QSL! QSL!

It’s the little things…or so the saying goes. Well, I received my first QSL card from W4MAJ (William) in Ashland City, TN. Quite excited as it was my first QSL card to arrive. For those not involved in the hobby, when communication between two parties take place, they exchange some basic information, name of their station, date and time [in GMT] their signal [RST] frequency and the mode of operation.

Here is a copy of the card I am working in order to physically exchange with other ham operators around the world. The past week I made quite a few PSK31 contacts. This is a digital mode that is run though software on my computer and you type your text using the keyboard. I think it combines two things I like in ham radio and computers.

So far I have talked to 10 states in the USA including Hawaii, New Brunswick, Ontario and British Columbia in Canada, Argentina and Asiatic Russia. Most of the QSL card exchanges have done electronically using eQSL. You can design a simple electronic card and exchange the information and card all over the Internet. Still, there is something about receiving an actual card from the operator you talked to across the country or around the world.