okay so ive been licensed for about 8 months now and ive been making contacts pretty regularly on 40m and 20m SSB, done a few digital modes too. the whole QSL confirmation thing is kind of confusing me though. like i understand the basic idea, you confirm the contact with another station, but there seem to be like three different systems and i cant figure out which one is actually worth setting up.

i signed up for eQSL pretty early on because someone told me to and i do get cards through there occasionally which is cool. but then people keep mentioning LoTW and saying thats the one that counts for DXCC and the big awards. i went to set it up and it seems way more complicated, you have to request a certificate from the ARRL and wait and do all this stuff. is it worth going through all that for a new ham? or should i just focus on eQSL for now and do paper cards for the really special contacts.

also do people still actually mail paper QSL cards or is that kind of dying out? i made contact with a station in Japan last week on 20m and part of me wants to send him a card but i have no idea how to even do that, like do i need to find his address somewhere and put foreign stamps on it or what

LoTW is absolutely worth setting up even if it takes a few days to get your certificate sorted. yeah the process is a bit clunky but you only do it once and then its just uploading ADIF files after that. if you ever want to go for DXCC or WAS or any of the major ARRL awards you pretty much need it, eQSL credits dont count for those unfortunately.

that said eQSL isnt useless, there are awards that accept it and honestly some dx stations only confirm via eQSL so having both running is the smart move. i have logbook of the world, eQSL, and i still send paper cards for any new country or really memorable contact. the paper card thing is definitely not dead, plenty of dx operators love getting them and sending them back. for the Japan contact you mentioned, look up his callsign on QRZ.com, most operators have their address listed or at least say how they prefer QSLs. for sending overseas you usually tuck a couple US dollars or an IRC in the envelope to cover return postage. some guys just say no reply needed which is also fine.

short answer: get LoTW set up this weekend, keep using eQSL, and send that paper card to Japan because thats part of the fun of this hobby honestly

i was in the same boat when i started lol. ended up just doing all three because why not. LoTW took me maybe a week to get going once i mailed in my request, the ARRL sends you a file you load into their tqsl software and after that its pretty painless. i use log4om and it can upload to both LoTW and eQSL automatically which is nice so i dont have to think about it.

paper cards are still a thing for sure, i got one last month from a guy in Romania which was awesome, he had this really nice card with a photo of his shack on it. i dont send paper cards to everyone but for dxcc entities i need or just cool contacts i try to. the IRC thing is kind of outdated now i think, most people just tuck a dollar or two in there for return postage and that usually works fine internationally