Chasing after operating awards is one of my main activities in Amateur Radio. In this category on my site you’ll find descriptions of many awards that I’ve received and how you can go about receiving your own.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has upended the normality to which we had all grown accustomed. This applies to the Amateur Radio pastime of Award Hunting as well. Problems I’ve encountered a couple of issues related to COVID-19 that have hampered my award hunting efforts. Social Distancing A popular way to maintain the integrity of operating […]
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) represents Amateur Radio at the international level. When World governments gather to discuss issues that might impact Hams the IARU is there to argue our case. IARU members are the national Amateur Radio organizations in each country. This makes the IARU something like the United Nations of Ham Radio. […]
The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) sponsors an award for working a certain number of Amateur Radio stations in Mexico. You can obtain the Worked Mexican Stations Award (WMSA) in three classes, depending up the number of different stations worked. Award Class Contacts I 50 II 25 III 10 The WMSA award is presented in […]
Alaska is a big US state and a separate DXCC country. The FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) sponsors an award for working a certain number of KL7 stations called the Worked Alaskan Stations Award (WALSA). The club awards certificates for working 5, 10 and 15 different stations. The WALSA award is presented in digital form […]
Here’s another FT8 Digital Mode Club (FT8DMC) award that does not require too many contacts to acquire. The Worked All New Caledonia Award (WANKA) requires only two FT8 contacts with Amateur Radio operators on the island territory of New Caledonia. There is only one class of the award. The WANKA award is presented in digital […]
The Worked Canadian Stations Award (WCASA) is a fairly easy to get started award which requires a minimum of 10 FT8 contacts with stations in Canada. The award comes in three classes, differing by the number of stations required: Award Class Contacts I 50 II 25 III 10 Conveniently, if you apply for the class […]
During the the time of the Roman Empire the Mediterranean Sea was sometimes known as the Roman Sea. The Romans themselves referred to it as Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea”). It’s fitting that Italy, whose capital is Rome, should provide an Amateur Radio award promoting contacts with modern countries that now line its shores. For this […]
There are several things about an Amateur Radio award that can interest me. Learning something while earning it, a handsome award with flags, a map and no cost are a few things that come to mind. The Via Regia Award touches on all of those points. The Via Regia (Royal Highway) refers to the oldest […]
The American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) Worked All States Award (WAS) is one of the most prominent domestic awards in Amateur Radio. To obtain the award applicants must submit proof of having worked another Amateur Radio station within each of the 50 states that make up the United States of America. I recently achieved WAS […]
When looking at Amateur Radio operating awards and the rules that apply to them you will often come across the acronym GCR. GCR stands for General Certification Rules. It defines a method by which the operator can prove to the award manager that they successfully made and confirmed the required contacts for an award. Traditionally, […]