so ive been licensed about 8 months now and i'm trying to figure out the whole confirmation thing. right now i upload to LoTW after every session and i have an eQSL account but honestly i barely check it. never sent a physical card yet.

my question is do people actually still mail cards back and forth or is that mostly just for awards chasing and DX stuff? i got a few cards in the mail already from stations i worked and they're honestly really cool to look at but i dont know if i'm supposed to send one back or what the etiquette is. like is there an expectation that you respond to every card you receive?

also i uploaded my logs to LoTW but only like 30% of my contacts have confirmed. is that normal or am i doing something wrong with the uploads

yeah 30% confirmation rate on LoTW is actually pretty typical, especially when you're working a lot of domestic stations or newer hams who don't bother with it. some people only upload once a year, some never do. the rate goes up a lot when you're working DX because those guys are usually award-chasing and stay on top of their uploads.

as for physical cards — definitely still a thing, especially in the DX community. the general rule of thumb is you should send one back if you receive one, its just good manners. some people use the bureau system through ARRL which is way cheaper than direct mail for international stuff, you basically batch up cards and they sort and forward them. takes forever though, like months sometimes.

eQSL is kind of the weird middle child. some awards accept it, DXCC doesn't, so a lot of serious DX chasers don't prioritize it. but its fine for keeping a record and some people really like the customization options for making their own card designs. honestly just use all three and don't stress it, confirmations will pile up over time.

im in the same boat as you actually, been licensed about a year. i printed some physical cards through one of those online services and honestly it was way easier than i expected and not that expensive. sent out maybe 40 cards so far and got a bunch back, its kind of addictive haha

one thing i didnt realize for a while — you have to make sure your LoTW certificate matches your callsign and address exactly or the confirmations wont match up right. had that problem for a couple months before someone on here pointed it out to me