ok so i just got my technician license about two months ago and ive been making contacts on 2m and some HF (got my general a few weeks after tech) and now im realizing theres like three different ways to confirm contacts and i genuinely dont understand which one matters or if i need all of them

so from what i can tell LoTW is run by the ARRL and its the official one for awards like DXCC, eQSL is a separate thing that some people use, and then theres actual physical cards which i kind of love the idea of but seems expensive to send internationally. is there like a hierarchy here or do people just pick one and stick with it

also do i need to upload every single contact or just the ones i care about confirming? my logging software is log4om and i see options for all three but havent set any of them up yet. kind of overwhelmed honestly

welcome to one of the more confusing parts of the hobby haha. so the short version is: LoTW is the one you want if you're going for ARRL awards, DXCC being the big one. most serious DX operators upload to LoTW pretty regularly so your match rate for those contacts tends to be decent. eQSL is kind of its own world, some people swear by it and some ignore it entirely, and it does have its own awards system but they're not the same prestige as DXCC if that matters to you.

physical cards are genuinely fun and a lot of DX stations still send them, especially if you go through the bureau system which is cheap but slow — like months slow sometimes. if you work a rare entity and want a card for the wall it's worth it. i'd say just get yourself set up on LoTW first since that takes a bit of paperwork to verify your callsign, then worry about the rest later. log4om should handle the ADIF export fine for uploading.

yeah i was in the same spot when i started. honestly i just do all three now, once you have your logging set up it doesnt take much extra effort to export and upload everywhere. the LoTW setup is the annoying part because you have to get a certificate from the ARRL and it involves mailing something in or having a VE sign off, i dont remember exactly but theres instructions on their site. took me like a week to get sorted but after that its pretty seamless.

eQSL i like because the confirmations happen faster, a lot of people confirm same day. physical cards i still request via QRZ for special contacts, worked a station in a country i'd never heard of last spring and definitely wanted a card for that one. dont stress about uploading everything retroactively, just start from now and you'll build up credits over time