In posting my comments on various operations I hope this will be of help to those just beginning their dx adventures. So, here goes and hope it is of some value.
A few weeks ago three stations surfaced from Lebanon in the form of OD5NJ, OD5NG and a special event station OD5ARMY. This country is in turmoil and mail is unreliable at best and often qsl cards sent in envelopes with Green Stamps are stolen. In this case LOTW may work for you, but again relying upon internet service in Lebanon is about as reliable as their postal department.
My advice is save your cards, money and time forget trying to obtain a card from any of these hams, since your card may never arrive. Even if it does, the chances of it arriving to the station you worked is slim to none and slim left town.
I worked all three of the stations mentioned, but have not risked losing money in an attempt to get a qsl card, it simply is not worth the effort. Yes, I do need these for a twenty meter band country, but not worth the hassle. Take your chances if you must. Do not hold your breath, or wait at the mailbox for this one to arrive.
About a year ago I worked BY1RX in China on 40 meters a guest op and that was a Canadian at the controls, the qsl route went to another Canadian station for the qsl duties. After repeated attempts to obtain a card, I have only been met with vagaries and excuses as to why after almost a year this chore has not been addressed. If you did work BY1RX under a guest op and it goes via another Canadian op as a qsl manager, well forget it. Doubtful I will ever see a card surface.
During the winter months several stations are active on 40 from China so I plan to work another station ASAP.
One more bit of information, there has been several stations operating from XX9 Macau and this country has not been active for some time. The route is EA7FTR and he has the reputation of being the worst qsl manager of all time. Check this out on the internet search, my advice use LOTW and forget the manager.
One of the best stateside managers is W3HNK, Joe handles chores for many stations, yet is prompt with doing his duties. I have sent many cards to Joe and have never failed to receive one. Be sure of course to include an SASE and with in ten days, or less you will have that country confirmed.
I have worked 9k2UU on forty meters, but close to two years and two requests with Green stamps have produced nothing. In the past this station had a qsl manager stateside, but apparently he became a silent key. The only response I have seen from 9K2UU is via EQSL and this is worthless toward ARRL DXCC. So, save your money on this one as well.
A note about e card services, for those of you starting your adventure, you may want to investigate the ARRL LOTW program. I quite frankly have not used this service and it took months to receive even a simple note that I did not submit the proper digital certificate. I had thought I did this correctly, but apparently not. So, I ditched the soft ware long before their reply and have no immediate plans to try again.
EQSL is totally worthless for ARRL awards such as WAS, WAC, or DXCC credits. If you wish to obtain their awards then by all means go for it. However, the standard for many years has been the league with various achievement awards requiring some form of verification. Thing is with EQSL you are locked in to their cookie cutter cards, that is they all look alike, or you can submit your own card, but the copy turns out to be a very poor replica.
The choice is yours, but nothing like the real thing and I prefer real qsl cards for all contacts I made towards credit for DXCC.
Overall, the qsl rate for DX stations is very good from my operation, there are of course some bad apples in the barrel so take your chances and hope for the best. For the most part, qsl managers work, direct qsling works if you include some green in the envelope.
Avoid the middle east countries with direct qsling, if they have managers go that route and check QRZ.com for all information.
