I heartly agree with Hans. I’m an old fuddy duddy who gets immense pleasure posting new cards on the wall and also in albums on the coffee table. So many of them have histiorial note to them and meaning way beyond ham radio. Non-amateurs often comment on them,
something that would not happen from an electronic database.
Our local county fair invites us and gives us free booth space, and last year put our demonstrations in the fair program. Besides having 3 HF and one VHF operating positions we always put up a large map of the world surrounded with QSL cards from local
hams. (usually about 40 or so) and use strings to pin point where they come from. This is a big eye catcher and draws a lot of attention. Easy to recruit new hams. (and yes we do work a substantial amount of dx from the 4-H barn).
Please don’t let this aspect of the hobby die! To avoid the consternation, and dreaded fear of destruction, the local card checker (I realize there are limited numbers of them overseas) is your best friend. The amazing artwork is in itself worth it. Other people,
other countries, other customs…..all an insight to the world.
And yes, I too use LoTW……but prefer the cards. If you need one of mine, drop one in the mail, sase and $ not required.
Dale K8TS
(Ex-K9TTT, a call that has been re-issued)
(Disclaimer: I have a collection of several thousand paper QSL’s, and I am a daily participant in LoTW where I have over 70,000 confirmations.)
Gary, with all due respect, your jeremiad against paper QSL’s is troubling, and remarkably puzzling.
Paper vs LoTW is not an “either/or” proposition. If you don’t wish to participate in exchanging paper cards,
then just don’t participate! Simple! You will never again need to contend with the evils and inconveniences detailed in your first paragraph
below. Every DXpedition that I’ve known about in the last decade provides procedures to confirm your contacts via LoTW. I’d expect that this trend will continue, and no serious DXer will
NEED another paper QSL.
But to deliberately lobby for the end of paper QSL’s, as you have done in your message attached, is mean spirited.
Some hams, probably mostly old geezers like me, have a sentimental attachment to paper QSLs and continue to pursue this “hobby within a hobby”. One of my
other hobbies is photographic artistry which I use on my paper QSL designs. I receive numerous compliments, and confess some pride in the cards that I send out (on my dime, not yours).
Maybe they will be “naturally phased out” as the aficionados of this tradition assume room temperature, but I heartily object to your call to “actively phase
them out”. To reiterate, if you don’t like them, don’t use them.
73, de Hans, K0HB
From: Gary Hinson
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2022 04:25
To: ARRL-Awards@...
Subject: Re: [ARRL-Awards] How long does it take to verify QSL Application
QSL cards are costly to print, complete, transport, sort/redistribute and check/verify. They are environmentally unfriendly and liable to fakery and manipulation, as well as various kinds of physical trauma and theft.
At some future point in the next few years (maybe a decade or so?), the disadvantages of QSL cards relative to digital confirmations will - I'm sure - become overwhelming so they will either fade away naturally or be actively phased out.
So, given numerous advantages of secure digital confirmations over QSL cards, what else might be done to move things in that direction? How can we help?
--
73, de Hans, K0HB
"Just a Boy and His Radio"™
