[CQ-Contest] Logging question

[George Harlem]

Yes, pretty simple, Jim.  But I happen to feel that it's unreasonable to
refuse a courteous request for a card for a valid QSO simply to make that
point.

George W1EBI

-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim
Brown
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 10:25 PM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Logging question

On Fri,8/7/2015 7:10 AM, George Harlem wrote:
>> This is a no-brainer.
> As is the practice of not sending a card unless the other ham also puts
his log on LoTW.  Huh?

Back in the day when you and I were first licensed, we mailed QSLs as
postcards with 2 cent stamps. I sent you a card, you sent me one. We each
paid for our own stamp. A QSL was considered "the final courtesy of a QSO."

60 years later, almost no one sends a card unless requesting one for an
award, and the guy who "needs" the card pays for postage both ways. 
That's just short of a buck for a card within the US, and an average of
$3.50 for a DX card.

And, 60 years later, LOTW and eQSL are today's "final courtesy of a QSO." It
costs almost nothing to get started, and we pay a small fee when we use an
LOTW confirmation for an award (a small fraction of the cost of postage).

A German ham wrote privately to me that

> argument against LotW is its requirement to send hardcopies of 
> realworld personal documents for foreign stations

That is NOT true.  Here's a quote from the ARRL FAQ:

"Authentication for U.S. calls relies on a combination of the FCC license
database and postal mail addresses. "

"Authentication for non-U.S. calls relies on photocopies of a radio license
and an official identification document. The applicant initiates
registration through a computer log program, which creates the digital
signature keys that will be used for signing QSL records. Next, the operator
(or logging program) sends a registration request to the Logbook
Registration Server via the Internet, and the server generates a
certificate. The applicant then sends a photocopy of his or her radio
license, an official identification document, and a printout of certain
digital signature key information to ARRL HQ via postal mail. When the
documentation is received, an operator at ARRL HQ examines it and activates
the certificate. The certificate is then sent to the applicant via the
Internet."

That sounds pretty simple to me -- the DX station applies online, then mails
photocopies of his license and some official identification document. Why
don't US hams have to do that?  Because the FCC database is online, so ARRL
can verify a US license by mailing a password to the license address.

73, Jim K9YC

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