I can deal with the $.20/QSO fee, but what I am wondering now is if they charge you $.20/QSO if that QSO was in the same grid. Here is what I mean:
I received a QSL card from K8YSE with the following QSOs on it:
8/22/10 1916z V/U 59 FM AO27 EN57jv (K8YSE Grid) 8/22/10 1947z V/U 59 FM SO50 EN57jv (K8YSE Grid)
Now, I will obviously be sending in this card to get credit for ONE grid - EN57. I understand that the rules say $.20/QSO, but are they going to charge me for both QSOs that are contained on the same QSL card and were both contacts from the same grid? I guess the rules are pretty clear - include $.20/QSO - but it seems like it may be more reasonable to say $.20/QSL card; or maybe $.20/grid. I don’t understand why they would charge you for two QSOs that were from the same grid AND are on the same QSL card.
What it boils down to is if I work (eg.) K8YSE in EN90/EM99 next Saturday, and lets say I work him 3 times, when I come home and send out QSL cards I am naturally going to include in the card all the QSOs we had at that location. I would then send the card off to him, and when he would go to get credit for it he would be charged $.60 for that one QSL card - $.20 for each QSO. So, because I included all QSOs on that one card, I have now cost K8YSE an extra $.40. When you have a few more cards that contain this same scenario, it begins to add up.
It seems like it would be much easier to just raise the flat fee than charge per QSO, along with a flat fee. It takes enough time for the applicant to sort cards and grids, let alone have to go through and count all QSOs.
Sorry to gripe. I am not against ARRL raising the fee (to some extent), but it seems like it could be done in a more efficient manner than charging by QSO.
Just my $.20 - literally. ;-)
Zack KD8KSN
-----Original Message----- From: John Papay Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 9:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Costs (re-send with corrections)
The new fee schedule has brought forth a lot of comments. Twenty cents a card seems like a lot of money but consider how much you spent to get that card.
An SASE with a stamp on it plus the stamp for sending it here in the US costs you $.88. If you send for a DX card to countries other than Canada and Mexico, it's $.98 for the postage and an IRC costs $2.10. If you are lucky, you will get a DX card back for $3.08. If you're not lucky, you'll send for it again hoping to get a reply.
Then there's the cost of the cards to add in, maybe $.10 each, and the envelopes, hopefully self seal so the other guy doesn't have to spend time moistening and sealing it. Maybe you bought one of those stamps that say QSO Verified by (Callsign) at $25. Then there are special airmail envelopes, one slightly smaller than the other from Plum. It's starting to add up.
If everyone would use LOTW for satellite qso's, the savings would be impressive. No postage, no cards, and just a $.16/card to get credit for the grid. But cards are nice to receive; much more personable and they sometimes have other useful info.
So after you spent all that money to get the card, spending another $.20 to submit it for VUCC doesn't seem all that bad.
73, John K8YSE
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