on to future generations. Among those who have shaped the history of amateur radio, K8CX (Hamgallery), one of Europe’s most established archives, Dokufunk, and famous French amateur F2VX, G3TXF Nigel and names and organizations like these are among the most important guardians and living examples of this unique culture in the world.