ok so ive been licensed for about 8 months now and i keep hearing people talk about confirming contacts and theres like three different ways to do it and im honestly a bit lost. i started sending out paper QSL cards because it seemed like the classic thing to do and i thought that was it, but then someone in a pile-up mentioned LoTW and i looked it up and now theres also eQSL and i dont know which one actually matters or if i need to use all of them.

right now i have maybe 40 or so cards ive sent out through the bureau and only gotten back maybe 6 or 7. is that normal? feels like a lot of waiting. and some guys seem annoyed if you ask for a card directly, like im supposed to already know the etiquette. anyway just trying to figure out the best way to actually confirm my contacts without spending a fortune on postage or upsetting anyone

yeah the three-system thing trips up pretty much everyone starting out, dont worry about it. short version: LoTW is run by the ARRL and is the gold standard for award credit like DXCC, most serious DX operators upload there regularly. eQSL is kind of a middle ground, some awards accept it and some dont, but a lot of casual operators use it. paper cards are still great for the wall and some awards still require them for certain endorsements, but theyre slow and expensive if youre chasing a lot of DX.

i'd say get yourself set up on LoTW first since thats the one that actually matters for most of the big awards. the certificate process is a little annoying but you only do it once. then eQSL is free and easy so why not. and keep sending paper cards to stations you really want confirmation from or ones that specifically ask for them. you dont need to send a card to literally everyone, most people understand that.

40 contacts and 6-7 cards back through the bureau is honestly pretty normal, the bureau can take months each way depending on the country. some DX stations have a huge backlog.

so anyway i was in the same boat not too long ago and what helped me was just picking LoTW and starting there. the setup took me like an hour and a half because i didnt read the instructions properly the first time lol but once its going it kind of just runs in the background. i use WSJT-X for FT8 and it uploads automatically to LoTW through my logging software which is nice.

paper cards i still send when someone specifically requests them or for any new country i work, feels like the right thing to do. got a nice one back from a station in Reunion Island last year that i still have on my shelf. some things are worth doing the old fashioned way i guess