Maidenhead Grids are not just for VHF/UHF anymore. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) offers the Worked Grid Award (WGA) for Amateur Radio operators who make contact with other stations in at least 100 different grids.
Although 100 grids sounds like a onerous task. But with the FT8 digital mode it’s a goal easily achievable even by modest home stations with a single wire antenna.
You can obtain additional WGA certificates signifying higher grid counts. Working up to 5,000 unique grids will net a total of 15 separate awards.
WGA is similar in concept to the American Radio Relay League‘s (ARRL) VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) award. However, contacts made on the HF bands are used in this case and not just VHF and above. FT8DMC does have another award, Worked VHF Grid Award (WVGA) that more closely resembles VUCC.
The certificate design shows a map of Europe with one Field broken out. It shows all 100 grids contained within the field, consisting of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
To apply for the Worked Grid 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.