ok so ive been licensed about 8 months now and ive been logging all my contacts in WSJT-X and then importing to HAMRS (yeah i know, everyone has opinions about logging software, not the point) and i keep seeing people mention LoTW and eQSL and i honestly dont fully understand the difference or if i need both or neither or what

from what i can tell LoTW is run by the ARRL and its the one you need for DXCC credit? and eQSL is a separate thing that more people use casually? but then some guys at my club still send physical QSL cards through the bureau and i got one in the mail last week from a station in Germany which was honestly really cool, like a real piece of paper with his callsign and everything

so my actual question is — do i need to be uploading to both LoTW AND eQSL, or is one of them enough for most purposes. and if i want to actually send paper cards how does the bureau system even work, do i go through my ARRL membership or is that a separate thing. sorry for the wall of text, just trying to figure out the whole confirmation ecosystem i guess

no worries at all, this confuses pretty much everyone at first. so the short version is LoTW is the one that actually counts for DXCC and a lot of the big ARRL awards, its digitally signed so they know the contact is legit. eQSL is separate, some awards accept it but not DXCC. a lot of people upload to both just to cover their bases and honestly once you set up the automatic uploads from your logging software its not really any extra work

for paper cards through the bureau — yeah thats through ARRL if youre a member. you basically send a batch of outgoing cards to them and they route them through the international bureau system. incoming cards accumulate and you request them periodically. its slow, like sometimes months slow, but thats kind of part of the charm. that German card you got was probably from someone who sent it ages ago haha. for DX contacts a lot of people also just use direct mail with a self addressed envelope and a couple green stamps (thats dollar bills, sort of an old tradition for covering return postage). anyway definitely get yourself uploaded to LoTW at minimum, the certificate process is a little annoying but you only do it once

i was in the same boat a few months ago. i ended up just doing all three honestly — LoTW for anything serious, eQSL because some people only confirm there, and i ordered a batch of cards from one of those online printers to send out physically to anyone who sends me one. its kind of addicting once you start getting cards back in the mail ngl

one thing i'll add is Club Log is another one worth knowing about if you start chasing DX, some expeditions only upload there. just another thing to make an account for lol