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 Kiwi Hams in at least 12 different grid squares.
The award is issued in at least three levels. The entry level Bronze award hints that Silver and Gold levels are also available. Unfortunately, the FT8DMC website was changed not too long ago. As a result, the full requirements for awards are no longer available. These are not entirely required to chase certificates since the UltimateAAC application (see below) tracks all of that for you.
As with all other FT8DMC awards, only contacts using the FT8 digital mode are acceptable.
The certificate design shows a satellite view of New Zealand. Overlaying the islands are some of the grid squares that cover its territory. A smaller NZ map and a Kiwi are also included.
To apply for the Worked ZL Grid Square Award, and all other FT8DMC awards, you must install the UltimateAAC application on a Windows machine. That application scans your WSJT-X ADIF log file and will inform you when you’ve qualified for the award at various levels. FT8DMC issues the award in digital form only (JPG or PDF) with no printing or shipping costs. In fact, the award is completely free, like all of their other awards.