What changed
CW and QRP awards — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
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The CW and QRP communities run their own award programs, and they are unusually welcoming: most are
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built to reward *participation and improvement* rather than a big station.
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## CW clubs and their programs
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- **SKCC** — the Straight Key Century Club, for contacts using a mechanical key (straight key, bug or
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cootie, no electronic keyer). Membership is free, members exchange numbers, and the award ladder
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(Centurion, Tribune, Senator) is a genuinely good structure for a new CW operator. Their sked page
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and slow-speed activity make a first CW contact easy to arrange.
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- **CWops** — a club focused on conversational CW at speed. It runs the weekly **CWT** mini-contests,
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the **CW Academy** (free, structured, taught by volunteers, and the single best way to learn the
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mode), and the ACA/CMA award ladders.
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- **FISTS** — "accuracy transcends speed"; a long-running club with awards for contacts with members,
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and a culture of slowing down to match whoever is calling.
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- **Long Island CW Club (LICW)** — live online classes at every level, from first characters to high
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speed, plus its own activities and awards.
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- **QRS and slow-speed nets** exist specifically to give beginners patient contacts. Nobody in these
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groups minds a slow fist; they mind not being called.
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## QRP programs
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- **QRP ARCI** — awards, contests and a quarterly journal; **G-QRP Club** in the UK; the **Flying
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Pigs** and **Four State QRP Group** in the US.
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- **1000 Miles per Watt** — a contact whose distance divided by your transmitter power exceeds 1,000
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miles per watt. Easier than it sounds on 6 m sporadic-E or with milliwatt WSPR.
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- **QRP endorsements** on the mainstream awards — DXCC, WAS and others can be earned QRP, and the
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certificate says so.
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- **WSPR and the Reverse Beacon Network** are not awards, but they measure a low-power station's reach
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objectively, which is more useful than most certificates. See [QRP](/wiki/operating/qrp).
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## Speed and proficiency recognition
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Copying code at speed has been recognized for a century: the ARRL runs **W1AW code practice** and
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issues code proficiency certificates for copying a qualifying run, and several clubs certify speeds
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for their own ladders. If you are pushing your speed, the technique is always the same — listen to
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code faster than you can comfortably copy, in short daily sessions, and let the plateau break itself.
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## NARA's Alfred Vail 20-20
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NARA recognizes operators under 20 who can send and receive at 20 words per minute or better with the
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**Alfred Vail 20-20 Young Keyers Award**. A license is welcome but not required, and the proficiency
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test is a live session — three minutes sending and three minutes receiving — with an approved
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examiner. See [NARA awards](/wiki/contests-and-awards/nara-awards) and the
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[award page](https://usnara.org/awards/alfred-vail-20-20).
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For learning the mode itself, start at [CW and Morse code](/wiki/operating/cw-and-morse).