An IRC must be postmarked. Some postal workers may place a stamp on then
post mark it. I have received them both ways.
An IRC is (as far as I know) supposed to be good for a stamp good for
ground service. If you want air service, then you may be required to use
more than 1 IRC. All countries place a different value on the IRC.
They are a commodity and can be traded. When I was a QSL Manager, I would
get IRC's and sell them for less than the value than if purchased from the
USPS. The cost then was $1.00 each and I would sell them for $.60. Buying
an air mail stamp was less expensive (this was a long time ago!). I would
then use the (little) profit towards the cost of QSL's & envelopes. I
managed for 4 guys in highly wanted areas. This enabled them to get on the
air more frequently and hand out 'another new one' for many DX'ers.
During the period I was managing for them each station had over a 75%
request rate. So you can imagine how expensive it is to QSL, especially
for a foreign highly sought after Amateur in a remote area.
At 06:40 PM 6/27/01 +0000, Tom Wylie wrote:
>UK bought IRCs - dont have a cost on them so cant be out of date. When they
>put the price up - you just pay the going rate.
>
>I have seen some messages in the past about EU stations bitching about the
>numbers of IRCs it takes to respond to a QSL card. Some, I think, are
>trying to make a fast buck!
>
>My postmaster confirmed that in the Postal Union it should only take 1 IRC
>to post an air mail QSL. Some German stations and others, I have seen,
>have been demanding 2 or more IRCs. I am trying to be careful as to what I
>say because its actually done on weight. 1 x IRC should be OK for 1 QSL
>card but when you exceed the weight restriction you would need more postage
>hence I guess why folk may want more than 1 IRC. But for a single card -
>I'd say that 1 x IRC should be enough - going by the Postal Union Rules.
>
>73 de tom
Jack Hartley
K4WSB
ARRL - QCWA - OOTC
http://www.ultimatehat.com
10% discount to fellow Hams
Put your call on the order
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