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 Previous: Surfin': Linux: One More Time |  Next: ARISS School Group Contact Falls Victim to Space Station Air Leak |
By Charles W. Pearce, K3YWY
January 10, 2004
A humorous look at a number of "new" operating awards you may not even know you've already earned!
I was sitting in my shack the other day and noticed the lack of wallpaper. Not the kind you put on with paste, but the kind of ham wallpaper that decorates the wall and bespeaks achievement. Beyond some free posters from one of the radio companies, I only had one that fell into the achievement category--a "thank you" from a local club for a talk I had given at one of their meetings. So, how to remedy this situation and spruce up the shack walls with a bunch of certificates? After I reviewed the available major awards, such as DXCC, WAS and WAZ, it quickly became apparent that these take real work. So why shouldn't we have a new class of "awards" for those of us not as inclined to put in much effort. Awards that fit the way we operate. With this in mind, I propose the following seven new awards:
 You don't need to work them all to have this handsome award gracing the wall of your shack! [Dave Hassler, K7CCC, graphic] |
Worked Most States
This award will give you the choice of working any 48 of 50 states. No more would folks from 6- and 7-land have to comb the bands for that elusive Delaware or Rhode Island contact. Nor would Alaska and Hawaii present barriers to those in the East. No more fighting pileups to get that last state worked. Plus, I think the operators in states such as Delaware, Rhode Island, North and South Dakota and Alaska will really appreciate this award--it will really take the heat off of them. Most of the time they can't have a decent QSO because of all the people waiting to work them.
This award would also have an endorsement sticker. The "Finally Worked the Last Two" sticker would be available if you ever do work the missing two states. You would not be eligible for WAS because you really didn't start out to work all states, just 48. The sticker would just verify the happy accident of working the final two.
Unsolicited DXCC
This is my personal favorite, because I have been working on it for about 10 years. It is great for the occasional DXer, like myself, who will work DX if it comes my way. The award gives you the right to say you are working on DXCC without really chasing DX. Here is how it works: work DX when and where you can, but don't put yourself out. This applies to the QSL process as well. Don't ever request or send out a card until the DX station sends you one first. I'm amazed at how many DX stations will QSL first. This is also the miser's DXCC, because you only spend postage when you actually receive a card. No more sending out cards and hoping for a reply. I've confirmed 34 countries this way and the best-unsolicited DX is Angola.
Heard All Zones
This is probably the easiest award and it is based on the honor system. Just tune in to one of the weekly DX contests and write down the calls of stations you heard in each zone and send them in. No QSL cards are needed. After all, it's easy to hear all zones and who would cheat? Without the need to work through pileups, I'd estimate this award could be completed in a few hours.
Worked Ten Hams I Already Knew
This is sort of a new twist on the Rag Chewers' Club award. Most of us spend a lot of time talking to the same people over and over again, so why shouldn't we get an award for this level of loyalty and persistence? It is also going to be easy to get your buddies to send you a card. In fact, you will probably see them at your next local club meeting when they can hand you the card and save themselves postage.
Worked All Nets
This should be one of the more popular new awards. The 80, 40 and 20-meter bands are replete with nets, but it is usually the same folks on each net. This award should get some of the net rats to try out new nets.
Worked All the Bands on My Radio
Not as easy as it may seem at first, this award requires you to make a contact on every band on your main rig. Since some rigs now cover amateur bands from 1.8 to 450 MHz, there is a real challenge here. I predict that this award will stimulate sales of antenna handbooks as hams everywhere look for ways to capture this award. Your significant other will also like the award, as the antenna only has to be up for one contact.
Worked RI, DE, ND, SD and AK
This is, maybe, the only "real" award of the bunch. Everyone knows there are hams aplenty in the other 45 states, so what is the big deal about getting an award for working them? When chasing this award, you can just concentrate your efforts on the rare ones.
I am looking forward to a full and robust discussion of these new awards in chat rooms, reflectors, bulletin boards, newsgroups and magazines. In the in-between time, I'm working on still more new awards. These will include awards for listening to static and beacons on the VHF-UHF bands, as there is often very little else there. Now let's get on the air and start chasing paper!
Charles "Chuck" Pearce, K3YWY, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania,
was first licensed in 1963. He received a doctorate in electrical engineering
from Lehigh University in 1988 and recently retired from Agere Systems after 33
years as a semiconductor process engineer. A Bell Labs Fellow, he now consults
and teaches physics and engineering at a local college. Pearce enjoys VHF-UHF
contesting and homebrewing equipment. He can be reached via e-mail at cpearce@fast.net.
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