The Amateur Radio 60M band is an odd creature. Unlike every other band, 60M is channelized into 5 discrete buckets. This limits the flexibility Hams enjoy on other bands to get the most use out of the spectrum allocated to us. Because of these limitations, groups that sponsor operating contests and even awards have avoided […]
Captain James Cook was one of the most intrepid explorers of his day. In circumnavigating the world he visited scores of countries. The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) organization offers the Captain James Cook Award for Amateurs who make contacts with those many nations around the world. The award comes in three classes. […]
The criteria for this category of award is simple. Work a given number of unique stations in the specified country and you’re eligible for another award to add to your shack. The number of such awards out there is large. Chasing all of them can easily keep you occupied for some time to come. Thankfully, […]
Up through mid-December, things were a bit slow on the QSL Card Inbox. But I received a number of interesting cards as Christmas approached. In the end, it’s been a productive couple of months at KA5WSS. This card confirms contacts with 9Q1AA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It confirms QSOs on 15M and […]
The American Radio Relay League‘s (ARRL) Worked All States Award is perhaps the most prestigious and sought after domestic award. Working all 50 states of the United States is no small feat. It’s even more of a challenge when Hams outside of the US attempt it. The WAS program is rich with enhancements for working […]
Brazil is South America’s largest country. It also has the largest number of licensed Radio Amateurs at 32,000. Working all Brazilian states is somewhat tough since many states are not heavily populated. There is an easier way to get started collecting Brazilian awards. The European ROS Club issues the Worked Different Amateur Radio – Brazil […]
Amateur Radio operators try to leave politics out of our normal discourse on the air. But sometimes the urge to dive into controversy seems irresistible. Here are a few examples where geopolitical disputes get expressed in the form of Amateur Radio awards. Japan and Russia have yet to sign a treaty ending World War II […]
Japan has one of the largest number of Amateur Radio operators in the world. The YB6_DXC Digital Modes club offers the WDM (Worked Digital Mode) Japan Award for working certain numbers of unique Japanese Amateur Radio stations using only digital modes. New England may enjoy privileged access to European stations. But here on the West […]
Call Area Awards are issued to Amateur Radio operators who make contacts with each of the active call areas of a given country. Many countries around the world issue callsigns with digits (0-9) that correspond to a specific geographic area. In most cases a call area award is easier to obtain than one which requires […]
With FT8 you can work towards, and receive, the Worked United States Stations Award with even the most basic Ham Radio HF station imaginable. To receive the starting certificate requires contacts with 100 different stations residing anywhere in the United States. The certificate for each level appears to be unique and features some scene from […]