CQ Magazine green-lights eQSL for its awards

[NN3W]

CQ Communications, Inc. / 25 Newbridge Rd. / Hicksville, NY 11801 /
Phone: (516) 681-2922 / Fax: (516-681-2926) /
e-mail:w2vu@cq-amateur-radio.com

NEWS RELEASE

For more information, contact:
Richard Moseson,
W2VU Editor,
CQ Amateur Radio
(516) 681-2922 / w2vu@cq-amateur-radio.com

Dave Morris, N5UP
Founder and Webmaster, eQSL.cc
N5UP@eqsl.cc

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2009
CQ to Accept eQSL Confirmations for Award Credit

(Hicksville, NY and Bedford, TX, January 13, 2009) - CQ magazine
will accept contact confirmations made on the eQSL.cc electronic
confirmation system for its operating awards effective immediately, CQ
Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, and eQSL Founder and Webmaster Dave Morris,
N5UP, announced today.

There will be certain limitations and procedural differences for
different awards, at least to start. Only confirmations from
"Authenticity Guaranteed" members of eQSL will be accepted, and in
accordance with existing eQSL policy, a membership level of bronze or
higher is required in order to participate in award programs via eQSL.

"This is the first time that CQ has formally accepted anything
other than traditional paper QSL cards for its awards," said Moseson.
"We have been working with Dave Morris and his team for several months
to assure that the integrity of our awards programs will be protected
and to create mechanisms to make it easy for both award applicants and
award managers to use eQSL credits toward our awards. All of our award
managers have been involved in this process and support this action."

"We want to express our great appreciation to Dave and his team
for their willingness to do whatever was necessary to make this
agreement possible," Moseson added. "It has been a pleasure working
with them and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship."

"We are pleased to be adding CQ to the top of our list of
amateur organizations that accept electronic QSLs," said Morris. "CQ
has some of the most highly sought-after awards, and we have been
working behind the scenes for years to create credit submission
mechanisms that would ensure the integrity of their programs without
introducing any additional labor for the award managers. We believe
the electronic QSL can drastically reduce costs, and the award
application mechanisms we have developed will provide for more
efficient processing at reduced cost for both the applicant and the
award manager."

Applicants for the CQ DX and CQ DX Field Awards must print out
their eQSLs and submit them along with their traditional QSLs to a CQ
checkpoint or to CQ DX Awards Manager Billy Williams, N4UF. eQSL has
an automated process in place for applicants for CQ's Worked All
Zones, WPX and USA-Counties awards. N5UP explains how that will work
for the applicant:

"The applicant goes to the My Awards screen. He clicks on the
particular award he wants to apply for. This brings up a list of the
credits our system 'thinks' he is entitled to. There are checkboxes
that allow him to check which ones he wants to use, and we
automatically pre-fill one credit per category so he doesn't have to
do anything if he wants to take the defaults. At the bottom of the
screen are two buttons: 'Submit to CQ' and 'Print Paper Application'."

The "submit" button will place all the selected QSOs into a file
for the award manager to access, while the "print" button will
generate a printed list to be submitted along with the traditional
application. PLEASE NOTE that ALL applicants must send the award fee
payment to the CQ Award Manager, regardless of how the application is
submitted. Some CQ award managers are now accepting PayPal; see
individual award web pages for details. All awards will continue to
accept traditional QSLs as well as eQSLs. For the USA-Counties Award
(USA-CA), applicants must note on their record books (or printouts)
whether each county has been confirmed traditionally (with an "X" to
the right of the entry) or electronically (with an "E" next to the entry).

For more information on eQSL, visit http://www.eQSL.cc

For more information on CQ awards, visit the awards page on the CQ
website at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com. Please note that the award
rules posted on the website have not yet been updated to reflect the
acceptance of eQSLs. This will be done as soon as possible, but the
policy takes effect immediately.

-30-

[KI4ITV]

I think this is a good thing.
But, there are others who will say H3LL just froze over and the end of the world is nigh.

...Oh, and here they come now.

[WN9HJW]

I didn't even know that CQ offered any awards . . . nor do I care.

But I think it's great that CQ is entering the 21st century, and recognizing the security and integrity of AG eQSL's .

[AC4BB]

I'm delighted to see it happen the EQSL'
s are just as good as LOTW.

[N2RJ]

As long as ARRL doesn't accept eQSLs for DXCC I don't care what CQ mag does.

[NN3W]

As long as ARRL doesn't accept eQSLs for DXCC I don't care what CQ mag does.

Now thats a position. Some CQ awards are held in nearly as high of a level of esteem as DXCC. WAZ is very much sought after and the 5BWAZ is more difficult to obtain than is 5BDXCC.

[N2RJ]

Now thats a position. Some CQ awards are held in nearly as high of a level of esteem as DXCC. WAZ is very much sought after and the 5BWAZ is more difficult to obtain than is 5BDXCC.

Yeah but I don't care about those awards.

Honestly I am not a big awards chaser. I chase mostly DXCC.

[K8YZK]

Glad to hear the CQ is moving on and forward. Wonder how long until ARRL starts to accept them.

I don't collect wallpaper but it will make it easier for those that want something other then ARRL crap.

[K8YZK]

I think this is a good thing.
But, there are others who will say H3LL just froze over and the end of the world is nigh.

...Oh, and here they come now.

Hey Hell(michigan) is frozen over, is the end near?

[N2RJ]

Glad to hear the CQ is moving on and forward. Wonder how long until ARRL starts to accept them.

I don't collect wallpaper but it will make it easier for those that want something other then ARRL crap.

ARRL will probably never accept it.

CQ Mag has done things differently from ARRL for its award programs, including recognizing Kosova when DXCC didn't.