W0MU wrote:
Postage overseas is beyond ridiculous these days. K1ZM said it costs
more to ship his book overseas than the book costs!
Tell me about it. :^) I'm a bit of a books 'addict'. I only buy used
books now to lower the costs. Most of them are shipped from the US, and
postage is almost always more than the cost of the book. I ordered a
couple of books last week for 1 cent each. Postage was $6.49 each, and
that was cheap as far as postage goes.
Jim K9YC wrote:
Yes. The cost of international postage and shipping have made paper
QSLs a luxury that few of us can afford.
I had to endure direct QSLing before LOTW. I dislike direct QSLing with
gusto. But it has become even worse now with the major increase in
postage costs, and don't tell me about IRCs, please. :^))
Jim K9YC wrote:
From where I sit, LOTW is one of the very best things ARRL has done
for ham radio in the last 20 years. I no longer bother with awards that
won't accept LOTW or eQSL. That rules out county awards and it rules out
IOTA unless and until IOTA gets a workable and user-friendly electronic
method going that doesn't require paper cards.
I agree 100% with you on this, Jim. I had some 'doubts' about eQSL, but
I have changed my mind. I'm also looking forward to the IOTA system. It
has lit the IOTA flame for me. I applaud the DARC (German association)
for the implementation of DCL. A good and affordable way to apply for
DARC awards.
Jim K9YC wrote:
I agree with Charly that the biggest problem with LOTW is getting
more hams to use it. I don't know what the obstacles are, but it needs
serious attention.
I wonder what the difficulty is. I have been using it for years, changed
computers many times, and was never 'offline'. I do keep backups of
certificates, profiles, and etc., but the problem seems to be setting it
up for the first time.
Jim K9YC wrote:
LOTW has saved my thousands of dollars in postage as I've filled
nearly 2,200 band and mode slots. That's enough to buy a couple of nice
radios!
I moved countries a couple of times, it would have cost me a small
'fortune' to start DXCC from each of them using paper QSLing. Like you,
I prefer to use the money on improving the station, or even other
non-radio pursuits. :^)
73 de Vince, VA3VF
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