To get QSL the ticket is a reason for joy for most radio amateurs. HAM spirit says that a QSL request must be answered 100%. For a beginning radio amateur, printing several hundred tickets means considerable expenses.
Určite každému kto má počítač s tlačiarňou, sa už prehnala hlavou myšlienka vytlačiť QSL lístky doma. Niektoré logy dokonca túto možnosť ponúkajú. Alternatívou je tiež navrhnúť si ich v textovom či grafickom editore…. To je ale pomerne časovo náročné. Čo tak špecializovaný program?
John WB8RCR wrote one such program - QSL Maker, currently in version 2.2. Any computer with W95+ and a printer will be sufficient to run. The installation is problem-free, after its completion you will lose about 1.5 MB from the disk.
Once launched, you can start your own design. You don't know how? As inspiration, John prepared several types of QSL cards. To begin with, it is good to try their modification. Change the brand, address, image, font color, move the table....
There is a toolbar in the upper left corner of the window:
- the first "Page" button allows you to set the number of cards and their orientation on one sheet of paper.
- the "Card" button sets the background - monochrome or with an image (BMP and DIB format).
- "Call", i.e. brand, serves to enter your brand, font, color and its location on the ticket.
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QSL Maker program with ready-made tickets "Address" inserts four lines in which it is recommended to enter your own address. Again, it is possible to set the font, its color and the position of the lines.
- "Block" is a table into which data is entered. Unfortunately, only the font can be changed, the individual boxes are preset. The table can be transparent or filled with color. It is also possible to leave out a place for a sticker.
- "Greeting" is for entering greeting and QSL status.
- "Extras" allows you to insert two more texts, for example information about the device, a note, etc.
- "Edit QSOs" opens a window for editing connections. The entered data is written in the QSL tickets in the selected font and color.
The remaining functions of the program are hidden in the menu. There aren't many of them though, they're common things like saving/loading a design, printing, copying/pasting, and the like. However, it is worth mentioning the import of source data in formats ADIF, YP Log label, TR Log label and Log EQF version 9.
And here is the finale! Insert hard paper (drawing) into the printer and print the cards. One A4 can fit up to four QSL tickets. Of course, they must be separated. A sharp knife, a long ruler and a mat have worked for me. This is the most laborious part of the production...
QSL Maker 2.2 is constantly being improved. Some parts do not work quite well (change of some fonts, background image is displayed in poor quality, impossibility of editing table columns). However, it is sufficient for one-time printing of a few tickets.
You can find the QSL Maker 2.2 program in the Download section CQ.sk.