ok so i just got my technician license about two months ago and ive been making contacts here and there mostly on 2m and some HF with my uncle's rig when i visit him. someone at the club meeting last week told me i should be uploading my logs to LoTW and also sign up for eQSL and i guess also send physical cards through the bureau? i honestly have no idea where to start or if i even need all three of these things.

like i understand the basic concept, you confirm the contact happened with the other person, but i dont really get the difference between LoTW and eQSL — are they competing things? does one count more than the other for awards? and the physical card thing, is that just for nostalgia or do you actually need those for certain awards. sorry if this is a really basic question but nobody at the club explained it very well and i dont want to just start uploading stuff without knowing what im doing

not a basic question at all, it trips up a lot of new folks. so the short version is — LoTW (Logbook of the World) is run by the ARRL and it's what you need for DXCC and a bunch of other ARRL awards. eQSL is a separate thing run by a private company and it has its own award system but it's not accepted for DXCC. they dont really talk to each other so yeah a lot of people use both.

physical cards are still a thing and honestly i love getting them in the mail, some guys only do paper QSLs and wont upload to anything digital. for DXCC you can submit physical cards too, you just have to get them verified at a hamfest or mail them in. the bureau is a cheap way to exchange cards internationally through the ARRL system but it can take like a year or more to actually get stuff back.

my suggestion for starting out — get on LoTW first since thats the most widely accepted for awards. the setup is a little annoying because you have to get a certificate, but there's good guides on the ARRL site. then eQSL is easy to set up and a lot of casual operators use it. dont stress about the physical cards right away unless someone specifically sends you one or asks for one.

yeah what he said basically. i'll just add that i was in the same boat when i started and i kind of wish someone had told me to just pick LoTW first and not try to figure everything out at once. i spent like three evenings confused about certificate files and TQSL before i got it working lol. eQSL i set up in like ten minutes by comparison.

also some DX stations will only confirm one way so having both does actually come in handy eventually. but for 2m contacts honestly most people just use LoTW or sometimes nothing at all, the card culture is more of a thing with HF and DX chasing