eQSL.cc is the first and only global electronic QSL card exchange for amateur radio operators and SWLs.
It is designed to be the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to exchange QSO confirmations, eliminating the cost and time
that regular QSL cards have required for the past half century.
Ownership
The company is registered in the State of Texas and owned by David L. Morris, N5UP.
Dave has over 25 years of experience architecting computer hardware and software systems and has been involved in
other pioneering software projects involving amateur radio and artificial intelligence.
He experimented and developed the eQSL concept over a period of several years, designed the system,
wrote all the software, developed the SQL database, designed the graphics, and currently handles much of the technical support.
You can read more about the history of the company on our 10th Anniversary page.
Non-profit Status
Although the company is not legally a "non-profit" in the technical sense of the term, it is operated very much similar to a non-profit organization.
One can easily calculate the amount of revenue that would be generated from a membership base of over 120,000 members if each member were charged
even as little as $1 per month.
But the company's mission is to provide basic electronic QSL card exchange services to all amateurs and SWLs
around the world FREE of charge. Thus, we do not charge a mandatory membership or subscription fee in order to participate.
We do this at a huge loss to us, as you can easily calculate.
The failure of "dot-coms" during the year 2000 has been widely publicized. Despite the popular demand for "FREE"
services on the web, it is finally becoming apparent to everyone that this is not a realistic expectation.
Nevertheless, eQSL.cc does NOT have any plans to begin charging for its basic QSL exchange service.
The company's primary purpose in all revenue generation activities is to offset monthly expenses for
Commissions on sales of items through Amazon.com and other affliates
Sales of award plaques and other items
Business Plans
In January 2009 we launched an interface with CQ magazine, allowing our members to submit credits directly to CQ awards managers.
Some organizations such as 10-10 and DARC have had informal acceptance policies toward our electronic QSLs.
It is a goal of ours to make arrangements with ARRL, JARL, and other amateur organizations
to accept our eQSLs for awards and contests. We believe our authenticated
eQSLs are even more reliable than traditional QSL cards as confirmation of QSOs!
You can find out which organizations currently accept our eQSLs by going to the Organization List page.
Advisory Board
The company has daily discussions among a group of Advisory Board members.
While not binding on the management of eQSL.cc, the suggestions and recommendations of the Advisory Board are usually accepted,
and these have resulted in many significant improvements and new features.
Advisory Board members are appointed by the management of eQSL.cc and serve a term that ends December 31 of each year.
They are chosen for their experience with web technologies, logging software, contesting, their affiliation with amateur organizations,
standing in the amateur community, foreign language expertise, journalistic background, SWL experiences,
or other assets of benefit to eQSL.cc.
They volunteer their time and energy to the advancement of this aspect of amateur radio,
and their efforts have resulted in improved ease of use, enhanced features, and greater
popularity of eQSL.cc in the amateur community.
Some of them are involved in daily support activities, such as answering e-mail, checking licenses, correcting mistakes in user profiles,
approving awards, and other things.
Data Center
The Electronic QSL Card Centre eQSL.cc is located in a state-of-the-art data center in Dallas, Texas, with raised floors, climate control, fire-suppression system, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems and standby power generators.
One of the most significant benefits of selecting eQSL.cc as your QSL exchange is the high level of security and fault-tolerance that is offered from a facility designed to house E-Commerce sites.
Servers are located in an extra-secure environment featuring top-of-the-line security systems that incorporate biometric identification systems, closed-circuit cameras, security patrols, social engineering practices and restricted floor access.
In January 2008 we retired our single server that had performed flawlessly for 4 years, and replaced it with 2 new servers. These servers share the processing load and a total of over 1.5 terabytes of fault-tolerant disk space.
In February 2009 we added a 3rd server in a different city, just to do backups and keep them in a completely different location, in case of natural disasters.
Privacy
We have a strong privacy policy which you can read online.
We hire outside services such as HackerAlert and TrustWave to hammer on our systems and try to break in. They issue certifications, some of which we publish online for you to look at.
Technology and Patents
The technologies used in the eQSL.cc system are industrial-strength database and server software.
The servers are hosted at some of the leading hosting companies and connected to the Internet with huge "pipes"
to provide ample bandwidth and growth potential.
eQSL.cc has applied for patents on the design of the system.
There has been some controversy over these patents, but they are nothing new in amateur radio.
A simple patent search shows over 250 different patents have been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office for devices and techniques used specifically in amateur radio just over the past 10 years.
These include patents on antennas, feedlines, filters, networks, connectors, and devices used in emergency communications or by the handicapped.
Some of the most well-known companies in ham radio (Yaesu Musen, Butternut, etc.) have filed for patents on their products in order to protect their investments in time and money.
Contrary to what one hears on some ham reflectors, patents are not some sinister document that keeps the invention from the public.
In fact, the purpose of a patent is to allow the inventor to reap the rewards of an innovation, while making its details available to the public
after the patent has expired. So, if you want to create a duplicate of the eQSL.cc system, just copy the design published in the patent,
and then wait for the patent protection period to expire, and you can have your own system!
Our databases run on RAID 10 fault-tolerant disks (4 disks doing the job of 1 to provide duplication and faster access times). We do on-machine backups every 6 hours, off-machine backups daily, and off-site backups daily, using industry-standard rotation schedules.
Our servers are monitored around the clock by several different automated monitoring systems in different parts of the world.
Any outage automatically triggers a multi-tier support system.
The first notification occurs within seconds of a web server or mail server failure and will be detected by on-premises monitors as well as remote monitors in other parts of the world.
The data center NOC is notified on a monitoring screen, and the webmaster is notified by cellphone.
If nothing is corrected within 30 minutes, NOC personnel begin calling a series of phone numbers for the webmaster, backup support personnel, and Advisory Board members.
Several of the Advisory Board members on our Support Committee are constantly monitoring the system, and they notify the webmaster by cellphone whenever something unusual occurs that might not be considered a web server or mail server failure,
but which affect the usability of the system.
If you experience a server outage, chances are that it will be fixed automatically within a couple of minutes, and you can just hit the REFRESH button on your browser until it returns to normal.
Other Internet ventures by Dave Morris N5UP
Air-Wave Productions - Adventure videos in high definition for aviation and travel enthusiasts
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