Well. collect them or buy them? There is another trend going on in QSL world. Many stations are not a member from any club or society anymore and QSL bureaus are receiving less QSL cards every year. Those who still want that paper QSL in the past were proud to send them, QSL bureau or not, since the receiver would have the same costs to send a QSL in return. But these days it looks like it is big business. Not for those that want QSL exchange only but also for the post providers. Postage is expensive and a excuse for not sending any QSL. I see a trend that DX stations especially, even if they are not really rare, ask several US dollars for postage. I fact you can pay by paypal and that way it is just a matter of buying your confirmation. Personally I don't like that, I might be old fashion. But this is still a hobby and if I would buy all the QSL I need for DXCC confirmation that would a considerable amount of money. There are other ways but I know several (DX) stations that don't confirm at any online QSL service so if you want to have your contact confirmed you have to pay them first. So unfortunate....
The final courtesy of a QSO is the QSL....
These days that would be:
The final courtesy of a QSO is the confirmation...
Good evening Bas, I too am like you having to pay for a QSL card does not sit well with me. today with the internet way waste paper join the rest of us as QSL electronically.
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Mike
VE9KK
I agree, to a point. I don't really collect cards with enthusiasm, but it's sometimes nice to get a card in the post. In those cases, I'm happy to pay to send my card. But I did start receiving a lot of cards direct some yeara ago, and it wasn't economically possible to pay for return postage for all of them. So I imposed a cover-the-postage-costs fee of $3 for a card, which saw almost all cards stop. If someone does send a card now, I will tend to send the money back, because one or two cards a month is fine. There is no correct answer to QSL cards, especially if one is not a society memeber. So the conclusion you reach about simply using LoTW or similar is the logical one, albeit not quite as nice as a physical card and a moment or two spent thinking about the other station.
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