What changed
Worked All States and county hunting — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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You do not need a beam and an amplifier to chase awards. Some of the most satisfying programs are
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domestic, and a modest station can finish them.
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## WAS — Worked All States
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Confirmed contacts with all 50 states. Administered by the ARRL, tracked automatically in
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[Logbook of The World](/wiki/operating/logging-and-qsls), and available with endorsements for single
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bands, single modes, QRP, and other variations.
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The practical difficulties are not what beginners expect:
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- **The nearby states are the hard ones.** On 20 m at midday your neighbors are inside the skip zone
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and simply not audible. Work them on 40 m and 80 m in the evening, or on 6 m during sporadic-E.
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- **The empty states are hard for population reasons** — Wyoming, North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont,
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Rhode Island and Alaska take patience or a QSO party.
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- **State QSO parties are the shortcut.** Every state runs one; during it, stations from that state
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are calling CQ all weekend and want your contact. A year of QSO parties will finish WAS.
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- **Triple Play WAS** requires all 50 states on each of phone, CW and digital, confirmed through LoTW
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only.
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## County hunting
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There are 3,077 counties, and a community devoted to working all of them (USA-CA, administered
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through CQ). County hunters coordinate on 20 m and 40 m nets, and **mobile operators** drive to rare
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counties and run them — sometimes announcing which county line they are parked on so a single contact
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counts for two.
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It is a long game, it has its own vocabulary and its own nets, and the people in it are unfailingly
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helpful to newcomers. If you drive across a rural state, announcing your county on the road makes you
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briefly very popular.
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## Other domestic programs
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- **WAC** (Worked All Continents) — six continents, achievable in a weekend of decent conditions.
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- **POTA and SOTA** — parks and summits, with awards for both activators and hunters, and the fastest
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growing activity in the hobby. See [parks and summits](/wiki/operating/parks-and-summits).
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- **Grid chasing on VHF** — VUCC counts grid squares, and 6 m sporadic-E season in early summer will
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hand you dozens.
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- **ARRL Centennial-style and anniversary events**, W1AW portable operations, and the many
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[special event stations](/wiki/activities/special-event-stations) that issue certificates.
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- **State and club awards** — most states have a "worked all counties in this state" or bicentennial
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award; your state club council is the place to ask. See
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[resources by state](/wiki/reference/state-resources).
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## Working the awards, not chasing them
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The habit that finishes domestic awards is simple: **log everything, upload after every session, and
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check what is missing before you sit down.** LoTW will tell you that you need Wyoming; then you look
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for the Wyoming QSO party rather than tuning aimlessly.