Direct QSL Status

Short version: Direct QSLs for recent QSOs are up to date to mid-February 2012.

Notes:
1. All mail received up to 2012-02-13 has been processed.
2. Mail last collected 2012-02-13.

I will attempt to handle direct requests for recent QSOs at least monthly. However, direct QSL requests for old logs are not a high priority in my life. I will process them eventually, but waiting another few months if you only requested a QSL many years after the fact is not a major disaster in the greater scheme of things.

Comment about processing dates: If you sent a combined request (i.e. multiple callsigns per envelope) your replies will obviously only be mailed when the last callsign on your list is processed.

Direct postage

Short version: Send greenbacks and a standard-sized SAE, and you should be fine.

The minimum postage rate for overseas countries is now R 6,00, which is slightly under US$ 1,00. The IRC still does not cover overseas postage, as it is redeemable for the postage rate to other African countries only.

While we can include several QSL cards per envelope to overseas destinations, large envelopes are a problem. Any envelope with a length of over 235 mm or a width of over 120 mm now costs something like R 20,10 (around US$ 3,00) to mail. If you use standard envelopes, you're in luck. If you prefer large envelopes, you're probably not.

Our currency is in a gradual decline against most major currencies. Consequently, we have regular postage increases. Annual increases are all but guaranteed, but we also have intermittent increases in between. For this reason, SASEs are not recommended. DX stamp services often do not keep up with postage rates. They also often provide "Standard Postage" stamps, which are not useable for international mail. You may get the letter if you're lucky, but you probably won't. If for some reason you insist on using SASEs rather than some other form of return postage, you must include either enough marked stamps to the amount required, or an "International Standard Letter Rate" stamp. These standard stamps are few and far between, though. They cannot be bought from normal post offices, and I have seldom seen them provided by DX Stamp Services.

Bureau QSL Status

Short version: You should already have one if you are in the log.

All bureau QSLing is up to date, except for a few 5H9IR QSOs made during 2003 and ZS6EZ activity since that time. The last big bureau batch was dispatched in January 2003. ZS6EZ made only a few dozen QSOs between 2003 and 2010.

Electronic QSL Status

Short version: All logs for my own station (ZS6EZ and ZS6BCR) and all stations that I've managed are on LotW.

Email requests

Short version: I do not answer email enquiries about QSLs.

During the early part of 2000, I wasted much time on this practice, as a few individuals who boorishly demanded information continued to harrass me. One individual, whose card had been sent but did not get to him, had the audacity to complain about the fact that he'd sent 23 emails over a period of a few weeks; as if that fact somehow reflected badly on me. Given that I'd answered all his questions without delay, I really didn't think that I had been the problem child in this story!

In the past, I had incidents where the volume of work contributed to an error or two in replying to email requests. I had to put up with invective that peeled the paint off my walls. In the end, I decided that I'd much rather spend the energy answering the heaps of snail-mail that arrive.

So: Sorry about this, but if you have a problem with a QSL, please resort to the time-proven technique of snail mail. As I do not routinely have problems with mail loss, no more than a handful of people will be inconvenienced.

Questions?