The Caribbean Sea is often portrayed as a paradise on Earth with sandy beaches, cool ocean breezes and a laid back atmosphere. Can’t get away for an island adventure at this time? You can use the Worked Caribbean Award (WCARA) as a way to imagine and plan for a future trip. The FT8 Digital Mode […]
There are a large number of awards available just for working a given number of unique stations in a defined area. This area can be a DXCC Entity, a Continent or anything else the award manager chooses. You can easily qualify for many such awards with a relatively small number of QSOs and obtain endorsements, […]
The world gets divided up in many ways. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) carves up the world into three regions for administrative purposes. Region 2 consists of the continents of North and South America. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) sponsors the Worked Region 2 Award (WR2A) for working Ham Radio stations in the countries […]
The Black Sea borders nations that have hosted some of the oldest documented civilizations. The Activity Group of Belarus (AGB) issues the Black Sea Award for Ham Radio operators who make a certain number of contacts with countries that border that historic sea. AGB issues three classes of the award. Each class requires a certain […]
Here are some of the more interesting QSL Cards that I’ve received in my Inbox over the last couple of months through November 2024. I’ve only worked two Andorran stations the entire time I’ve been licensed. So I was happy to receive this QSL Card from C31CA for a contact on 20M using FT8. This […]
Asia is the most populous continent on the planet. It’s also home to Japan, which has one of the largest Radio Amateur populations in the world. So there are a lot of potential contacts to be made. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) issues the Asia Stations Award (ASSA) for working at least 100 different […]
The Arab speaking world straddles the African and Asia continents. In 1945 several Arabic countries formed the Arab League to draw its members closer and foster cooperation. Today there are 22 member states. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) sponsors the Arab League Award (ALA) for working Amateur Radio stations residing within those countries. The […]
As an American Ham Radio operator, there’s nothing easier than working other American stations. So there may be no easier award to chase after than one which only requires making contacts with stateside stations. The Worked Different Amateur Radio – USA award, from the European Ros Club (ERC), does just that. The first certificate in […]
For the FT4 and FT8 digital modes, like in comedy, timing is everything. If your computer clock is even one second off from other stations you are intending to work your signal strength will suffer. A difference of a couple of seconds may mean you are not decoding any signals at all. The importance of […]
