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Award Rules

1. The WAS (Worked All States) Award is available to all amateurs worldwide who submit proof with written confirmation of having contacted each of the 50 states of the United States of America. The WAS Awards program includes 10 different awards, many separately numbered, as listed below. In addition, endorsement stickers are available as listed below.

2. Two-way communications must be established on amateur bands with each state. Specialty awards and endorsements must be two-way (2X) on that band and/or mode. There is no minimum signal report required. Any or all bands may be used for general WAS. The District of Columbia may be counted for Maryland.

3. Contacts must be made from the same location, or from locations no two of which are more than 50 miles apart which is affirmed by signature of the applicant on the application. Club station applicants, please include clearly the club name and callsign of the club station (or trustee).

4. Contacts may be made over any period of years. Contacts must be confirmed in writing, preferably in the form of QSL cards. Written confirmations must be submitted (no photocopies). Confirmations must show your call and indicate that two-way communications was established. Applications for specialty Awards or endorsements must submit confirmations that clearly confirm two-way contact on the specialty mode/band. Contacts made with Alaska must be dated January 3, 1959 or later and with Hawaii dated August 21, 1959, or after.
   

   ARRL WAS map (PDF format) Color [979,122 bytes] Greyscale [970,131 bytes]

5. Specialty Awards (numbered separately) are available for OSCAR Satellite, SSTV, 144 MHz, 432 MHz, 222 MHz, 50 MHz, and 160 meters. The Digital award, issued for working any digital mode (PSK31, AMTOR, PacTOR, RTTY, G-TOR, etc), is also available. The Digital and Phone awards are dated but not numbered, except RTTY.

   Endorsement stickers for the basic mixed mode/band award and any of the specialty awards are available for CW, Novice, QRP, Packet, EME and any single band. The Novice endorsement is available for the applicant who has worked all states as a Novice licensee. QRP is defined as 10 watts input (or 5 watts output) of the applicant only and is affirmed by signature of the applicant on the application.

6. Contacts made through "repeater" devices or any other power relay method cannot be used for WAS confirmation. A separate WAS is available for Satellite contacts. All stations contacted must be "land stations." Contact with ships, anchored or otherwise, and aircraft, cannot be counted².
   ² EXCEPTION: Permanently docked exhibition ships, such as the Queen Mary and other historic ships will be considered land based.

7. A US applicant must be an ARRL member to participate in the WAS program. DX stations are exempt from this requirement.

8. HQ reserves the right to spot call for inspection of cards (at ARRL expense) of applications verified by an HF Awards Manager. The purpose of this is not to call into question the integrity of any individual, but rather to ensure the overall integrity of the program. More difficult attained specialty awards (such as 222 MHz WAS for example) are more likely to be so called. Failure of the applicant to respond to such spot check will result in non-issuance of the WAS certificate.

9. Disqualification. False statements on this application or submission of forged or altered cards may result in disqualification. ARRL does not attempt to determine who has altered a submitted card; therefore do not submit any marked over cards. The decision of the ARRL Awards Committee in such cases is final.

10. Application Procedure (Please follow carefully)
    • Confirmations (QSLs), Application Form (MSD-217), and Record Sheet may be submitted to an approved ARRL Special Services Club HF Awards Manager. ARRL Special Services Clubs appoint HF Awards Managers whose names are on file at HQ. If you do not know of an HF Awards Manager in your local area, call a club officer to see if one has been appointed. If you can have your applications so verified locally, you need not submit your cards to HQ via the mails. Otherwise, send your application and cards to HQ, as indicated on the application form.

    • Be sure that when cards are presented for verification (either locally or to HQ) to sort them alphabetically by state, as listed on the Record Sheet.

    • All QSL cards sent to HQ must be accompanied by sufficient postage for their safe return (registered mail is recommended because it is traceable). Fifty (50) QSL cards typically weigh approximately 6 ounces.

    • All applications sent to HQ must include the appropriate fee(s):
      • $10 for each WAS certificate or $15 for each WAS certificate and pin (the fee includes any endorsements on the same application)

      • $7.50 per endorsement application (if applying for multiple endorsements on the same application, with the same 50 QSL cards, the fee remains $7.50) Example: 10 Meters and Novice

Application and Record Forms

The Worked All States application form and record sheet is available as an Adobe Acrobat file.

Adobe Acrobat is required to view Adobe PDF files.