ok so i just got my technician license about two months ago and ive been making contacts here and there, mostly on 2m and some HF with my general upgrade coming up hopefully. someone at the club meeting mentioned i should be uploading my logs to LoTW but then someone else said eQSL is better and then a third guy said nothing beats a physical card in the mail and now im just totally lost on what i should actually be doing.

like is there a reason to use all three? or do most people just pick one and stick with it? i dont want to miss out on some award down the line because i didnt confirm contacts the right way but i also dont want to spend a ton of time managing three different systems. also how does the physical card thing even work, do i need to print my own or join a bureau or something? sorry if this is a dumb question im still figuring all this out

not a dumb question at all, this stuff confused me for a good year after i got licensed. so the short version is they all serve slightly different purposes and a lot of people do use all three, but you dont have to right away.

LoTW is run by the ARRL and its what you need for DXCC and a lot of the big awards. the process to get set up is a little annoying because they mail you a certificate and you have to install software and all that, but once its going its pretty painless - you just upload your log file every so often. eQSL is easier to get into and some people love it but its not accepted for DXCC so if thats ever a goal for you, LoTW is the one you want to prioritize.

physical cards are kind of their own thing. some people really love getting a nice card in the mail from a rare DX station, its a bit of a tradition honestly. the QSL bureau through the ARRL lets you send and receive cards for cheap if youre going that route. i wouldnt stress about cards right away, get LoTW set up first and go from there.

yeah what he said. i'll just add that i personally use all three and it doesnt take that much extra time once you have your logging software set up right - mine pushes to LoTW and eQSL automatically when i upload. the physical cards i only bother with for really special contacts or if someone sends me one first.

one thing nobody told me when i started is that a lot of DX stations wont respond to direct card requests unless you include return postage, like a green stamp or an IRC. learned that the expensive way lol. anyway LoTW first, everything else can wait.