HOW TO SEND FOR QSL CARDS QSL cards are postcards, often colorfully printed, sent out by shortwave stations verifying reception of their signal. A QSL card is a sort of "thank you" sent by the station to a listener for giving information about how well the signal is being received, and for showing interest in the programs. Many SWL's (Short Wave Listeners) collect them in albums. To request a QSL card from a station, identify the program listened to, giving a few details of its content for verification, the time (in UTC) and its frequency. Also include a SINPO report (see below). There are many books available listing the addresses of international short wave stations, such as PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO and WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK (see BIBLIO.TXT), and many times the stations themselves broadcast their addresses. Addresses of a few of the better known stations are given at the end of this file. Sending an International Reply Coupon (IRC) with your request will usually expedite a reply and is a courtesy always appreciated by the staff of an underfunded radio station in a poorer country. Be patient. It may take months to get your QSL cards. Some stations may not respond to your requests, but many will. ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ UTC The international broadcasting community keeps time by a universally accepted standard system, independent of local time zones. It was once called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but has since been renamed Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). The initials are from the French version of same, Universel Temps Coordin‚. To calculate UTC, add 5 hours to EST. Add one extra hour for each additonal time zome westward (for example, 6 hrs. for CST, etc.). Subtract one hour if you are using Daylight Savings time. ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ THE "SINPO" SYSTEM The SINPO system is the internationally accepted method of making reception reports when writing in for QSL cards. SINPO is, of course, an acronym. S = Signal strength I = Interference level N = Noise level P = Propagation [how often the received signal oscillates] O = Overall sound quality For each of the above categories, report signal quality rated from 1 to 5 as follows. 5 = excellent 4 = very good 3 = acceptable 2 = poor 1 = terrible The category 'O', or overall sound quality is a summary of the other four, but the rating for it may not exceed the lowest of the 'I' and 'N' category ratings. For example, if S=5, I=3, N=2, P=5, then O may not be greater than 2. The information contained in SINPO reports from listeners helps broadcast engineers at the station determine how well the signal is received in the intended listening area. They then decide whether to change broadcast times, increase or decrease signal strength or modulation, etc. ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ MAILING ADDRESSES OF SELECTED INTERNATIONAL SHORTWAVE STATIONS [Write to them for QSL cards and English Language schedules] BBC World Service Bush House London WC2B 4PH England Deutsche Welle Raderberggrtel 50 P.O. Box 10 04 44 D-5000 K”ln 1 Germany Radio Austria International A-1136 Vienna Austria Radio Canada International P.O. Box 6000 Montreal, Canada H3C 3A8 Radio France Internationale (RFI) B.P. 9516 F-75016 Paris France Radio Japan Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) 2-2-1 Jinnan Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan Radio Nederland English Section PO Box 222 Hilversum, Netherlands 1200JG [responds quickly to QSL requests] Radio Moscow Moscow, Russia Radio Nacional de Espa¤a (Spanish National Radio) Casa de la Radio Prado del Rey 28023 Madrid Spain Swiss Radio International P.O. Box CH-3000 Berne 15, Switzerland Voice of America 330 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20547 Voice of Free China (Taiwan) P.O. Box 24-38 Taipei Taiwan, Republic of China [responds quickly to QSL requests]