ok so i just got my technician last month and i've been making contacts on 2m and some HF with my uncle's help and people keep mentioning QSL cards and LoTW and eQSL and honestly i have no idea how any of it works or if i even need to bother with all of them

like someone i worked last week said they'd send me a card and i got excited but then someone else said i should just upload to LoTW and im not sure what the difference is or if one is better than the other. is there a reason to do all of them or do most people just pick one? also do i need a special callsign certificate thing to use LoTW or is that just for certain awards

sorry if this is a dumb question i just dont want to miss out on confirming contacts if thats something i should be tracking

not a dumb question at all, this trips up pretty much everyone when they're starting out. so the short version is they're all different systems that do basically the same thing - confirming that two stations actually made contact - but the ham community never really settled on just one so now we have all three floating around

LoTW is run by the ARRL and it's the one that counts for DXCC and a lot of the big awards, so if chasing awards is something you think you might get into eventually, that's the one to prioritize. you do need to request a certificate from the ARRL which takes a little while and involves mailing in some paperwork, kind of a pain but worth doing. eQSL is a separate system, free to sign up, way easier to get started with, and some people really like it but not all awards accept it. physical cards are just... physical cards, some people love them and some people never bother

honestly my advice is set up LoTW first since that's the most universally accepted, then sign up for eQSL too since it costs nothing and takes like ten minutes. physical cards are totally optional but if someone sends you one you should send one back, just good manners in this hobby

yeah what he said about LoTW, get that set up sooner rather than later because the ARRL cert process can take a few weeks and past contacts dont get confirmed until both sides upload so the sooner you start logging and uploading the better

i will say though dont sleep on physical cards, i know they seem old fashioned but there's something really satisfying about getting a card in the mail from some station in Japan or wherever. i have a whole wall of them in my shack. eQSL does have digital card designs which is kind of a nice middle ground if you want the visual thing without the postage costs