A QSL is a confirmation that a contact really happened. In the early days of radio that meant a postcard in the post, and plenty of amateurs still love collecting them. Today there are several electronic options as well. They are not all equal, so here is a quick guide.
1. The paper QSL card
The classic. A card with your callsign, location and the details of the QSO: callsign worked, date, time in UTC, frequency or band, mode and signal report. There are two ways to send one:
- Direct – by post to the station’s address. Fast, but it costs postage both ways, and rare DX stations usually ask for a return envelope and postage.
- Via the bureau – national societies collect and forward cards in bulk. In the UK the RSGB QSL Bureau handles this for members. It is cheap but slow – months, sometimes years.
2. eQSL
eQSL.cc lets you send and receive electronic QSL cards. You upload your log and matching cards are generated automatically. It is free to start with and great fun for collecting designs, and it has its own set of awards.
3. LoTW – Logbook of The World
LoTW is run by the ARRL. Each station signs its log uploads with a digital certificate, and that certificate is only issued after your identity and licence have been checked. Because of that, LoTW confirmations are accepted for major awards such as DXCC and WAS. There are no pictures, only a match – but it is the confirmation serious award hunters want.
4. QRZ.com logbook
If both stations keep their log on QRZ.com, matching QSOs are confirmed automatically. QRZ runs its own awards programme based on these confirmations. My logbook here is synchronised with QRZ, so when a QSO is confirmed it gets a tick in the QSL column of the public log.
Which should you use?
| Method | Cost | Speed | Major awards (DXCC etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper – direct | Postage | Weeks | Yes (card checking) |
| Paper – bureau | Low | Months | Yes (card checking) |
| eQSL | Free / optional upgrade | Instant | eQSL’s own awards |
| LoTW | Free | Instant | Yes |
| QRZ.com | Included with QRZ | Instant | QRZ awards |
My advice for new operators: upload to LoTW and QRZ from the start (most logging programs can do it automatically), and keep paper cards for the contacts that really mean something to you – a first DX contact, a special event station or a new country.
Confirming a QSO with M6OER
Check the Station page for my current QSL preferences, and search for your callsign on the Logbook page to see whether our contact is already confirmed. 73!