I guess I still don’t understand the DXCC pay to play rules. I worked the 9U1RU operation to Burundi on three bands when they were active. The operation has since concluded. I used OQRS to confirm and send funds to obtain LoTW confirmation for those three contacts. So I was a little surprised when only a single confirmation (12m) showed up four days ago. Where were the others? With more than a hundred thousand confirmations to process I thought perhaps the others would show up in the next day or so. But that never happened. So I went back to the OQRS listing for my contacts and it shows only a single QSL issued (12m) while the other two seem to still be waiting for another “donation”.

I sent more funds to cover these and I guess will just wait and see what actually results from it. I have been led to believe that a single donation would be sufficient for all contacts made, given that it’s only an LoTW record. Hell, I don’t even want the printed paper, but I order it to get the LoTW confirmation. Am I doing this wrong? Looking back, there are more than a handful of DXCC where I have only received a single confirmation despite having worked the DX on multiple bands…

Still, those pale in comparison with the guy on Reunion Island I worked who said to send dollars for an LoTW confirmation. I did and the only thing I ever got back was a digital QSL card. Worthless! I emailed him about it, he never replied.

A large part of the reason I intend to end my chase for DXCC awards next year (after Bouvet) is due to the many extortion schemes employed to gain a QSL.

New Navigation

I’ve made a change that impacts site navigation. I added a Site Index page to serve as a single resource for all the content available here. Trying to nest too many menus along the top just wasn’t doing it for me so now there is a single page. Clicking the pull-down menu in the top right corner of this page now reveals only the new site index. From there you can discover additional content like online books, short stories, along with all the usual blog resources.