Download outgoing QSL bureau information in PDF format.

 
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Presort your DX QSLs alphabetically by parent call sign prefix (AP, CE, DL, ES, EZ, F, G, JA, LY, PY, UN, YL, 5N, 9Y and so on).

 

Canadian and Australian cards should be sorted by numerical callsign (VE1, VE2, VE3 & VK1, VK2, VK3 etc).

 

Note:

 

Some countries have a parent prefix and use additional prefixes, i.e. G (parent prefix) = M, 2E, 2I, 2M, 2W, etc.  When sorting countries that have multiple prefixes, keep that country's prefixes grouped with the parent prefix in your alphabetical stack.  Addresses are not required. 

 

Do not separate the country prefixes by use of paper clips, rubber bands, slips of paper or envelopes.

 

Please enclose proof of your current ARRL membership.  This can be in the form of a photocopy or cut-out of the address area from your current copy of QST.  You can also write the information from the label on a slip of paper and use that as proof of membership.  A copy of your current membership card is also acceptable.

 

Members--including foreign members, QSL Managers or managers for DXpeditions--should enclose payment as follows.  For those who prefer to send an envelope with small numbers of cards: 

• $2 for 10 or fewer cards in one envelope,
• $3 for 11-20 cards in one envelope, or

For packages with larger numbers of cards: 

• 75 cents per ounce, for packages with 21 or more cards. For example, a package containing 1.5 pounds of cards -- 24 ounces, or about 225 cards -- will cost $18.  Please see table below for additional pricing details.  The minimum charge is $3.00. 
  

You should use an accurate scale to weigh them.  Most post offices have scales that you may use. 

 

Please pay by check (or money order) and write your call sign on the check.  Send cash at your own risk.  DO NOT send postage stamps or IRCs.  Please make checks payable to: “The ARRL Outgoing QSL Service.”  If you would like to know that your cards were received at the ARRL QSL Bureau, enclose an SASE in with your cards and we will return that to you as receipt.

 

DXCC credits cannot be used towards the QSL Service fee.

 

Outgoing QSL Rates
Weight	Approximate Number of QSL Cards	Price USD
1/2 pound or less	75	$6.00
One pound	150	$12.00
1 1/2 pounds	225	$18.00
2 pounds	300	$24.00
2 1/2 pounds	375	$30.00
3 pounds	450	$36.00

 

 

Include only the cards, proof of membership, an SASE (if desired) and the appropriate fee in the package.  Wrap the package securely and address it to: 

 

ARRL Outgoing QSL Service
225 Main Street
Newington, CT  06111

 

Family members may also use the service by enclosing their QSLs with those of the primary member.  Include the appropriate fee with each individual's cards and indicate "family membership" on the primary member's proof of membership. 

 

Blind members who do not receive QST need only include the appropriate fee along with a note indicating the cards are from a blind member.

 

ARRL affiliated-club stations may use the service when submitting club QSLs for its members in    bulk (“pooling” their members cards together in one package) by indicating the club name inside the package. Club secretaries should check club affiliation on the ARRL web site to ensure that their affiliation is current. In a “pooled” package, each club member using this service must also be an ARRL member. Cards should be sorted "en masse" by prefix and a proof of membership should be enclosed for each ARRL member.  QSLs for unaffiliated club calls may also be sent via the outgoing bureau to foreign destinations if the trustee of the club call is a member in good standing.  The trustee’s proof of membership must be included with the club call-QSLs.

 

 

The efficient operation of the worldwide system of QSL Bureaus requires that cards be easy to handle and sort.  Cards of unusual dimensions, either much larger or much smaller than normal or printed on thin paper (i.e. copier paper), slow the work of the Bureaus, most of which is done by unpaid volunteers. 

 

A review of the cards received by the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service indicates that most fall in the following range:

         Height = 2‑3/4 to 4‑1/4 in. (70 to 110 mm),

         Width = 4‑3/4 to 6‑1/4 in. (120 to 160 mm). 

 

IARU Region 2, that includes the United States, has suggested the following dimensions as optimum:

             Height 3-1/2 in. (90 mm), Width 5-1/2 in. (140 mm)

            

Cards in this range can be easily sorted, stacked and packaged.  Cards outside this range create problems.  In particular, the larger cards often cannot be handled without folding or otherwise damaging them.  In the interest of efficient operation of the worldwide QSL Bureau system, it is recommended that cards entering the system be limited to the range of dimensions given.  

 

Approximately 225 DXCC countries are served by the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service, as detailed in the ARRL DXCC List.  This includes nearly every active country.  As noted previously, cards are forwarded from the ARRL Outgoing Service to a counterpart Bureau in each of these countries.  In some cases, there is no Incoming Bureau in a particular country and cards therefore cannot be forwarded.  However, QSL cards can be forwarded to a QSL manager, e.g., ZB2FX via (G3RFX).  The ARRL Outgoing Service cannot forward cards to the following countries:

 

	A3	Tonga
	A5	Bhutan
	A6	United Arab Emirates
	C2	Nauru
	C5	Gambia
	C6	Bahamas
	CN	Morocco
	D2	Angola
	D4	Cape Verde
	E3	Eritrea
	E5	North & South Cook Islands
	HH	Haiti
	HV	Vatican
	J5	Guinea-Bissau
	J8	St. Vincent
	KG4	Guantanamo Bay
	KH0	Mariana Island
	KH1	Baker & Howland Islands
	KH4	Midway Island
	KH5	Palmyra & Jarvis Islands
	KH7K	Kure Island
	KH9	Wake Island
	KP1	Desecheo Island
	P2	Papua New Guinea
	P5	North Korea
	PZ	Suriname
	S0	Western Sahara
	S7	Seychelles
	S9	Sao Tome & Principe
	ST	Sudan
	Su	Egypt
	T2	Tuvalu
	T3	Kiribati
	T5	Somalia
	T8	Palau
	TJ	Cameroon
	TL	Central African Republic
	TN	Congo
	TT	Chad
	TU	Cote d'Ivoire
	TY	Benin
	V3	Belize
	V4	St. Kitts & Nevis
	V6	Micronesia
	V7	Marshall Islands
	VP2E	Anguilla
	VP2M	Montserrat
	XU	Cambodia
	XW	Laos
	XZ	Myanmar
	YA	Afghanistan
	Z2	Zimbabwe
	ZA	Albania
	ZD7	St Helena
	ZD8	Ascension
	ZD9	Tristan da Cunha
	3B	Agalega, Mauritius, Rodrigues
	3C0	Pagalu Island
	3C0	Equatorial Guinea
	3DA	Swaziland
	3W	Vietnam
	3X	Guinea
	4J	Azerbaijan
	4W	Timor-Leste
	5A	Lybia
	5R	Madagascar
	5T	Mauritania
	5U	Niger
	5V	Togo
	7O	Yemen
	7P	Lesotho
	7Q	Malawi
	8Q	Maldives
	9L	Sierra Leone
	9N	Nepal
	9U	Burundi
	9X	Rwanda

 

 

Countries that currently deliver QSL cards only to members of that country's national radio society include the following: 

 

Denmark	France	Germany	Hungary	Italy
Japan	Monaco	Norway	Poland	Portugal
Russia	South Africa	Sweden	Zambia

 

Additional Information:

We do not hold cards for countries with no Incoming Bureau.  Only cards indicating a QSL Manager for a station in these particular countries will be forwarded.  Undeliverable cards will normally not be returned.

 

When sending cards to foreign QSL managers, you must sort these cards using the manager's call sign, rather than the station's callsign.  SWL cards can be forwarded through the QSL service. The Outgoing QSL Service cannot forward stamps, cards inside envelopes, IRCs or "green stamps" (cash) to the foreign QSL bureaus.

 

Please direct any questions or comments to 

The ARRL Outgoing QSL Service
225 Main Street
Newington, CT
06111-1494. 

The Outgoing QSL Service can be reached at 860-594-0274.  Inquiries via e-mail may be sent to buro@arrl.org.

Information regarding the Incoming QSL bureaus.

 

 

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. Tou 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.