Global QSL -- The benefits

Last week, I said that I'd update you all on my experience with Global QSL during the week. Well, I missed last week due to commitments balanced with time; I'm ending up doing it this week.What I am going to focus on over the next series of posts is how Global QSL works and why it specifically works for me. Your results may vary, of course, depending upon your needs, time, and finances. But, if you are a contester and gets lots of QSL cards (what contester doesn't?), then this series will be of interest to you.This article will look at the benefits to the contester from both the company point of view as well as my contesting viewpoint.In a nutshell, with a little technology and a few dollars, Global QSL will fully manage the printing and distribution of your bureau (and other) QSL cards. This is no small thing to do.The way Global QSL worksThere is essentially a three step process for handling your bureau QSL cards:

1. Subscribe to the service. You've done this on other web sites -- sign up with your user name and password.
2. Design your personal QSL card. You can do this with the supplied free program from Global QSL using your images -- two sided color cards -- or have Global QSL design your card for you. Also at no charge.
3. Upload your ADIF file of calls from your log or enter your QSO's manually (for example, for SWL cards).

These three steps are what I did to get my 500 or so cards uploaded to the site.The benefitsThere are several benefits to the contester for this type of service:

• You don't write QSL Cards or print labels. Because you upload an ADIF file to Global QSL, they will print the QSO information on the card for you.
• You don't sort your out-going cards. They do that as part of the printing process.
• You don't pay at one QSO per card rate; the print multiple contacts (up to five) on one card.
• You save a lot of time managing QSL cards. I did my 500 cards by entering them into my log, producing the ADIF file and uploading them to Global QSL in about five hours.
• They can send you cards to use for direct QSL's. Might as well get that great picture QSL card for direct cards as well.
• They send cards to each bureau in the world for you. They know the bureaus and they send to them in bulk -- sometimes every day because of their volume.

The featuresGlobal QSL has some features as well that help support the service:

• Up to ten call signs with unique graphic and picture shots for each callsign.
• Change the graphic design by yourself at any time.
• Your cards are printed in full color on both sides
• Reporting on cards.

The bottom lineI don't know about you, but I've had a lot of resistance to sending out bureau cards. They come in bunches, they need to be sorted out, and I tend to put them in a pile over there to get to later. It turns out, much later.This was the first logical service I have found that makes it easy to send cards.I much prefer Logbook of The World, of course. But the paper QSL card isn't going away any time soon and this service gets me to honoring the QSO by confirming it much easier than anything I've done in the past.Next up: working the process. Including screen shots.Scot, K9JY