eQSL.cc issues first eDX100 award(DXCC equivalent)

Today eQSL.cc awarded its first eDX100 to Dov Gavish 4Z4DX. The eDX100 award is equivalent to the ARRL's DXCC, but is awarded on the basis of electronic QSLs (eQSLs) exchanged through the eQSL.cc system. Dov will be able to print an eDX100 certificate on his own printer, but will also receive a full-color certificate and a walnut plaque in the mail.

“We are happy to see Dov achieve this distinction,” said Dave Morris, founder and webmaster of eQSL.cc. “The eDX100 award is equivalent to the ARRL’s DXCC award, although there are several differences that make our award more suitable for the all-electronic environment. Our award is just as challenging, and the fact that the first 50 recipients will receive a free walnut plaque will make the eDX100 a coveted award for many hams. We see that at least 30 of our users have 70 or more countries and are quickly approaching the magic 100!”

To qualify for the eDX100 award, a person must have received eQSLs that are marked Authenticity Guaranteed from at least 100 different entities. Entities are based on the ARRL DXCC Entity List. Authenticity Guaranteed status is awarded to a user of the eQSL.cc system whose identity has been verified either by inspection of his license, through use of an authentication code mailed to his official address, or through 3 volunteers who vouch for his identity. Through this mechanism, eQSL.cc can prevent fraudulent entries and make its electronic QSL cards actually MORE reliable and secure than traditional, mailed QSL cards.

eQSL.cc has several other awards, including an electronic Worked All States award, called "eWAS", and an award for 25 or more countries that can also be earned by SWLs, called "eDX". An award based on Grid Squares is also in the works. All of these awards require the use of Authenticity Guaranteed electronic QSLs for confirmation, making them every bit as challenging to obtain as the traditional awards which they parallel.

eQSL.cc, the Electronic QSL Card Centre, is operated by Dave Morris, N5UP, an eCommerce architect and Extra Class amateur radio operator licensed for over 30 years. He is supported by an Advisory Board of volunteers around the world. The basic eQSL exchange service is free of charge to hams and SWLs, and the system has users with over 100,000 cards who are using the system entirely at no cost. There are also several premium services for which eQSL.cc simply requests a donation in any amount. eQSL.cc currently has over 17 million electronic QSL cards in its database, and over 1200 new cards are being added by members every hour. The system uses the ADIF standard for log uploads, and can also interface several logging programs in a real-time mode, allowing eQSLs to be generated at the same time the QSO is taking place. Users do not need to know e-mail addresses or hunt down the recipients of their cards. They simply set up their profiles, design their cards, and upload their logs. Electronic QSLs issued by eQSL.cc are accepted for awards by dozens of amateur radio organizations around the world. The Electronic QSL Card Centre can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.eQSL.cc

 

"The eDX100 award is equivalent to the ARRL's DXCC "

Oh no it's not!  How can it be equivalent if you state there is a difference.  

eDX100 awards should or could be called  "DXCC Lite" if they deserve the title of "Award" at all.  They certainly are not equivalent to the ARRL DXCC award.  Tradition can not be ignored here guys.

As we all know, the ARRL Award is something that must be worked at not typed into a keyboard.

ARRL DXCC Award :

Initial contact, exchange of info, write QSL card, mail QSL card, wait for return QSL.  Great satisfaction upon receipt of card and amazement and wonderment that the card in your hand was actually from the individual you worked on the other side of the world.  Maybe he wrote some words or a little howdy note to you on the card.  Get 100 "UNIQUE" cards and submit them for examination and verification by "QUALIFIED" individuals.  After verification, award is issued.  Exciting yes!!!!

Eqsl eDXCC Award :

Initial contact, exchange of info, enter qso onto eQSL site, print QSL card (maybe), email images of non-existent cards, print eDXCC award on home entertainment system or just keep an image of it on the hard disk.

No, they are not equivalent.  Obtaining Eqsl's can be likened to a video game and nothing more. Make a contact, make a picture.

And for all the winers, yes  real QSL cards costs money to both mail and print but, I say, this hobby is not cheap.  I don't have my DXCC award yet, but I will in the next month or so.  I've received about 110 cards now from 110 different DXCC entities.  All of them real honest to god cards - not "Reasonable Facsimiles".

K2WH

 

Getting the ARRL DXCC may be more exciting for the reasons you stated, but I can assure you....it's not harder than EQSL DXCC. I have 103 DXCC worked with 80 confirmed via QSL card (Buro/Direct).

My entire log has been uploaded to EQSL as well and I have only 16 confirmed entities in EQSL with Authenticity Guaranteed (AG) status. Very few Op's relative to the total number of participants are AG in EQSL. This makes it TOUGH to get credit for new ones.  

This guy worked a Ton of DX to get this award. I find it impressive.

If it's about getting the card in the mail (which I think is very cool too) then the ARRL DXCC is great.

If it's about getting an award for working LOTS OF DX,  then EQSL DXCC is a much bigger statement.

In regards to "It's the cost of doing business".....I know it's just an expression, but Amateur Radio is a Hobby and after forking out the cost of intial station building it would be nice to keep the extra costs down. Now when is that "logbook of the world" going to come online ?

73/Mike

 

KC7MAW,

"it's not harder than EQSL DXCC."

While working the DX is identical, achieving and receiving the ARRL award is certainly much harder to obtain than the Eqsl award due to the fact, QSL's are lost in the mail or never reciprocated.  That's bad but thats part of the mystique.

Therefore, one is required and duty bound to work more than one station in the same entity simply because you can't be sure you will get that one card.  You can only rest when you have the card in hand.  That's the excitement and the anticipation.  I don't know about you, but it's the not knowing that turns me on.  Receipt of the card is MAGIC.

With Eqsl however, it's a snap or should I say, it's just a keystroke.  Where's the excitement in that, where's the magic?  It's just not there for me.  It's cold and void of value.

K2WH

 

K2WH can be proud of his accomplishments, and will probably gaze fondly at his award on the wall, once he gets it.  There is no way to express the sense of accomplishment, or explain just how much sustained effort it took to earn it.  If you try, you only bore the stuffing out of your visitors.  All of which only means that awards, like home movies & vacation snapshots, have just one truly appreciative viewer.  The fellow ham who earns the eDXCC award will also feel great pride of accomplishment and will have just as many truly appreciative viewers of that award.
    The hobby is about the challenge of making the contact, the fun of the conversation, and the satisfaction of having that contact confirmed.  The award, on the other hand, is just about the contacts.  If the award recipient attaches greater meaning to it because of the time, writers cramp, or cost of confirmation, so be it.  Another might find greater meaning because of getting the QSLs quicker than a whole lifetime, low cost, and still another form of contact with that distant ham.  Remember though, all of that sentiment is totally personal, just part of the stuff that can never be adequately expressed to the visitor who sees the award hanging on the wall.
    Since no one else can really understand or appreciate how we feel about our personal investment in that award, what is gained by one ham disparaging the accomplishments of another?  One hundred DX countries is still just one hundred DX countries, and the award is just a symbol of that, regardless of who issues it.  
    K2WH said it himself, regarding eQSLs . . . " Where's the excitement in that, where's the magic?  It's just not there for me.  It's cold and void of value."  . . .  and it's his own, personal warm sense of excitement and magic that will be the source of his great personal satisfaction.  Another ham with a different . . . not better, not worse . . . personal sense of what's valuable, will find great satisfaction in the eDXCC award.  
   And no one else can know that satisfaction, and no one else cares.  Except for the ham who earned it, a plaque for one hundred DX countries is just a plaque for one hundred DX countries.    73        Gary, K9ZMD

 

Next thing you know, they'll be issuing awards for E-mail or instant messaging. I'm not against technology, that's what started amateur radio in the first place but enough is enough!!!!!!!!!!!

73 Glenn
KO4VP
good DX

 

Why use technology to help us in the administrative end of our hobby? Why shoot, why use use the new fangled DSP rigs and dx clusters when we can do things "the old fashioned way" and use a boat anchor or even spark gap.

EQSL is every bit as good and what counts is working them! If electronic qsling wasn't the way of the future the ARRL wouldn't be developing there own system.

Besides, if ya just need wallpaper you can go to Home Depot.

It's a hobby, just enjoy it as best you can!

Rick - WV9I

 

K2WH's initial comments indicate that he knows nothing about eQSL.CC, and indeed he is not a member. QSL images are not e-mailed and have nothing to do with award credit. It's matching log entries by Authenticity Guaranreed users that generate award credits.

Also, if he thinks eDX100 is so easily accomplished, I challenge him to earn the award.

----
73, Rich - W3ZJ

 

For Glenn, KO4VP -
      I hear your sentiment coming through, and agree that "radio" awards shouldn't be given for non-radio communications.  The technology may be fun for some, but it sure doesn't interest me any more than BSing long-distance on a speaker phone.  But, to each his own.
      This discussion about eQSL turned to controversy about "equivalency" of ARRL's DXCC & eQSL's  eDXCC.    Both awards are for the same thing - genuine radio communication between distant stations. The conflict arose over which method of QSLing is more satisfactory.  Since it's just a personal satisfaction issue, there is no "right" answer to fit everyone.  Here again, it is "whatever floats your boat."
      BTW Glenn, you have 3 eQSLs in your inbox right now. . .  RA3AJ, S53S, and VE1OP.    73
Gary K9ZMD

 

Nice posting...thanks for the information!

de kb9umt Don

 

Good posting...The comments from Gary..K9ZMD were well put and pretty much echoed my feelings.

Here we go again..Full steam ahead for the Great Ham Knocking Machine!..someone comes up with a idea or a activity that may or may not be to someone's likening and boom...the termites are out in force. Hi

I was a bit reluctant at first to the EQSL (Being a podilogy of the ole school so to speak) but after hearing from many others about it and then spending time on the site looking at it...well Im a member now and personally think what a great idea plus its a great time saver and yes saves a buck....Now before all the termites comment on cheap people...try being a operator on the other side of the pile-up mate!..taken in account our current exchange rate...the price of airmail postage which is $2.00 a shot plus the cards plus the envelopes plus a US dollar to assist with their postage..it costs $6.00 for me to send out for a card...or if I recieve a qsl  request direct..it costs me $4 to send it back if their is no IRC or Green Stamp....Now Im not in it to make a buck or be some greedy bugger..No its just pure economics now a days...and the total cost even through the Buro is not always healthy either...But being as it may..This is part of Ham Radio and some guys do enjoy getting a "real" QSL and thats fair enough...I enjoy sending them out on reciept of a card..No problem!

But the EQSL has certainly been a big help for me and you can actually see the long term benefit to it...Unfortunely we can not go back 30 years or even 80 years..those days are gone..if we keep complaining about new ideas then why are the moaners using computers...thats called "progress" I thought Hi...or maybe we should all go back to sending smoke signals and QSL's craved in stone..(now can you imagine the cost of postage on sending a 10 pound stone)..Hi

Just remember its a Hobby and regardless of one's preference...So What! as long as you enjoy it.. that is all that matters...Well back to 20m and CW..Hi

Congrats to EQSL and DOV 4Z4DX on the achievement..He is a good operator and thats great!

73"/CUL de Bill ZL3NB

 

THE ARRL IS NOT HAM RADIO, SHOULD NOT GOVERN HAM RADIO, AND MUST BE PREVENTED FROM CONTROL OVER HAM RADIO AND RELATED PURSUITS.


I applaud EQSL for their efforts because they have come up with an innovative solution (when was the last time the ARRL came up with an innovative idea, except when it threatened their position??) to 2 age old problems:

1) The uncertainty and expense of "confirming" that rare DX contact, which, all to frequently, involves multiple $2 requests; and

2) The "we are in control of all things HAM" attitude of the ARRL.

(I attribute the decline in ham radio to misguided efforts by the ARRL. Namely, ham radio of, for, and by extra class operatiors for extra class operators, to the exclusion of others.)

Although I personally prefer the thrill of getting an actual QSL card from a distant place, I realize others do not share my interest. So for them, EQSL is great.

BUT as for this goofy, cockeyed, and wrongheaded idea that EQSL's award is somehow is due less weight or value than the ARRL award, get real!

I, for one, simply do not kneel at the feet of the ARRL as the holy grail, mecca, or the ultimate source of ham radio anything! We must not continue to foster this "holyer-than-thou" attitude by the ARRL. Those of you that wish to accord EQSL's award as "second class" need to re-think your position, for the benifit of HAM radio.

 

I love the eqsl system. Confirmation of contact is a necessity, but those goofy traditional qsl cards just create clutter. It a burdensomeand boring chore to have to go through the traditional QSL exchange. The real challenge is waiting for an eternity to get through the "Bureau". QSL Via the bureau is nice bit of history, much like a Civil War Reenaction, but it is now only for nostalgia. It is neither efficient or relevant to the way information has been exchanged for a decade or more.

Bill
WT6O
(EQsL Only)

 

Hi!

I knew abuout eqsl.cc when I received last christmas an e-mail from a ham I made a DX on 6 meters just the previous day, on the big band opening. I was curious about the e-mail I received, so I went to the site, and found out about the whole thing. Then I started receiving eqsl from almost all the contacts, I also received a few by mail. Yeah, there is a special feeling when you receive a QSL by mail, but also, showing the EQSL list of confirmed contacts in a few days is very satisfying, specially with the Autenticity Guarranteed logo. I can say that I have received QSL cards made with an ink jet printer, as well as professionally printed cards. For me, they have the same value, so printing my eQSL cards is no big deal. Now, the ease of logging the contacts online, during a QSO, and sending the cards instantly (and receiving them), saves much time and money. You just concentrate on making contacts and delegate the paperwork to the good people at eQSL.cc

Thanks.

Gabriel Sierra, WP3BM

 

First of all, congradulations to 4Z4DX !!

Now, my comments as a professional security dude and longtime QSL chaser.

This paper stuff is getting tiring, eQSLing in some format is the future. eQSL.cc has some nice stuff.

BUT, any usable system is hackable, including DXCC and eQSL.cc. And currently, there is little question that DXCC is harder to hack - i.e. get a credit for a bunch of confirmations you don't deserve (especially rare non garden-variety entities/countries).

Semi-disclaimer: I don't really care! I'll work them and confirm them however is meaningful to me, and I expect you to do the same. Yes, I did some work for the ARRL once on their forthcoming Logbook of The World project. But more importantly I've been behind on my QSLing for about 25 years!

And again, Congrats to 4Z4DX!

73
Ted KT1V ex KR1G