Yes, I agree with Tim wholeheartedly.
Paper cards are nice (I have a few from my Novice days in 1957) but I, like many others, cannot afford the expense. I *do* QSL 100% when a card is sent to me but LoTW is fine, too. To summarily reject LoTW, to invoke Mr. Spock, not logical ;>)
BTW, I use N1MM logger for all contests and ACLog for everything else...painless, easy and I can use the logging program on CW to cover for my rotten fist :>)
73,
On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 11:36 AM, Tim Marek K7XC@charter.net wrote:
John and the rest of you LOTW doubters...
The costs to use LOTW for VUCC, DXCC, or WAS contact credits IS NOTHING compared to the time, effort and money needed to collect cards the old fashioned way! At near a buck a card domestically (Over 2$ Internationally) for the stamps to send them and as well as a SASE for their return.... all the waiting.... Lost or stolen mail, People who NEVER reply, followed by dealing with the cards after their collected, the hand sorting and filling in paper forms... what a royal pain and more importantly... a very inneficient way to do things...
With the new LOTW system, you simply upload your logs, wait for them to cross confirm with other uploaded logs, spend less than 20 cents per QSO to INSTANTLY use those QSL credits for awards, with little muss or fuss...
I really dont see what the problems is.... Its faster, safer, cheaper, and your log data is backed up forever.... Talk about a lasting legacy of your efforts!
Compared to the OLD FASHIONED way of handling the laborious chore of QSLing, LOTW is a God send saving me much time, money, and alot of hand writing that I truly hate. (Try living in a rare state and you will understand)
As one who has personally activated 57 grids at one time or another (Alot of them RARE), there is now a incentive to sort out and upload all those logs from the past 20 years. Not only will it help others who need those rare grids (CM86, CM95, CM96, CN90, CN91, CN92, DN00, DN10, DN11, DN20, DM07, DM17, DM18, DM19, DM27, DM28, and DM29 just to name a few) but... I can now file for additional 6M VUCC's from several of those grids as they were June Contest efforts from tall mountains with large antennas and KW power where more than 100 Grids was easily accomplished...
Think about it... "Nothing Is Free"... the prices they ask are reasonable, and once uploaded who better to back up your logs than those whom you apply to for the awards!
Personally, I dont understant why everyone isn't getting setup right now to dump their logs online to (at the very least protect those rare and precious contacts from being lost forever) and collect those contact credits w/o lifting a pen to paper or licking a single stamp...
73s de Tim - K7XC - DM09nm.... sk
PS: I have been pushing LOTW for years to make this happen. Its not perfect, but compared to the old ways, its a VAST IMPROVEMENT!
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Geiger" aa5jg@fidmail.com To: mlolmsted@fuse.net; "Amsat-Bb@Amsat. Org" amsat-bb@amsat.org; "'VHF REFLECTOR'" vhf@w6yx.stanford.edu Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 2:07 PM Subject: [VHF] Re: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC costs
I WAS going to get an endorsement for my satellite and six meter VUCCs,
but given that it would cost me around 35 dollars each to get an endorsement for an extra 150 grids, I don't think so. Hope this new insane fee schedule doesn't kill VUCC submissions. I think AMSAT awards will be getting much more popular. 73s John AA5JG
----- Original Message ----- From: mlolmsted@fuse.net To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 12:25 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC costs
Nice explanation of the costs for VUCC in the Jeff Yanko blog. However, I did not see what happens with LOTW submisions. If the cost of awards keep going up, maybe the ARRL should offer award insurance as well as equipment insurance. Just a thought. :>) Merle, AA4QE
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