ok so i just passed my general a few months ago and ive been making a decent amount of contacts, mostly on 40m SSB and some FT8. everyone keeps talking about QSL cards and LoTW and eQSL and honestly im a bit lost about how all this works and which ones actually matter for awards and stuff.

from what i understand LoTW is run by the ARRL and its the one that counts for DXCC but you have to get a certificate mailed to you first before you can even upload anything which seems like a lot of hoops. eQSL seems easier to sign up for but i read somewhere that it doesnt count for DXCC? and then theres still people mailing actual paper cards through the bureau which just seems really slow. like does anyone still do all three or do most people just pick one and stick with it.

also when someone on FT8 says QSL in the log does that mean theyre going to actually confirm it somewhere or is it just like an automatic thing with WSJT-X. sorry if these are dumb questions im just trying to figure out the whole ecosystem here before i spend time on something that wont count toward anything.

Not dumb questions at all, this stuff is genuinely confusing when you first get into it. So the short version is LoTW is the gold standard if you care about DXCC or a lot of the ARRL awards — yeah the certificate process is a pain but you really only do it once and then its smooth sailing. You upload a log, they upload a log, the system matches them and boom confirmed contact. No stamps, no waiting months for a card to show up from somewhere in eastern europe.

eQSL is kind of its own thing, some people use it a lot, some barely touch it. Its easier to get going with but like you said most of the big awards dont accept it. That said some awards do and its nice for just... having a digital card i guess, some of them actually look really cool.

Paper cards through the bureau — honestly i still do it for rare DX or special event stations just because i like having something physical to hold. its slow, sometimes takes a year or more to get a card back, but theres something satisfying about it. Most people just do LoTW these days and maybe paper for the ones that really matter to them.

And yeah FT8 through WSJT-X can integrate with a couple of logging programs and push contacts to LoTW automatically, so a lot of that happens in the background without you thinking about it. Check out TQSL and whatever logging software you're using and see if theres an auto-upload option.

what he said, but also dont stress too much about it early on. i wasted a lot of time overthinking the QSL stuff when i shouldve just been making contacts lol. get your LoTW cert sorted, set up TQSL, and just let it run. you can always go back and upload old logs once you get it working.

eQSL i signed up for but barely use anymore honestly. the paper cards i still request sometimes for DXpeditions or when i work a new country for the first time, just feels right to have a card on the wall for those.