ZS6EZ's QSLing Status Report

Direct QSL Status

Short version: One direct QSL (for a German station) is being held for posting. Since 2013, our Post Office has been pretty much defunct. In some months, no incoming mail is received. The letters that are not delivered do not seem to be delivered later. They simply disappear.

Notes:
1. All mail received up to 2022-12-31 has been processed. A German envelope is being held before mailing. I'll mail it as soon as it seems like it may have a chance of getting to you.

As I make very few contacts now and all my logs are on LotW, most direct QSL requests I receive are for very old contacts. I'm sure you'll agree that waiting another few months if you only requested a QSL many years after the fact is not a major disaster in the greater scheme of things.

Direct postage

Short version: Send greenbacks and a standard-sized SAE, and you should be fine.

The minimum postage rate for overseas countries is now R 13,40, which is around US$ 1,00. The IRC is now virtually impossible to redeem. Please do not use them.

While we can include several QSL cards per envelope to overseas destinations, large envelopes are a problem. Any envelope over 235 mm long or 120 mm wide now costs over US$ 2,00 to mail. If you use standard envelopes, you're in luck. If you prefer large envelopes, you're probably not.

Our currency is in a gradual decline against most major currencies. Consequently, we have regular postage increases. Annual increases are all but guaranteed, but we also have intermittent increases in between. For this reason, SASEs are not recommended. DX stamp services often do not keep up with postage rates. They also often provide "Standard Postage" stamps, which are not useable for international mail. You may get the letter if you're lucky, but you probably won't. If for some reason you insist on using SASEs rather than some other form of return postage, you must include either enough marked stamps to the amount required, or an "International Standard Letter Rate" stamp. These standard stamps are few and far between, though. They cannot be bought from normal post offices, and I have seldom seen them provided by DX Stamp Services.

Bureau QSL Status

Short version: You should already have one if you are in the log before the end of 2016.

Electronic QSL Status

Short version: All logs for my own station (ZS6EZ and ZS6BCR) and all stations that I've managed are on LoTW. Most ZS8MI QSOs are also on LoTW, but there are some issues.

Email requests

Short version: I do not answer email enquiries about QSLs.

In the past, I wasted much time on answering emails regarding QSL requests, as a few individuals who boorishly demanded information continued to harrass me. One individual, whose card had been sent but did not get to him, had the audacity to complain about the fact that he'd sent 23 emails over a period of a few weeks; as if that fact somehow reflected badly on me. Given that I'd answered all his questions without delay, I really didn't think that I had been the problem child in this story!

In the past, the volume of work contributed to an error or two in replying to email requests. The resulting invective peeled the paint off my house walls. In the end, I decided that I'd much rather spend the energy answering the snail-mail that arrives.

So: If you have a problem with a QSL, please resort to the time-proven technique of snail mail. No more than a handful of people will be inconvenienced. Alternatively, load your logs into LotW and get instant DXCC credit for those QSOs.

Questions?