eQSL is a free online service for radio amateurs that lets you exchange electronic QSL cards with other amateurs that you have made contact with. Some amateurs collect paper QSL cards, but many prefer the immediacy of getting an electronic QSL card – as it’s faster and cheaper than waiting for a paper card. On this page, we explain the basics of eQSL and how to get set up.
How does it work
| When you have a QSO with someone, you can send your eQSL card to the other person – you do this either from the eQSL website, or this can be done automatically if you use computer logging software. Your eQSL card will appear in the other person’s inbox, and they can view, download or print the card. That person has the option to send their card back to you.If you’ve already been on-air, you might find that you already have some eQSL cards waiting for you – Enter your callsign on the form to the right to see how many waiting cards you have |
Registering with eQSL
To get started, you need to register online – Do this at www.eqsl.cc/qslcard – You’ll need to enter your callsign and country (“England”, not “United Kingdom”). On the next screen, you’ll be required to add some more information, including a start and end date. The “start date” should be the date that the licence was issued.
Once you have completed the online registration form, you should receive an email to verify your account, and you can then create a password for the service
Setting up the service
Probably the first thing you’ll want to do, it set up your QSL card. This is the card that will be sent electronically to the Inbox of the recipient. You can design your card from the “My eQSL Design” menu option. As a free user, your choice of card template is limited – by making a donation to eQSL, you can upload your own images and you have greater control over how your card looks
Using the service
eQSL works best if you use electronic logging, as you can transfer your QSOs automatically using the ADIF file format, or upload your QSOs automatically and have eQSL send a card for you.
Assuming you don;t have electronic logging, you can manually send a card from the “Log Entry” menu option, or by confirming a card in your Inbox
Authenticity Guaranteed (AG)
If you’re a regular user of eQSL, you might want to consider getting “AG” status – Authenticity Guaranteed means that eQSL has verified that you are the legitimate owner of your callsign. It means that your account has the AG logo (pictured here) and that every QSO you make qualifies you for entry into eQSL’s various awards. Other stations may be more keen to “work” you if a contact with you helps towards their awards, so getting AG is recommended. To get AG, you will need to upload a photo of your licence to the eQSL site. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Take a photo (or a scan) of the front page of your licence (which can be downloaded from the OfCom website) – This needs to be a JPG or a GIF
- Go to the eQSL main page (using the blue << Menu button)
- Select “Authenticity Guaranteed” from the list on the right of the page (or click here)
- You now need to upload the photo of your licence. “Browse” for the photo, then press “Upload”
- It’s then a case of waiting while one of the volunteers at eQSL checks that the licence belongs to you
| Want a one-page guide? See our Getting Started Guides |
Hopefully that’s given you the basics – but if you have any questions, please add them below and we’ll try to help.
Thanks for carrying this “how to” guide for eQSL. We tend to be a nerdy community and much prior knowledge is often assumed making online life tricky for some of us old-timers. Now, having completed my eQSL sign-up it’s back to trying to make sense of N1MM contest logger.
Check out ebabel.net
I’m not a ham and therefore have no call sign but have been listening to whatever I can find as I scan around on my tecsun pl-880. Is there any provision for me to use esql or any other method of acknowledging that I’ve heard from anyone via their callsign, or are hams just not interested in reception reports from non-hams?
Alex,
Yes you can go to https://www.eqsl.cc/qslcard/RegisterValidated.cfm
In the callsigh just type NONE and select the button for SWL and put your country.
click REGISTER and on the next page fill out all the blanks (or at least as many as you can).
Have fun!
George
It all depends on the individual Alex. A lot of us hams welcome SWL reports as it helps us know how well our signals are getting out but some hams prefer not to receive them, it’s all about personal preference.
When I have manually logged in my qso’s and clicked on save where do they go and does that mean I have sent them a card through Eqsl . Sorry for the stupid question but I can not find an answer to this question
Authenticity Guaranteed – How to for Windows
* Open your licence pdf and go to page 1
* Size the image to fit the full height of the display
* Capture the image (ALT-PrtScn)
* Open an image editor (e.g. Paint)
* Paste the image
* Save as JPEG
* Upload to eQSL as above.
Nice website, congrats !!!
Has anyone noticed that with eqsl
there is only one rst field in the eqsl log and on the eqsl qsl card.
In all my logs and on all paper qsl i send and receice there is “rst send” and “rst received” on it …
strange …
ON4AWT
How do I setup for electronic logging?
If you want to log your contracts electronically, you’d use logging software such as Logger32 – https://www.logger32.net/ or Log4OM – https://www.log4om.com/
I have now got eqsl and Log4 set up for when I start transmitting. (Radio is on it’s way to me soon). I have designed a qsl card in eqsl. So how do you get the QSO details from Log4 on to the QSL card in eqsl. And how is the completed card sent out?
Thanks for your help as always.
Paul
MM7PRJ
There is an ”upload to eQSL” option in QSO Manager that will let you upload QSOs to eQSL. This will upload QSOs and add your card to the other person’s eQSL account
I have tried for 10 yrs to access this system of sending a eqsl. It is so so complicated , any symplification would be welcome Geoff M1EDF age 80…Never cracked it yet…
I have tried for 10 yrs to access this system of sending a eqsl. It is so so complicated , any symplification would be welcome Geoff M1EDF age 80…Never cracked it yet… Anyone who could email me would be welcome , Also look at my qrz .com and you will realise I have not been able to activate this most complicated system..
Have you managed to sort eqsl yet .
I’d be happy to help . Email me on [email protected]
Regards
Dave
Great article. One of the things I recently learned was how to setup additional eQSL accounts that are all tied together to one master account. I sometimes operate from a different location than the home QTH, and needed a way to enter the correct grid square, US state, county, etc. to confirm an accurate QSO. It seems the tricky thing is to make sure to set the start and end dates of operation from these other locations to be able to confirm any QSOs. Thanks again. de WD8LQB.
Can I download an eQSL ADI File to QRZ ????
Thank You
Mike
N9tny
73s
Yes, I believe you can