[VHFcontesting] LOTW and VHF

[Peter Laws]

On Sun, Jun 22, 2014 at 6:06 PM, Tom Haavisto <kamham69 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I appreciate EVERY QSO, and QSLing via LOTW is a lot easier than paper
> cards these days :-)  Time to join the club.

Cheaper, too.

#10 envelope - $0.08
#6 return envelope - $0.08
QSL (W4MPY) - $0.128
Postage both ways - $0.98

Total - $1.27 per QSL mailed.

I could economize by printing my own QSLs and may do that when I run
out of my current batch.  I could save a BUNCH if people got back into
the habit of mailing QSLs as post cards, but no one does that any
more.

By comparison, a matched QSO on LOTW turned in for a credit costs
about $0.12.  That price moves around and the ARRL web is very poor
about consistency - my VUCC cost me $0.15/QSO, so $15 in LOTW fees but
my WAS was $5, so $0.10 per.

I do use the BURO for DX, of course, which cuts out some of that (our
club combines cards to save a bit more).  If there was a domestic
BURO, I'd use that.  As others have said, anyone that wants/needs a
card gets one.

I miss the cards, but a +/-90% discount is a +/-90% discount.

Some ops just won't play, but they aren't the majority.  How do we get
the fence sitters to join?


-- 
Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!