April 2024 QSL Card Inbox

Things have really picked up, QSL-wise in April. On April 19th I received a shipment of 94 QSL Cards from the Incoming QSL Bureau! I had inadvertently allowed my envelope count to drop to zero and the cards started to pile up. Sorting through those and updating my logbook kept me busy for some time […]

Award Synonyms

Worked All Japan Call Area

You are likely aware of the most popular Amateur Radio operating awards. DXCC, VUCC, WAZ, WAS, WPX are some of the bigger ones. What’s not as well known is that there are a number of other awards that sometimes closely mirror, if not exactly match, the requirements of the better known awards. Why bother with […]

AGB-Digital Countries

Chasing countries on the air is one of Amateur Radio’s most popular activities. The Activity Group Belarus offers Hams who work at least 50 countries using digital modes with the AGB-Digital Countries award. This award synonym not as widely known or chased after as the venerable DX Century Club (DXCC) from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). […]

March 2024 QSL Card Inbox

I had a pretty good run over the last couple of months on the QSL Card front. Plus, I have a large number of cards at the Incoming Bureau waiting to be sent so even more to come in the near future. I had worked Yemen in 1990 and received a card for it. But […]

Worked Grid Award (ERC)

The European Ros Club issues the Worked Grid Award to Amateur Radio operators who work at least 100 unique Maidenhead Gridsquares. It is an award synonym to the American Radio Relay League‘s (ARRL) popular VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) award, at least for the six meter band. Like VUCC, the entry point for WGA is contact […]

Diploma 5 Continentes Modo Digital

The Diploma 5 Continentes Modo Digital (DCM) from the European Ros Club (ERC) rewards the Radio Amateur who makes digital mode contacts with other stations on each of the five populated continents of the World. Wait, did you say five continents? Continental awards, such as Worked All Continents (WAC) generally exclude Antarctica from the landmasses […]

Digital Prefixes (AGB)

Historically, prefix award tracking could be a royal pain. But modern technology has come to the rescue allowing for chasing after Worked All Prefixes (WPX) with relative ease on Logbook of the World. The Activity Group Belarus offers their own WPX synonym called AGB-Digital Prefixes. Unlike WPX, it won’t cost you a dime to obtain […]

Worked All States (ERC)

Working an Amateur Radio station in all 50 States of the US is an achievement that can be obtained using stations of all capabilities. There’s a reason why the American Radio Relay League‘s Worked All States Award is one of the most popular operating awards around. But there are similar synonym awards for the same […]

DX Country Award

The ARRL’s DX Century Club (DXCC) award is Amateur Radio’s most sought after operating award. But applying for it can be a bit pricy. The Croatian Digital Group offers a cheaper award synonym called the DX Country Award. How much cheaper? The award is entirely free! Like DXCC, the DX Country Award uses DXCC “countries”. […]

Worked All Continents (FT4DMC)

The Worked All Continents award is a relatively easy first time certificate for Hams to chase. The International Amateur Radio Union‘s WAC award serves this purpose well. There is a digital version of the award, but what if you want to fine tune your efforts even more? The FT4 Digital Mode Club‘s (FT4DMC) Worked All […]