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Rich McAllister K6RFM · February 28th 07, 09:50 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated

writes:

On Feb 27, 8:15�pm, Rich McAllister K6RFM wrote:

DX hams have to copy
their license and another piece of government ID and send this by
international physical mail to Newington. Doesn't sound like much, but
copying and mailing documents isn't necessarily cheap or easy, and I
suspect that not everybody still has a physical copy of the license.

I don't get it, Rich. I don't know of any administration that
DOESN'T issue some sort of hardcopy document for a license.

Well, note I said "not everybody still has", not "ever had". Some
people take pride just in the fact of having the license, or in the
accomplishments they've made after getting it, rather than in the
piece of paper; not to mention the possibility of simply losing it
over time. "It's in the house -- somewhere!"

Mine's
both on the wall and in my pocket, and both are points of pride.

Unless you're using the one working copier in Mogadishu chances
are the copy price isn't more than the equivilent of $1, and another
$1-3 to mail it, depending on the method...So...A one time expense of
less than $5.00...Tell me what DX station can't afford this and I'll
spot them the fin!

The hassle is probably much more of a barrier than the monetary
cost, for sure.

What we have here is your opinion of what might be a reasonable effort
for someone else to make, versus the opinions I heard from people who
would actually have to make the effort; I find the second more
convincing.

[from .com]
To me, the real reward of the QSO, other than having made a new
acquaintence, is that card that I know was actually in his/her hands
(big DXpeditions and QSL-managed stations aside...)

Opinions do differ. Some people don't care much about QSLs at all;
this is a pretty common (not universal!) attitude among
contesters. LOTW would never be a satisfactory substitute for people
like you who love the physical QSL, but it does have the ability to
make one sizeable group -- award chasers -- happy while reducing the
overall hassle for another sizeable group -- contesters and to some extent
DXpeditioners.

Rich, K6RFM