A few weeks ago we posted an article about the many different call signs our club has used over the years. As a follow-up, we thought it would be fitting to showcase the correlating QSL-cards of the call LA1K. Over the years we’ve had many designs, and many cards have been sent out. In our own archives we have a handful from our history, but we’ve tried to supplement cards lost with scans from other contributors online.
1920’s
Probably the oldest card sent by LA1K that we know of, sent out in 1929 to G5UF. Interesting to see a lot of details not found on the QSL-cards anymore today. ARK was also one of the founders (among many) of NRRL in 1928. It’s unclear if the club was a member at first, but to represent Trøndelag in NRRL, a collaboration between ARK, AKG and NASU in 1939 led to the creation of “Trøndelagsgruppen”, known as “Trondheimsgruppen” LA2T today. ARK never joined the group, although it had one overlapping board member.
1950’s
The NTH campus during the 1950’s is pictured here with a cute little caricature. After World War II, the campus saw a lot of expansion with the help of SINTEF. Notice the construction works added in detail further back on the plateau, and the lack of the Central Buildings, which were completed in 1961 and 1968. Also note, the call sign is from 1926, the club is from 1923.
1960’s
Bright red colors to match the house we’re located in. At the top is likely a rendition of the TA-33 antenna we had at the time. There is no writing on this card, but for the jubilee in 2023 a listing was found on ebay.com with a similar card, dated 1965. Click the arrows to change the slide. The layout on the left is a bit different, but we hope the cards share a similar print run.
This card is a little interesting, as it’s not a QSL-card! This is just a regular postcard, stamped with LA1K in a glossy gold lettering. The card from “Knut Aune Kunstforlag A/S” is most likely taken in 1964 and printed in 1965, from the ending number “F-2681-5” (Thanks to Magne Botnedal of the Postcard Collectors!) It’s an ARK tradition to travel to Hell and transmit radio, hence the chosen card. Why? It’s probably in the word play alone. A Hellschreiber trip was arranged as recently as 2024, looking familiar?
1970’s
ARK through history has been known as one of the biggest beggars among the students in Trondheim. Expensive hobby, student budget, the math just don’t add up. Luckily Vebjørn Tandberg (a pioneer in both ARK and Norwegian electronics) helped us out with ads on the card around 1975. The vikings didn’t pay anything for the placement of the ship.
1980’s
The card above is a bit uncertain when it was used. Based on the equipment, some of which was “old” at the time, early 80’s (hopefully).
Another card we can’t find in our archive, thanks OK1KIR! Retro style card with details about the current rig in 1984. Even though the pen bled out like an old tattoo, it’s easy enough to read for now.
Single side card from 1989, nice addition with the IC 751 in the shack. This card layout was used for several more call signs used by the club at the time, but let’s just focus on LA1K for now.
1990´s
The order and years for the following cards are uncertain for the time being. Estimated to be around 1990-1993
This one was found in the mail-out pile at our storage area. WA0VQR (and 50 others), sorry for the 30 year delay.
2000’s
Into the modern era, and properly dated digitally. Email and website, hopefully it’s just a fad. Although only one sided print, this card from 2002 is starting to resemble the layout we still use today on our modern cards. The rhombus logo (a redesign of our 1947 logo) which had mostly been used for good old office letters by this point also makes an appearance on the QSL-card itself.
Not the best photo to show off our city, with this cold semi-winter. This card from 2009 features a color photo nonetheless, a staple for all the ones succeeding it. On the back it features an updated version of the logo, although missing the year and call on the bottom borders. UX5UO Print is still the go to provider for our cards, very satisfied customers indeed.
2010’s
Some minor adjustments to the back side in 2011, the vibrant colors on the front is really eye catching. Also, the lack of text in the bottom of the logo was either neither fixed or by design, as it’s still like this today!
Another card from 2011, featuring our HF-Mast. A 40m shortened dipole has since been added to the top of the multi-band Yagi.
Finally, the 2016 design. This one we still use, as we still have a large inventory left. The VHF-array depicted on the back has since been replaced with a more modern design. A new addition to the Student Society’s building was also completed in 2024, connecting the wall to the right.
And, there you have it, a little timeline of the QSL-cards we have used. This list is not complete however, as we do not have a complete archive ourselves. There may be many different reasons for that, but most likely the old batch of cards was completely sent out before a new one was ordered with a new design. For anything before 1945, might as well just blame the war.
We would like to thank all the older card scans found online to contribute to our list, and the author would also like to thank LA6YKA who had the foresight to scan a lot of the more modern cards in from 1989-2010. The quality may not be the highest, but perhaps it will help deter a major bootleg operation.
Have a card at home that we missed? Correction about a year? Feel free to send it our way and we’ll update our archives. Thanks for the contribution!
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