The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) rewards Radio Amateurs who make contacts with Amateur Radio stations in each of the 10 call areas of Italy with the Worked All Italian Call Area award. All QSOs must be made using the FT8 digital mode. The certificate sports a nighttime view of Italy from space showing the […]
CQ Magazine sponsors a number of Amateur Radio operating awards. None are as expansive as their WPX Award. The WPX here indicates Worked PrefiXes. Prefixes are parts of an Amateur Radio callsign that includes the ITU country designator and a call area number. For my callsign of KA5WSS the prefix is “KA5”. I say “Worked […]
The European Ros Club (ERC) issues the Diplomas Distritos EA Award to Radio Amateurs who make digital contact with one other Ham operator in each of the 9 call areas of Spain. Call area EA0 is either not used or only issued for special occasions. When thinking of the country of Spain from an Amateur […]
The Worked All New Zealand Award indicates that an Amateur Radio Operator has made a given number of FT8 contacts with the four call areas of New Zealand proper. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) is the sponsor of the award. There are four call areas present in the two main islands of New Zealand. […]
The FT8 Digital Mode Club issues the Worked All Australia Award to Radio Amateurs who make contact with at least one station in each of the 8 call areas of Australia. Australia actually administers two additional call areas not required for this award. The VK9 call area is issued for territories such as Christmas, Cocos, […]
The Diploma Paises and DXCC programs from the European Ros Club are the ERC equivalent of the American Radio Relay League’s DXCC program. To earn certificates an Amateur Radio operator has to work as many “countries” as possible using digital modes such as FT8. It appears the Diploma Paises is awarded for working countries across […]
Maidenhead Grid Squares are an Amateur Radio invention designed to spur activity on the VHF bands. By creating a uniform grid of possible multipliers around the world the insurmountable advantages some stations had due to political boundaries could be mitigated. Particularly with the advent of FT8, which uses the grid as its main QSO exchange, […]
CQ Magazine’s Worked All Zones (WAZ) award is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in Amateur Radio. To obtain the award one needs to work confirm contacts with at least one station in each of the 40 CQ zones spread all over the Earth. Working and confirming 40 QSOs sounds easier than the […]
Amateur Radio prefixes are those parts of a callsign that contain its country allocation ID and call area number. For my callsign of KA5WSS that would be KA5. KA is part of a block of characters assigned to the United States by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Prefixes are useful for indicating in which DXCC […]
The FT8 Digital Mode Club’s (FT8DMC) Worked VHF Grid Award (WVGA) honors operating achievement in working stations on the VHF bands using the FT8 digital mode in a given number of different Maidenhead grid squares. You can obtain the entry level award with a total of 50 grids. The American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) VHF/UHC […]