[Dx-qsl] VK9MT on LoTW

Sun Apr 20 06:51:12 EDT 2014

Well said Steve.    Some of these arm chair DXers just dont seem to get it!

The next HEARD ISLAND expedition might well be the first $1,000,000 
expedition.   I believe one of the reasons it has been
postponed is that its proving difficult to raise the necessary finance.

Not every millionaire ham who can afford to go is a good operator.   
There are many very poor hams who cannot afford such
a trip are great operators.

At the moment, it you look at all the major expeditions that have taken 
place recently.    It is always the same Foundations, DX Groups and 
Clubs who support
them.    If you look at the list of personal sponsors,  many of those 
too are the same guys time after time who put their hands in their
pockets.

At our recent Scottish GMDX Convention I was proud to have met Ralph 
K0IR who presented the FT5ZM expedition.    Over dinner we discussed
funding.   Ralph concluded that, taking into account was I said above, 
the first $150,000 is reasonable easy and sort of guaranteed.
Its what comes after that is difficult.

There are many hams out there sitting in fron of the very latest rig or 
rigs,  with big antenna farms, running big big amplifiers,
yet if you ask them for $10 bucks its like world war three breaking out.

The question for me is - HOW DO WE SPREAD THE COST AMONG THE GREATER 
AMATEUR COMMUNITY - MOST OF WHO HAVE SPONSORED NOTHING IN THEIR LIVES!

Asking or even pleading for donations just falls on deaf ears. Amateur 
Radio enthusiasts must be among the most stingy, selfish and tight
fisted bunch around.   So how do we get their dough?

Up until now I have always tried to keep QSLing apart from expedition 
funding as I believe that if an expedition has to rely on profit from 
QSL activities, then it is not on a sound financial footing.   However,  
expeditions like Heard,  Bouvet,  Peter 1, Crozet are in a different league.

Perhaps it time now to put the foot down and make a plain statement.    
There were I believe around 40,000 unique QSOs with Amsterdam.   If
each of these guys and gals had to part with ten measely bucks, then the 
organisers could have raised $400,000.

So, why dont the Heard guys just come out and say it:
_
__QSLs for Heard will cost $10  for 1 or 21  QSOs, via OQRS._ That is 
the only way I can think of, to spread the cost around the community.

73 de Tom

GM4FDM

If anybody knows another way of spreading the cost - let's hear it!
On 19/04/2014 00:11, Steve Wheatley wrote:
> Having dealt with the 'costs' of a few dxpeditions that pale in comparison to the two that have been discussed, and realizing that FT5ZM was about 4x the cost of VK9MT, which also was very expensive, a few things come to mind:
>
> -Someone has to fund these major operations.   I'd ask everyone reading this to look in the mirror, and ask, what did you do to support.  Did you/do you support the various organizations to fund these operations.  Did you donate to the DXpedition itself?
>
> -Each operator that went on the DXpedition had some significant personal expenses, not to mention often put their lives at risk, and leave their families for extended period of time.   Have you thanked the team when you see them in person, via email, etc.
>
> -I hope that these teams do a readout of their expenses, and where the funds come in, similar to the incredible analysis by N1DG a few years back.  I found it particularly enlightening to see the cost by various dxpedition type, where the funds came from regionally, cost per qso, and the like.
>
> It would appear to me that DXpeditions, much like many things in life, should support those that help the most by 'special treatment' of some sort, such as getting QSLs first, LOTW matches first, etc.   It has to be done with a degree of fairness (I don't think any of us would support getting their card 10 years later if you didn't support at all).  But, as an example, I support a theatre locally because I fully believe in their mission.   I also get early access to tickets as a result, which is, of course, part of the reason I support them as well.
>
> Rather than complain in public forum about why one DXpedition does it differently than another, ask yourself what you've done to support the operation, and what you've done personally to show your thanks.
>
> My $0.02
>
> Steve KU9C
>   
>
> ________________________________
>   From: "Joe Subich, W4TV" <w4tv at subich.com>
> To: dx-qsl at mailman.qth.net
> Sent: Friday, April 18, 2014 6:07 PM
> Subject: Re: [Dx-qsl] VK9MT on LoTW
>    
>
>
> Which is, of course, absurd.  VK9MT/M0URX can respond to OQRS with an
> upload to LotW in less than two weeks.  One would expect other major
> DXpeditions to be able to do so as well ... the OQRS QSOs are already
> "matched" and in a form that can be signed/uploaded with little effort
> when they receive them.
>
> If it's all about the money, once a DXPedition has received an OQRS
> request they are either going to receive an extra donation in the mail
> or they are not but waiting to upload for QSOs that are already matched
> isn't going to increase the donation.  If anything, the longer it takes
> for a DXPedition to upload the QORS QSOs to LotW, the less likely I am
> to make an extra donation
>
> 73,
>
>     ... Joe, W4TV
>
>
> On 4/18/2014 5:08 PM, dx-qsl-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:
>> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 13:02:47 -0500
>> From: Nelson Moyer<ku0a at mchsi.com>
>> To: "<dx-qsl at mailman.qth.net>"<dx-qsl at mailman.qth.net>
>> Subject: Re: [Dx-qsl] VK9MT on LoTW
>> Message-ID:<D72BB644-DAB3-4292-9D12-04873643E4F9 at mchsi.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset=us-ascii
>>
>> They're waiting for most of the online and direct contributions to
>> come in before uploading to LoTW. Typically, DXpeditions following
>> that practice wait almost a year before uploading logs.
>>
>> Nelson, KU0A
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