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24-634: Most amateur radio operating awards require that the applicant submit proof, such as QSL cards , of the contacts which satisfy the requirements of the award. There are thousands of operating awards available. The most popular awards are the Worked All States award and the Worked All Continents award, and the more challenging Worked All Zones, DX Century Club (DXCC), Islands on the Air (IOTA) and VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) awards. DXCC

48-411: A ham radio operator's calling card and are therefore frequently used for the expression of individual creativity—from a photo of the operator at their station to original artwork, images of the operator's home town or surrounding countryside, etc. Consequently, the collecting of QSL cards with especially interesting designs has become a frequent addition to the simple gathering of printed documentation of

72-434: A brief form that acknowledged reception. Collecting these cards became popular with radio listeners in the 1920s and 1930s, and reception reports were often used by early broadcasters to gauge the effectiveness of their transmissions. The concept of sending a post card to verify reception of a station (and later two-way contact between them) may have been independently invented several times. The earliest reference seems to be

96-693: A card sent in 1916 from 8VX in Buffalo, New York to 3TQ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (in those days ITU prefixes were not used). The standardized card with callsign, frequency, date, etc. may have been developed in 1919 by C.D. Hoffman, 8UX, in Akron, Ohio . In Europe, W.E.F. "Bill" Corsham, 2UV, first used a QSL when operating from Harlesden , England in 1922. Amateur radio operators exchange QSL cards to confirm two-way radio contact between stations. Each card contains details about one or more contacts,

120-526: A ham's communications over the course of their radio career. Normally sent using ordinary, international postal systems, QSL cards can be sent either direct to an individual's address, or via a country's centralized amateur radio association QSL bureau , which collects and distributes cards for that country. This saves postage fees for the sender by sending several cards destined for a single country in one envelope, or large numbers of cards using parcel services. Although this reduces postage costs, it increases

144-814: A means of judging the size of their audiences, effective reception distances, and technical performance of their transmitters. QSL cards can also serve as publicity tools for the shortwave broadcaster, and sometimes the cards will include cultural information about the country. The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program has occasionally requested reception information on its shortwave experiments, in return for which it sent back QSL cards. Standard frequency and time stations, such as WWV , will also send QSL cards in response to listeners reports. Other shortwave utility stations , such as marine and aviation weather broadcasters, may QSL, as do some pirate radio stations, usually through mail drop boxes. CB radio enthusiasts often exchanged colorful QSL cards, especially during

168-1060: A prefix that has recently been returned to the ITU.) Unavailable: Under present ITU guidelines the following call sign prefixes shall not be allocated. They are sometimes used unofficially – such as amateur radio operators operating in a disputed territory or in a nation state that has no official prefix (e.g. S0 in Western Sahara or station 1A0 at Knights of Malta headquarters in Rome ). ( x represents any letter; n represents any digit from 2–9.) B: CN ( TW ) F: FR G: GB I: IT K: US M: GB N: US Q: XQ R: RU W: US 2: GB   Linked country codes are from ISO 3166-1 .        Series allocated to an international organization.        Provisional allocation in accordance with No. S19.33: "Between radiocommunication conferences,

192-552: A specific electronic QSL system in verifying award applications. Despite the advantages of electronic QSLs, physical QSL cards are often historical or sentimental keepsakes of a memorable location heard or worked, or of a pleasant contact with a new radio friend, and serious ham radio operators may have thousands of them. Some cards are plain, while others are multicolored and may be oversized or double paged. International shortwave broadcasters have traditionally issued QSL cards to listeners to verify reception of programming, and also as

216-422: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . QSL card A QSL card is a written confirmation of either a two-way radiocommunication between two amateur radio or citizens band stations; a one-way reception of a signal from an AM radio , FM radio , television or shortwave broadcasting station; or the reception of a two-way radiocommunication by a third party listener. A typical QSL card

240-443: Is appreciated, and is required for a direct reply (as opposed to a return via a bureau). The Internet has enabled electronic notification as an alternative to mailing a physical card. These systems use computer databases to store the same information normally verified by QSL cards, in an electronic format. Some sponsors of amateur radio operating awards , which normally accept QSL cards for proof of contacts, may also recognize

264-840: Is the most popular awards program, initially requiring amateurs to contact 100 of the 340 (as of 2015) separately designated countries and territories ("entities") in the world. ( DXing is the practice of contacting distant parties.) Other popular awards include contacting remote islands, beaches , US counties, and lighthouses . Many awards are available for contacting amateurs in a particular country, region or city. Summits On The Air , or SOTA, tallies points towards awards to hams who broadcast from mountain elevations or make contact with those transmitting from them, for which events are scheduled periodically. Many amateurs also enjoy setting up and contacting special event stations. Set up to commemorate special occurrences, they often issue distinctive QSLs or certificates. Some use unusual prefixes, such as

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288-470: Is the same size and made from the same material as a typical postcard , and most are sent through the mail as such. QSL card derived its name from the Q code "QSL". A Q code message can stand for a statement or a question (when the code is followed by a question mark). In this case, 'QSL?' (note the question mark) means "Do you confirm receipt of my transmission?" while 'QSL' (without a question mark) means "I confirm receipt of your transmission." During

312-440: Is through a "special arrangement", without elaborating. In any case, the two countries are geographically separate enough to prevent confusion; Canada's shortwave broadcasters and amateur radio stations have always used one of its assigned ITU prefixes. Unallocated: The following call sign prefixes are available for future allocation by the ITU. ( x represents any letter; n represents any digit from 2–9.) (* Indicates

336-584: The United States , Canada , Mexico , Japan , South Korea , the Philippines , and Argentina are among those that do. Canada presents one notable exception to the ITU prefix rules: Since 1936, it has used CB for its own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation stations, whereas Chile is officially assigned the CB prefix. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 's broadcasting rules indicate this

360-651: The call signs with "96" that amateurs in the US State of Georgia could use during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics , or the OO prefix used by Belgian amateurs in 2005 to commemorate their nation's 175th anniversary. (Not surprisingly, there are also awards for working sufficient numbers of prefixes.) Some events are held annually such as Guides on the Air and Jamboree on the Air . Many amateurs decorate their radio "shacks" (the room where they keep their radios) with these certificates. This article related to amateur radio

384-453: The advent of digital broadcasting there is greater difficulty with the reception of weak TV signals due to the cliff effect ; however, AM broadcasting radio stations will often reply to listener reports, particularly if they report receiving them at a significant distance. ITU prefix The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) allocates call sign prefixes for radio and television stations of all types. They also form

408-409: The basis for, but may not exactly match, aircraft registration identifiers. These prefixes are agreed upon internationally, and are a form of country code . A call sign can be any number of letters and numerals but each country must only use call signs that begin with the characters allocated for use in that country. With regard to the second and/or third letters in the prefixes in the list below, if

432-520: The country in question is allocated all callsigns with A to Z in that position, then that country can also use call signs with the digits 0 to 9 in that position. For example, the United States is assigned KA–KZ, and therefore can also use prefixes like K1 or K9. While ITU prefix rules are adhered to in the context of international broadcasting, including amateur radio , it is rarer for countries to assign broadcast call signs to conventional AM, FM, and television stations with purely domestic reach;

456-434: The delivery time because of the extra handling time involved. In addition to such incoming bureaus, there are also outgoing bureaus in some countries. These bureaus offer further postage savings by accepting cards destined for many countries and repackaging them together into bundles that are sent to specific incoming bureaus. Most QSL bureaus operated by national amateur radio societies are both incoming and outgoing, with

480-407: The early days of radio broadcasting, the ability for a radio set to receive distant signals was a source of pride for many consumers and hobbyists. Listeners would mail "reception reports" to radio broadcasting stations in hopes of getting a written letter to officially verify they had heard a distant station. As the volume of reception reports increased, stations took to sending post cards containing

504-603: The exception of the United States of America, and are coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). For rare countries, that is, ones where there are very few amateur radio operators, places with no reliable (or even existing) postal systems, including expeditions to remote areas, a volunteer QSL manager may handle the mailing of cards. For expeditions this may amount to thousands of cards, and payment for at least postage

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528-420: The height of CB's popularity in the 1970s. CB radio operators who met while on the air would typically swap personalized QSL cards which featured their names ("handles") and CB callsigns . Originally, CB required a purchased license and the use of a callsign; however, when the CB craze was at its peak many people ignored this requirement and invented their own "handles". A simple card format might only include

552-541: The station and its operator. At a minimum, this includes the call sign of both stations participating in the contact, the time and date when it occurred (usually specified in UTC ), the radio frequency or band used, the mode of transmission used, and a signal report . The International Amateur Radio Union and its member societies recommend a maximum size of 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (90 by 140 mm). Although some QSL cards are plain, they are

576-431: The user's callsign and/or "handle", home location, and note the date and time of a CB radio contact. More elaborate cards featured caricatures, cartoons, slogans and jokes, sometimes of a ribald nature. As the CB radio fad grew in the U.S. and Canada, a number of artists specializing in artwork for CB QSL cards emerged. QSL cards are also collected by radio enthusiasts who listen for distant FM radio or TV stations. With

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