ok so i just got my technician like two months ago and ive been making contacts pretty regularly now, mostly on 2m but starting to get into HF a little. someone in my local club mentioned i should be uploading my logs to LoTW and also maybe eQSL but honestly im not totally sure what the difference even is or why you'd need both. like is one better than the other for awards? and do people still actually send physical QSL cards through the mail or is that basically a dead thing now

i did make an account on eQSL already and uploaded a couple contacts but i havent heard back on any of them yet so i dont know if i did it right. LoTW seems a lot more complicated with the certificates and all that, kind of intimidating honestly. any advice would be great

yeah so the short version is LoTW is run by the ARRL and its the one that counts for DXCC and most of the big awards, so thats kind of the one you want to eventually get set up with even though it feels like a pain at first. eQSL is easier to get going and some people use it but a lot of DX stations dont bother with it, so its kind of hit or miss depending on who you worked.

physical cards are definitely not dead, i still get them in the mail pretty regularly and sending a nice card to a DX station you worked is kind of a tradition thats worth keeping alive imo. some guys only confirm via paper and thats just how they are. for domestic contacts though most people just do LoTW and call it a day. the certificate setup for LoTW is annoying but you only do it once, theres a pretty good walkthrough on the ARRL site and honestly if you just follow it step by step it clicks eventually.

eQSL confirmations can take a while or never come depending on whether the other station even uses it. dont worry too much if you dont see anything right away.

i was in the same spot not long ago so i feel you. i ended up doing all three honestly — LoTW for the awards stuff, eQSL because its easy, and i ordered a batch of cards from one of those printing places online and send them out when i work somewhere interesting or if someone sends me one first. it sounds like a lot but once you get a workflow going its not bad. my logging software just exports to both LoTW and eQSL automatically so theres not much extra work

what logging software are you using? that might help figure out the easiest way to get you set up