What changed
DXCC and DX awards — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
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**DXCC** — the DX Century Club — is the oldest and most recognized award in amateur radio: confirmed
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two-way contacts with 100 different "entities" on the ARRL's list. It has been running since 1937 and
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it remains the number most DX chasers quote.
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## Entities, not countries
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The DXCC list counts *entities*, defined by ARRL rules that account for political separation, distance
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and other criteria. Alaska and Hawaii are separate entities from the continental US; so are Puerto
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Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands. The current list runs to roughly 340 entities, and it changes
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when the world does — an entity can be added or deleted, and contacts made while an entity counted
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remain valid.
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## Earning and endorsing it
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- Contacts must be **confirmed**, through [Logbook of The World](/wiki/operating/logging-and-qsls) or
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by paper QSL cards presented to a card checker.
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- The basic award is **mixed mode**. Separate certificates and endorsements exist for CW, phone,
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digital, satellite, and for each band from 160 m through 6 m and above.
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- **5-Band DXCC** requires 100 entities on each of 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 m.
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- **DXCC Challenge** counts band-entity slots across 160–6 m; **Honor Roll** recognizes working all
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but a handful of the current list. Both take years and considerable antenna.
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A LoTW account makes progress automatic: it shows what is confirmed, what is missing, and lets you
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apply for credit online without mailing anything.
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## The other big DX programs
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- **WAZ** (Worked All Zones, CQ magazine) — the 40 CQ zones. Fewer targets, and some zones are
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genuinely hard.
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- **WPX** (CQ) — counts callsign prefixes, of which there are thousands, so it rewards volume rather
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than rarity.
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- **IOTA** (Islands on the Air, RSGB) — island groups rather than countries, and the reason for a
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great many expeditions to uncomfortable rocks.
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- **WAC** (Worked All Continents, IARU) — six contacts, and the right first award to apply for.
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- **VUCC** — grid squares on VHF and above; see
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[grid squares and UTC](/wiki/operating/grid-squares-and-time).
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## Chasing DX effectively
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- **Listen before you transmit.** Find out whether the station is working split, by number, or by
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continent, and where they are listening.
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- **Send your call once**, then listen. Repeating over the DX station is what turns a pileup into an
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unworkable mess.
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- **Use the spotting networks** — DX cluster, Reverse Beacon Network, PSK Reporter — to know when a
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band is actually open toward a region, then verify by ear.
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- **Watch the gray line and the openings**, not the clock; see
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[propagation](/wiki/technical/propagation) and [space weather](/wiki/technical/space-weather).
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- **Check the QSL route** on QRZ or Club Log before mailing a card; most expeditions want an online
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request rather than an envelope.
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- **Digital modes count.** FT8 has put DXCC within reach of small stations that could never break a
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phone pileup; see [FT8](/wiki/operating/digital-modes/ft8).
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Rare entities appear when someone mounts an expedition to them, which may be once a decade. When one
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is on the air, work it early — the pileup only grows, and the operators go home.