[Dx-qsl] cards received, LU stuff

[Patrick STODDARD]

Hi!

After being away from home for 10 days, I had a bunch of envelopes
with cards in them waiting for me at home.  Most were for the other
stations I take care of, but some were for me.  All were for QSOs
as WD9EWK except as noted below.  All of these arrived at home
between 14 and 24 April:

CE3PG  (10m SSB QSO on 2004-01-01), sent 2004-01-02 with SAE & US$ 1.
tnx Dino!

LU3MAM (10m SSB QSO on 2004-03-21), sent 2004-03-22 with SAE & US$ 2.
Tnx Dan!

TG9NX  (12m SSB QSO on 2004-02-29), sent 2004-03-01 with SAE & US$ 1.
New one on 12m - tnx Franco!

XE2BCZ (40m SSB QSO on 2004-02-01), sent 2004-02-02 with SASE and
Mexican stamps (2 stamps, 5 pesos each).  Tnx Carlos!

XE2SIV (20m PSK31 QSOs on 2003-09-01 as XE2/WD9EWK), sent approx.
2003-09-05 with SASE and XE stamps but received in another envelope
with 37-cent USA stamp posted from Phoenix AZ on 14 April.  Tnx
Antonio!

While I was in Argentina, I was able to personally exchange cards
with two hams for 10m SSB QSOs during the CQ WPX SSB contest last
month: L20E and LW8EXF.  Thanks Oscar and Nelida!!

In addition to these two cards, I took a few hundred QSL cards with
me for the LU hams whose cards I manage up here, and brought back
approximately 1200 cards for distribution through the QSL bureau
system from several hams near Buenos Aires and on Tierra del Fuego,
and a couple dozen other cards with envelopes to be mailed from a
nearby post office in the next few days.  All those cards and paper
probably were a contributing factor in that suitcase being opened
by TSA (US airport security) personnel in Miami for my final flight
back home on Saturday.  I was told about that in Phoenix when I left
on 14 April, that paper sometimes is difficult to clearly ID in the
new X-ray equipment, requiring a close inspection.

With the high costs of postage and QSL bureau services in Argentina,
along with problems in the outgoing side of the LU QSL bureau, I was
happy to bring these cards out of there with me and then send them
on.  I have been talking with a few more of my new friends in Ushuaia
(Tierra del Fuego) and a couple in Buenos Aires about possibly using
a QSL manager for their cards, and if things work out I'll post more
about that topic later.  I bought a bunch of 1-peso and 2-peso LU
stamps, to get away from having to send so many dollar bills with my
QSLs to Argentina in the near future.  A minor shock for the clerk at
the post office, someone wanting to buy so many stamps.  The Argentine
post, Correo Argentino, has a web site with online ordering for stamps,
but it has never worked for me.  It takes my order, but never charges
my credit card and I never received the order.  Oh well... now I have
stamps to avoid the hassles with the money in the mails.

That's it for now.  73!


Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK

-- 
Patrick STODDARD                       E-mail: lists at wd9ewk dot net
Glendale, Arizona, USA                 Web:    http://www.wd9ewk.net/