QSL

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In radiocommunication and radio broadcasting, QSL is one of the Q codes used in radiocommunication. A Q code message can stand for a statement or a question. In this case, QSL means either 'do you confirm receipt of my transmission' or 'I confirm receipt of your transmission'.

[edit] QSL cards

Main article: QSL card

A QSL card is a written confirmation from a radio station of a communication or signal reception. QSL cards are a ham radio operator's calling card and are frequently an expression of individual creativity: from a photo of the operator at his radio rig to original artwork, images of the operator's home town or surrounding countryside, etc. They are frequently taken with a good dose of individual pride. Consequently, the collecting of QSL cards of especially unique designs has become an add-on hobby to the simple gathering of printed documentation of a ham's communications over the course of his or her radio career. QSL cards are sent either direct (using the ordinary postal system) or via each country's centralized ham radio association bureaux, which saves considerable postage fees, although a card may take years to arrive. For rare countries, places with no reliable (or even existing) postal systems, and for expeditions to remote areas, a volunteer manager may handle the mailing of cards.

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 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 [1].

Commercial and government television and radio stations have occasionally used QSLs as a means of judging the size of their audiences and distances that they can be received. Some of the very early television stations in New York City asked for listener reports, and Project HAARP once requested reception information on a shortwave experiment it was doing, in return for which it sent back QSL cards. Time and frequency stations, such as WWV, will also QSL listeners.

For amateur radio operators and those who enjoy shortwave listening, QSLs are needed for numerous radio awards, and so are eagerly sought. They are often fine historical or sentimental keepsakes of a memorable location heard or worked, or a pleasant contact with a new radio friend, and serious hams may have thousands of them. Today, millions of cards annually move around the world, although as postal costs increase the use of electronic verification is growing and there are now at least two widely used systems for this. eQSL was the first such system and allows users to download their cards as jpeg images. The ARRL now has its Log Book of the World, LOTW, which allows contacts to be confirmed but does not have actual QSLs for download.