QSL
"Can you acknowledge receipt?"
"I am acknowledging receipt."

The Q-code was developed and instituted in 1912 in order to facilitate communication between maritime radio operators of different nationalities. It is for this reason that the Q-prefix has been excluded from call-signs. Shortwave Radio Listening Hobbyists or DXers direct their "QSL" request (Can you verify transmission?) to radio stations around the world that they happened to have monitored. "D" in DX is for distance and the "X" refers to the unknown. DXers are hobbyists who enjoy DXing or trying to pick up radio stations from a distance.

These reception reports are valuable to radio stations in that they assist in evaluating transmission signal strength and quality. Radio Stations usually reply by mailing a "QSL Card". The QSL Card acknowledges the receipt of the report and confirms the details of the transmission.

These three letters, QSL, are probably a bit of mystery to the new comer, so, what do they mean? Let us suppose you have just heard radio Alaska on your pocket receiver & how are going to convince everyone that you weren’t dreaming? Wouldn’t it be good to have something from the radio station confirming that you really did hear them? Well this is where QSL come into the picture; a QSL is usually a picture postcard (although it can also take the form of a letter, a certificate, or a folder) sent to a radio listener by a radio station confirming that reception actually took place. In order to get a QSL from a station there are several things you need to do, but firstly remember that you have to here the station & then convince station staff that you did hear their signal. QSL is obtained by sending a reception report giving details of how well their signal was received & of the programme material heard, as proof of reception . Naturally you need to say when you were listening (date & times should be in UTC/GMT). Historically, the QSL originated in the days when stations relied entirely on reports from listeners to determine their coverage area. In the fact "QSL" are based upon a radio operators shorthand code system that evolved during the early days of radio. This "Q" code was developed for use between Morse code operators. Transmitting the letters QTH meant "what is your location?" whilst the answer "QTH New Delhi" would mean "My location is New Delhi" . The advantage of this code is that it is internationally recognized amongst radio operators, thus language is not problem. However, one is limited to standard phrases. The term QSL means "can you verify reception of this transmission?" and the reply was usually in the form of a card containing the details of when and where the transmission took place, as a written confirmation. Nowadays, however, many stations use reports from professional monitoring stations and have more accurate coverage predictions available, and consequently the QSL survives largely as a service, from the stations point of view. Additionally there is a significant difference between the international shortwave broadcaster, which issues QSL cards to maintain contact with and to gauge the size of audience, and local MW station being heard outside its usual coverage area. Most Stations welcome reception reports from listeners. Some acknowledge the reports with QSL card. If Truth be told, many stations now issue QSL cards as a public relations exercise. That’s why many no longer send out a card with full details typed on the back, but rather it is a mass produced "acknowledgement card". That said there are many beautiful cards around , each representing a unique era in broadcasting. It is no wonder that they become collectors items. Radio stations are very poor at keeping archives of these cards………look at how many stations start asking for listener contributions when their 25th, 40th, or 60th anniversary comes around.

Here Radio Netherlands have managed to keep copies of many of the cards issued over the past 50 years. One of them is pictured here.

Check Out Some of Our collection of QSL's At Archives  also Know about How to collect and preserve at QSL Collecting.

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€ Written from Radio Netherlands archives ( "Writing useful reception reports" and "Long distance Medium Wave Listening") . Thanks to Radio Netherlands and Steve Whitt for there kind consideration.