Another bunch of awards for digital contacts
FT8 & FT4 QSOs seem to be more popular than ever. Personally, I prefer tuning the CW portions of our bands, but except for DXPeditions
Amateur radio awards, certificates, diplomas? You name it, we mean the same thing.
They form a major motivating force for making contacts day after day. Personally, I find the reward of achieving a beautiful certificate or even a plaque very gratifying. It takes skillful operating practice to qualify. Aside expanding one’s hobby related knowledge, it’s also a fascinating way to learn more about geography, history, political structure of the world or even nature.
Below I try to give an (incomplete) overview of the different kind of certificates waiting to be conquered by the award chaser.
The “must haves” that every radio amateur should aspire to. Each and every one are classics with a long track record and famous history. They deserve an eyecatching place on the wall of every shack and form the backbone of most active HAMs.
Participants and holders demonstrate their perseverance and success in the DX world. The road to the top may prove hard and difficult and usually requires many years of intense activity.
Are generally considered as “must haves” classics:
DXCC is Amateur Radio's premier award that hams can earn by confirming on the air contacts with 100 countries. You can begin with the basic DXCC award and work your way up to the DXCC Honor Roll.
ARRL
The “Premier League” may be the essential ones for the true blue DXer, for the award chaser there’s a whole world out there. Certificates are issued for a variety of operating merits.
Here’s an incomplete overview.
Awards available for working specific continents or countries.
Examples: Antarctica Award, Worked All Thailand Award, Germany Award.
CQ’s Worked All Zones Award is considered as one the the “Premier League” programs.
Awards are also available for working specific CQ Magazines or ITU Zones and Maidenhead Locators countries.
Examples: Worked ITU Zones Award, Swedish Locator Award, Worked All Italian Squares Award.
Awards issued for working states, provinces, oblasts, counties, etc within a single country.
Examples: US Counties Award, Deutschland Diplom (DLD), Worked All Belgian Provinces (WABP).
Certificates awarded for working stations in a specific city or a certain geographic region within a single country.
Examples: Ljubljana Award, Mecklenburg Vorpommern Award.
Other variants may also be available, e.g. postcode awards etc.
CQ’s Magazine WPX Award may be considered as one of the “must haves” but some regional ones are out there as well.
Examples: Worked Croatian Prefixes Award, LY Prefix Trophy.
International, national, local and/or special interests groups often issue award for contacting their members.
Examples: Worked DIG Members, FIRAC Award.
Following the great success of the Islands On The Air (IOTA) program, many other “OTA” groups followed the trend.
Programs such as Summits On The Air (SOTA), World Flora & Fauna (WFF), Castles On The Air (COTA), quite some lighthouse groups, etc have been generating lots of activity.
The same applies to groups promoting contacts with national islands.
In Belgium we have the energetic “Belgium Outdoor Shack (BOS)” group which I warmly recommend.
Historic commemorations, sport or cultural events, specific birthdays, etc all kinds often see the activation of special event stations. Award are often associated with these events.
FT8 & FT4 QSOs seem to be more popular than ever. Personally, I prefer tuning the CW portions of our bands, but except for DXPeditions
Just as an experiment, I decided to hand out some points during the FT4 QSO Party of March 2024. The party was organized by the
The Italian Navy Coastal Stations event is over. Happy to have worked the complete set of special event stations.
The Polish section of the Diploma Interests Group (DIG) has renewed its award design of the W-DIG-SP. The rules may be found here.
Having worked the special event station HI180RD, I was granted a commemoration certificate for the 180th anniversary of the independence of the Dominican Republic. See
The final results of the 2023 CQWW CW contest have been published. Happy to be the first Belgian in my category.
The Croatian radioclub of Zagreb celebrates its 100th anniversary. A commemorative award is available for working two special event stations. Details may be found here.
Traditionally, the Antarctic Week Event takes place in February. This award has been granted for working several special event stations. See here for details about
A late Christmas present 😉 The pennant for working LY23XMAS on several band/mode slots.
Happy to achieve the DIG 55 from my favorite Diploma Interest Group Club. See here for details.
The URE is celebrating the centenary of amateur radio in Spain. Throughout the month of Feb ’24 the special event station AO100RADIO is aired.
The final scores of the 2024 AGCW’s Happy New Year Contest have been published. Ended up 50th of 144 participants in the low power class.
Ended up 40th among 342 participants in te 3rd round of the 2023 YOTA Contest in the “Single Operator 3 Bands” category.
Working German (X)YLs results in some nicely designed awards. See this link for details.
I feel ambiguous about this one. To achieve a competitive score, it was required to work the same stations day after day during the month
The Rhein Ruhr DX Association (RRDXA) is celebrating its 60th anniversary. As a member, achieving the commemorating award was a must 😉
Diplom Interessen Gruppe: my favorite club. Uninterrupted member since 1978 (DIG#2068). With melancholy I remember the numerous meetings in Gemünd (Germany), Podborany (Czech Rep.) and
Very happy to be the 1st Belgian in my participation category of the IARU HF Championship 2023.
A certificate was received for my participation in the Marconi QSO Party Day 2024 organized by the Marconi Club ARI Loano.
At the occasion of the 310th birthday of the Lithuanian poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, the special event station LY310KD is aired. Having worked the station in
Happy to receive the certificate for my participation in the CWT tests during 2023.
Celebrating its 37th anniversary, the EUDXF activated several special event stations in 2023. A commemorative award was issued.
2024 marks exactly one hundred years since the “German Funk-Kartell” was founded. To celebrate this, a number of special stations are active to which the
With the month of December ’23 behind us, we look back on YOTA activities. Each December the youth within the amateurradio community organizes a month
The American ARRL organized an event called VOTA. The goal was to work throughout 2023 as many ARRL members. Each contact with individual members earned
Just before the turn of the year, I worked my fifth band/mode slot with DK70BAD so that I could still earn this award from the
Managed to work the special event station OL750HOL on the last band/mode slot right in time before the end of the year. Celebrating 750 years
December is YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) month. A bunch of special event stations have been active since Dec. 1st. A series of awards is
Just received a commemorative certificate for working the Ukrainian special event station EM80UPA.
Managed to achieve the SZ65RAAG award in the diamond class for working the special event station on six different bands. SZ65RAAG is aired to commemorate
The Greek Telegraphy Club is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Just received this commemorative award for working the special event station SX25GTC on five different bands.
Received this certificate for working D4C on 5 different bands during the CQWW CW Contest 2023.
The Bavarian Contest Club celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2023. A commemorative award is available for working at least 40 members. I just achieved the
Achieved for working at least 75 German stations, including DL75BRD, originating from all 24 DARC Districts. See here for details.
Just downloaded my Italian Navy Ships Radio Stations 2023 Award.
A commemorative award for contacting the Greek special event station SX480SNB aired to commemorate the Salamis Naval Battle.
After previously achieving the “DLD – Deutschland” Diplom 1000 on both 80 & 40m, I now also hold the 160m version in the DLD-100 level.
Happy to have received my certificate for working the EG5VCE special event station activated at the occasion of the Spanish 2023 Vuelta cycling competition.
Just received the certificate of the 2023 edition of the “13 Colonies” event. First time I managed a clean sweep for working all 13 colonies
Just achieved some new awards from the YB6 DX Community.
Just achieved the German “langwellen Sender Europe 1 Denkmal” certificate. See here for details.
Just received my certificate for participation in the Spanish SDC 2023. See here for details.
Just received the HB75ZRH award. This certificate is being issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Zürich Airport.
Just received the King Charles Coronation Award from the RSGB. It seems the certificate was the 1st one issued hi…
A new Spanish award for my collection: Gjion Fiesta del Cielo 2023.
Just received this French award for working TM84/TM230 stations at the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the French Departement Vaucluse.
Whow… I could add two new awards to my collection: Lituanica 90 Award in Gold 14th Hill Climb Limanowa
Several special event stations are being activated throughout May ’23 to commemorate the event. An award is available as well. Needless to say, ON4CAS has
The DARC advised the HAM community that the updated DA0HQ awards are now available for download. So far, ON4CAS made 177 contacts with DA0HQ, the
Early April ’23, some Spanish special event stations were active to commemorate Pablo Picasso. Today, I received the bronze award in CW mode in the
3,141 Amateur radio operators worldwide managed to contact the special event station W1W aired at the occasion of the 2023 World Amateur Radio Day. ON4CAS
Another new one from the FT4DMC club for working all Japanese call areas in FT4.
Yes, that’s right. Another two new awards were achieved in FT8 mode. It seems the FT8DMC club and other offer awards for almost any contacts
DL17UBOOT is a special event station on the occasion of the transfer of the former German Navy submarine U17 of the German Armed Forces. The
Another two awards from the FT8DMC club could be added to my award collection.
The special event station ZX89L was activated by the Brazilian IARU Society LABRE celebrating its 89th anniversary. A commemorative award was issued to the deserving…
Managed to work 100 different members of the Bavarian Contest Club during its 40th anniversary. See this link for information about the BCC.
Today I received the Deutschlanddiplom 1000 – 40m for having confirmed 1,000 different DOKs on 7 MHz. One of the award which takes many years
Today another four new awards for the popular FT8 mode were achieved.
The huge amount of awards available for the digimode enthousiast is a bit “over the top” I guess. Nevertheless, I do apply whenever I see
Throughout the month of April ’23, the UBA board members and its HF committee will air the special station OT23WARD celebrating World Amateur Radio Day
The ARRL is honoring its volunteers. The “Volunteers On The Air (VOTA)” program runs through the year 2023. Depending on their “job” ARRL volunteers will
Another short-term award could be added to my collection. See this link for more info about this Romanian certificate.
Please note that, effective Feb. 24, ’22, I am NO longer chasing any Russian or Belarusian awards. Most of the clubs and organizations in both countries
Just in: the 2023 edition of the Italian Navy Coastal Stations award. See this link for more information. I had a great time chasing the
Thanks to my participation in the Bavarian Contest Club QSO Party I could upgrade my WABCC Award to “80 Members Worked”.
Just in: the WABCC 40 Award for working 40 members of the Bavarian Contest Club during its 40th anniversary year 2023. Have a look at
Long-term work: the WAE trophy # 58 Issued by the DARC for working all European WAE countries on five different amateur bands. See here for