So ive been licensed about 8 months now and im starting to get into the whole QSL confirmation thing and honestly its a little overwhelming. like i get the basic idea, you made a contact, you confirm it, cool. but theres LoTW which seems like the main one everyone talks about for awards, then theres eQSL which some people say doesnt count for DXCC but does count for other stuff, and then theres still actual paper cards which i love the idea of but i dont even know where to start with those.

right now im just logging in WSJT-X and uploading to QRZ logbook automatically, and someone told me that doesnt do anything for DXCC unless i also upload to LoTW. so i went and set up a LoTW account but the whole TQSL signing thing took me like two hours to figure out and i still wasnt sure i did it right until i saw confirmations start showing up.

i guess my actual question is - is it worth bothering with paper cards at all? i kind of want to send some but i dont even know how to get my callsign printed on them or if i need a PO box or whatever. does anyone still actually do this or is it mostly old timers who want the physical thing?

Oh man, I remember feeling the exact same way when I first got into this. So here's how I think about it after about 12 years of doing this - LoTW is basically the gold standard if you care about ARRL awards like DXCC or WAS. It's cryptographically signed to your callsign and license so it's actually verified, which is why ARRL accepts it. eQSL is fine and some awards programs use it but yeah, DXCC specifically doesn't accept it so don't rely on it for that.

Paper cards though - don't count them out. I still send them and I still get really excited when one shows up in the mailbox. There's something about holding a card from a station in like Bhutan or something that you just can't replicate with a PDF confirmation. You can get cards printed pretty cheap through places like UX5UO's printing service or even just VistaPrint if you design your own. For receiving cards, most people either use a local bureau (the ARRL has one if you're a member) or they just list a direct address in their QRZ profile and people send stamps or a couple dollars to cover return postage.

Honestly just do all three if you have time. Upload to LoTW after every session, let eQSL run automatically, and send paper cards to the DX stations and anyone who sends you one direct. You dont have to pick one.

yeah the TQSL thing is confusing at first but once its set up it basically just runs in the background, i have mine set to auto-upload from log4om so i dont really think about it anymore. the paper card thing is totally worth it imo even if its just for a few special contacts - i got one back from a station in antarctica last winter and it's framed on my wall now, no digital confirmation is gonna do that lol