Captain James Cook Award – FT8DMC

To celebrate the widespread exploration of British naval officer James Cook, the FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) offers the Captain James Cook Award. To obtain the award, applicants need to make contact with stations in the places Cook visited. This award is a synonym for the Captain James Cook Award from NZART. The award is […]

February 2026 QSL Card Inbox

February is a short month. So it’s fitting to also have a small number of cards come through the inbox. Here are a few that are of some interest. This card from OH0Z confirms a CW contact on 10M. Aland Island is a group of autonomous Finnish Islands in the middle of the Baltic Sea. […]

Arab League Prefixes Award

The Arab League consists of 22 members states across Africa and Asia. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) sponsors the Arab League Prefixes Award (ALPA) for working Amateur Radio stations residing within those countries with differing prefixes of their callsign. The entry point for the award is 10 unique prefixes. There are certainly more but it’s hard to determine […]

My Birthday Award

Awards come in all levels of difficulty. If you are looking for a quick way to earn an operating award look no further than the My Birthday Award, sponsored by Paolo Corsetti, IK3GER. To qualify for the award you need only make 5 contacts via Amateur Radio on your birthday. That’s it! There is no […]

Worked All Japan Call Area – ERC

You can earn the Worked All Japan Call Area from the European ROS Club (ERC) by working Amateur Radio stations in each of the 10 Japanese call areas. This award is a synonym of the Japan Amateur Radio League‘s All Japan Districts award. But this award doesn’t cost anything! In addition to the basic award […]

Worked All Zones – FT8DMC

The Worked All Zones Award from CQ Magazine (SK) is one of the oldest Amateur Radio awards in existence. An alternative to WAZ, also called Worked All Zones, is available for free from the FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC). To obtain it you need to work at least one station in each of the 40 […]

Worked All Continents Award – CDG

Looking for a free version of the  International Amateur Radio Union‘s Worked All Continents award? The Croatian Digital Group (CDG) offers up the Worked All Continents Award. It requires just 6 QSOs with Amateur Radio operators on each of the continually inhabited continents. The hard to contact Antarctica is not required, making this a relatively easy award […]

Locators Award

With the growing popularity of FT8, the use of Gridsquares in awards criteria has exploded well beyond the realm of VHF/UHF. The Activity Group Belarus (AGB) offers up the Locators Award for working Amateur Radio stations in as many gridsquares as possible on HF as well as VHF. The bottom level requirement for a certificate […]

Zone 16 Award

CQ Zone 16 covers the easternmost part of Europe. It’s been the location of a lot of pain and suffering lately, but plenty of Amateur Radio activity continues to reach out to the world despite this. The Activity Group of Belarus (AGB) offers the Zone 16 Award to track your progress of making contacts with stations in the area. […]

Worked ZL Grid Square Award

Maidenhead Grid Squares cover the world. There are many awards for contacting Hams in all of them. But country specific grid awards allow an applicant to focus on a particular area of interest. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) offers the Worked ZL Grid Square Award (ZLGS) to Amateur Radio operators who make contacts with […]