On Wednesday, October 15, 1997 20:45 PM, Ralph Bowen[SMTP:rbowen@iglobal.net]
wrote:
>Egbert Hertsen wrote:
>After a SWL career of 1 1/5 decade, I got my belgian ticket
>> just before the CW leg of the '95 CQWW test and I immediately joined the
>> fun and QSLed everybody. Today, I'm still waiting for many cards to
>> arrive via the bureau.
>
>
>Dear Egbert:
>
>Being a VOLUNTEER working for the W5 QSL bureau, you can rest assured
>that 18 months to two years is an absolute MINIMUM time for a round trip
>through the bureau. '
On the other hand, Egbert, I have seen cards arrive at my QTH through
the Bureau which were less than 4 months old--apparently a situation
where the card arrived at the outgoing bureau just before the pile was
shipped to my incoming bureau, which arrived just before my incoming
bureau shipped my cards to me. But, it does and can happen in less
than 18 months (sorry, Ralph).
The cards pass through many VOLUNTEER hands before
>even reaching the target hams. Once answered, they again pass through
>many VOLUNTEER hands on their way back to you.
>
Many thanks to the tireless efforts of the volunteers!!
>We sometime get packets of cards that are already 2-3 years old before
>they even get stuffed in the envelopes to the individual recipient
>hams. A couple of years ago, one of the European bureaus decided to
>clean house, and we were deluged with thousands of cards from the 1970's
>& 1980's. Many of the recipients had either become inactive or changed
>callsigns, etc.
>
That explains that...I think I remember wondering why there was a bunch
of old ones in a delivery.
>I know that bureau cards are a low priority with many contesters. If
>you are truly interested in receiving cards quickly, the bureau is NOT the way
>for quick results. SASE and PATIENCE is the best way to go.
Also, Egbert, realize that not all hams have envelopes on file with their
incoming bureau. So, your card for a particular ham may sit there for
ever (until ultimate disposal) because he/she never submitted an envelope.
Ralph,
I have seen cards come back from Europe bureaus stamped "not on
file with the bureau". Do the ARRL incoming bureaus do the same
for incoming cards?
73,
Dale Martin, KG5U
kg5u@hal-pc.org
http://www.hal-pc.org/~kg5u
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