[amsat-bb] QSL Etiquette

[Darin Cowan]

If you didn't log the QSO, then reject the eQSL with a note that says "not
in my log"... That's what I do.

It happens sometimes when condx are marginal, like you're describing.  It's
probably a bit disappointing for
the person at the other end, but sometimes that's just the way things work.
I'd rather keep my logs
relatively accurate.

Whether or not the request is truly bogus is sometimes hard to judge.  Did
the person make this up, or did
he mis-copy the callsign: maybe he had a QSO with VE3OIG and wrote J in his
log by mistake?  Or because I 
mostly work digital modes, maybe noise munged the call a bit on his end and
he didn't notice. Don't chalk up
to malice what can be easily explained by error or incompetence :)  For
satellite contacts, a person like me
who has less-than-perfectly-functional hearing may misinterpret an E for an
A, an F for an S, an M for an N 
and so on.  This is exascerbated when people don't use proper phonetics, so
it happens that I mis-copy 
callsigns far too often for me to be happy with.  I've had QSLs sent back
from people who didn't know what
the card was for simply because It went to KW#XXX instead of KD#XXX or
DE#YYY instead of DA#YYY.  And that's
not calls I think are questionable... those are honest errors where I'm
convinced I got it right.

If conditions are marginal and I'm not truly sure, I tend not to QSL and
will leave a sticky note on my 
desk for about a month.  If I get a QSL with information matching a note, I
give the benefit of the doubt.
Otherwise, I periodically clean up the notes and then the information is
forever gone as if it never
happened.

I've only ever received a handful of truly bogus QSLs, and they've all been
SWL.  In each case, the sender
clearly read spots I put on the DX cluster and sent me a QSL as if he heard
me in a QSO with the station
I spotted.  Those go straight into the shredder without comment.  Now I
reject SWL QSLs for anything that 
shows up on a cluster, even if it is valid.

73 de VE3OIJ
-Darin

-----Original Message-----
From: "Ian" <Ian at mceassociates.com>
Subject: [amsat-bb]  QSL Etiquette
Message-ID: <E06287B5F4054BFC8818E16E99D2FDF0 at ian57229053685>

I was wondering what others may be doing when they receive an 
"questionnable" request for a QSL. Last week while on vacation in Orlando I 
attempted to make some AO51 contacts with a handheld station. Althought I 
was receiving many stations, I was unsuccesful in establishing a contact and

never heard anyone call me back. I must have been getting out though as I 
have received an eQSL request from a South American station. Is it normal 
practice to ignore the request or to reply with refusal to QSL. If it were a

mistaken callsign situation I would reply with a "sorry" but in the case of 
a bogus request I was wondering what others may be doing.
Next time I will use a better antenna hi hi.
Thanks & 73
Ian VE9IM