Italian Navy Ships Radio Stations 2023 Award
Just downloaded my Italian Navy Ships Radio Stations 2023 Award.
25 september 2023
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I got a diploma in school, but that's not what this is about, is it?
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.
Premier League
★★★★★ 5/5
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:
- DX Century Club (DXCC)
- Worked All Zones (WAZ)
- Islands On The Air (IOTA)
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.
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.
Latest Award News
Ομάδα Ραδιοερασιτεχνών Σαλαμίνας
A commemorative award for contacting the Greek special event station SX480SNB aired to commemorate the Salamis Naval Battle.
20 september 2023
Deutschlanddiplom 160m
After previously achieving the “DLD – Deutschland” Diplom 1000 on both 80 & 40m, I now also hold the 160m version in the DLD-100 level.
18 september 2023
Vuelta 2023 Award
Happy to have received my certificate for working the EG5VCE special event station activated at the occasion of the Spanish 2023 Vuelta cycling competition.
12 september 2023
13 Colonies Award
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
12 september 2023
New awards from the YB6 DX Community
Just achieved some new awards from the YB6 DX Community.
7 september 2023
Langwellen Sender Europe 1 Denkmal
Just achieved the German “langwellen Sender Europe 1 Denkmal” certificate. See here for details.
7 september 2023
SDC 2023
Just received my certificate for participation in the Spanish SDC 2023. See here for details.
4 september 2023
HB75ZRH Award
Just received the HB75ZRH award. This certificate is being issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Zürich Airport.
31 augustus 2023
King Charles Coronation Award
Just received the King Charles Coronation Award from the RSGB. It seems the certificate was the 1st one issued hi…
27 juli 2023
26 juli 2023
GIJÓN Fiesta Del Cielo 2023
A new Spanish award for my collection: Gjion Fiesta del Cielo 2023.
22 juli 2023
230th anniversary Dept. Vaucluse
Just received this French award for working TM84/TM230 stations at the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the French Departement Vaucluse.
13 juli 2023
5 juli 2023
Two new awards added to my collection
Whow… I could add two new awards to my collection: Lituanica 90 Award in Gold 14th Hill Climb Limanowa
3 juli 2023
15 juni 2023
Celebrating 100 years of radio communication history between Indonesia and The Netherlands
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
16 mei 2023
DA0HQ Award updated
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
11 mei 2023
Spain: Picasso Award
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
1 mei 2023
W1W World Amateur Radio Day
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
29 april 2023
New FT4 Award
Another new one from the FT4DMC club for working all Japanese call areas in FT4.
19 april 2023