ok so ive been licensed about 8 months now and im starting to get into chasing some awards and i honestly dont understand the QSL confirmation thing at all. like i know you need confirmed contacts for DXCC and stuff but theres so many ways to do it now

so from what i understand LoTW is the ARRL thing and its the most accepted for awards, eQSL is a different system and some people use that, and then theres still actual paper cards going through the bureau or direct mail. do most people use all of these or just pick one? i signed up for LoTW last month and got my certificate sorted but i havent actually uploaded any logs yet because im not sure if im doing it right with TQSL

also whats the deal with the bureau — is that through your local club? i asked at a club meeting and got like four different answers which didnt really help lol. just trying to figure out what the normal workflow is for people who are actually chasing awards

yeah the bureau thing confuses everyone at first. basically the ARRL has an incoming and outgoing bureau system, and your affiliated club usually handles the incoming cards for your call district — you drop off a batch of outgoing cards sorted by country prefix and they handle the postage internationally. saves a ton of money vs sending cards direct to every DX station, especially for chasing rare ones where the other op might not reply for a year anyway

for awards purposes though LoTW really is the way to go if you're serious about DXCC. most serious DX operators upload to it and the confirmations just accumulate over time without you having to do anything. eQSL is fine and some people like it but a lot of award programs dont accept it or treat it differently so i wouldnt stress about it too much starting out. just get your logs into LoTW via TQSL — once you do the first batch it gets easier, the tricky part is just making sure your station location is set right before you sign the log

paper cards are still fun to get in the mail honestly, i still send them for any interesting contact or when someone sends me one first

i was in the same boat not that long ago so i feel you. what finally made TQSL click for me was watching a youtube video specifically about setting up the station location because apparently if that part is wrong your confirmations dont count for DXCC and you wont know until you try to submit. took me like two attempts to get it right

i use all three honestly — LoTW gets every QSO automatically through my logging software, eQSL i upload occasionally mostly because some of the older ops i work seem to prefer it, and i still send paper cards to anyone who sends me one or if its a really memorable contact. got a nice card from a VP9 station last winter and that thing is going on the wall for sure