[RTTY] QSL - LoTW & paper

[pcooper]

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