Hi all,
Some very interesting comments about QSL'ing in various forms!
As a GU, I get quite a few direct cards, and I have to say that 99% of them
contain suitable postage for return. There is the odd one that doesn't include
a dollar bill, so this will get returned via the bureau.
They may just have forgotten to include the bill in their haste to send it! I
know it's possible, as I have done that in the past.
As for the merits of LoTW against paper cards....
This is an interesting point, and there are a few other factors to take in to
consideration here.
Paper cards are all very well if, and only IF, there is a suitable route for
obtaining it.
There are plenty of countries that simply don't have a national bureau, which
means you have to try direct.
How many of you have spent numerous dollars chasing a card and never got a
reply? I know I have!
Some of these previously "difficult" contacts are now using LoTW.
Prior to LoTW, I had been chasing 2 specific countries for cards for my DXCC,
spending quite a few dollars in the process, only to find they were both
verified on LoTW within my first week.
In contests, I work hundreds of contacts. How do I know which of those wants a
card, and which don't? OK, I am pretty sure K4WW or AA5AU won't want a card
from me, but just how am I supposed to decide which contacts were chasing me
for my DXCC, maybe as well as the mult?
I am not an advocate of QSL'ing each and every contact made in a contest!
However, there are those that do! I am sure you all have dozens of cards from
many stations who QSL every contest contact, including the words PLS QSL!
Whilst I do enjoy seeing some of the very nice cards that I have received over
the years, I also have some that are now barely legible, having had a label
printed out on a tired old dot matrix printer! There is no way it will ever be
accepted by the DXCC desk!
In my opinion, LoTW fulfils a role, and so do paper cards at times.
At the very least, I would estimate that LoTW has saved me quite a bit in
postage costs.
So, each has its merits, and each has a place in our hobby.
73 all, and see you in BARTG!
Phil GU0SUP
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