A, B, C’s of Dx Fundamentals of the Art of DXing XII

A question that is frequently on the mind of those listening to a DXer talk about DXing is

“What is the big appeal of DXing? After you’ve contacted the place most distant from your own, what more is there to it?”

That is a very good question … what is it that keeps DXers going? How is the interest maintained? The answer is basically the same as that for any other of life’s challenges such as getting ahead in your job, losing weight, or doing well in sports; that is, the usual key to satisfaction and success is to establish a series of goals and then to set out to achieve them. For DXing, there are a variety of well-defined goals at varied levels of difficulty that are available as part of numerous award programs. These are the goals that keep most DXers going by enhancing the feelings of achievement and self-satisfaction that everyone craves. Below are some of the most popular of these, while many more are periodically discussed in publications and on the Internet. The brief descriptions below are in approximate order of increasing difficulty; for more details on the award requirements, see the references at the end.

One of the first goals that beginning DXers may want to pursue is that of making and confirming contacts with each of the six inhabited continental areas of the globe: North America, South America, Oceania, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Contacts may be on any of the different bands and modes. It is a great way to break into DXing and to establish that fact that you can indeed contact people all over the world. This award is sponsored by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), and is issued by the ARRL. An application form and instructions may be downloaded form the WAC award site below. The next level of difficulty would then be the 5-Band WAC certificate, offered for confirmed contacts with all of the continental areas on each of the 5 primary ham bands (10m, 15m, 20m, 40m, 80m), with an additional 6-Band endorsement sticker for either 160m or 6m.

After achieving WAC, you’re now working DX and getting cards, so you should begin to keep track of your country (entity) count. Most of the computer logging programs provide award tracking capability, but you can do it manually using the author’s checklist available here. It’s important to keep a separate accounting of entities worked vs. confirmed because, until you have a QSL in hand (or in LOTW), you should always continue to work stations in unconfirmed entities. One way to do it, using the checklist, is to put a “/” for “worked” and then a “X” once confirmed. The fun and challenge is to get the score of X’s up to 100 on any mixture of bands and modes, and then apply for your DXCC Award! Forms and instructions are available at the DXCC website below (click here for the printable PDF version on this CD). Upon completion of “Mixed” DXCC, one can then begin to work towards other of the progressively more difficult DXCC program awards:

DXCC by mode, awarded for confirming 100 entities using a specific mode (SSB, CW, RTTY) on any band.

DXCC by band, awarded for confirming 100 entities on a specific band (160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, and 2m) using any mode.

5-Band DXCC, awarded for confirming 100 entities on each of any 5 of the 11 ham bands (excluding 60m).

DXCC Honor Roll, awarded for a total confirmed entity count that places you in the numerical top ten of the entities total on the current DXCC List on any mode/band (e.g., all within 10; for the current total of 335, HR would be for 335 – 9 = 326).

Top of the Honor Roll, awarded for confirming all DXCC entities on any mode/band.

DXCC Challenge, the “All-band-DXCC” award, for confirming as many entities as possible (mixed modes) on 160m – 6m.

For those who like to chase DX on the VHF or UHF bands, the equivalent to the DXCC award is the VUCC award for confirming contacts with 100 different grid squares. This award is on the same level of difficulty as that of the DXCC award on the HF bands and represents an equivalent degree of skill and P.E.P.S.I. as that required of any HF DXer.

CQ Magazine (below) sponsors an award for confirming contacts with each of 40 designated global zones, called the CQ Zones. Listed in the DXCC Entities list, the CQ Zones should not be confused with the ITU Zones (also listed), of which there are 75. One of the longest running in Ham Radio, the WAZ program is focused upon contacts with different global regions and does not rely on any particular DXCC entity status as a country. On a par level of difficulty with DXCC, the WAZ award is a very interesting challenge. Of even greater challenge surpassing that of 5-Band DXCC is the 5-Band WAZ award. Information, rules, and requirements are available via the web link below.

A relatively new program in comparison to those above, IOTA has been around since 1964 and has enjoyed increasing interest among DXers because of the broadness of its appeal. The objective is to confirm contacts with islands that have been approved as meeting established criteria for participation. Islands are categorized by continent, and designated by a continental prefix followed by a 3-digit serial number (e.g., NA-089 is the Louisiana East Group that includes the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana). The first level award is for confirmed contacts with at least half of those appearing on the currently approved list. Because of the great number of islands in the program (1,000+ and growing!), one can find a constant challenge and the ensuing satisfaction of having “… worked a new one!”. Information and rules for the program, as well as a list of the currently approved islands, are available from the program website below.

The DXCC Challenge is the newest of the ARRL DX award programs, and quite probably the most prestigious. Started in January, 2000, it is intended to challenge a person’s ability to work DX on all of the bands from 160-6 meters. The ultimate goal is to “work ‘em all” on the 10 bands! Scoring is by total count of current DXCC entities that have been worked and confirmed on the 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, and 6m bands. As of June, 2006, the maximum possible score would be 10 bands x 337 entities, or 3,370 band-counters!

For those who have achieved the 1,000 count level, a nice wall plaque is available, and is endorsable for each additional increment of 500 band-counters. The pinnacle award for this program is the DeSoto Cup, named for Clinton B. DeSoto, W1CBD, who wrote the definitive 1935 QST article that inspired the original DXCC program. Each year, the DeSoto Cup is awarded to the DXer who is at the top of the DXCC Challenge list at the end of September.

Is it possible to achieve this goal? Well, as of 1-November-2006, here were the top three in the DXCC Challenge:

W4DR

3114

I4EAT

3102

SP5EWY

3096

Averaging over 307 DXCC entities on all bands from 160 – 6m is quite an amazing example of serious DXing! I have no doubt that someone, someday, will work ‘em all! Might it be you?

As mentioned, there are numerous other awards associated with contacting specific entities, such as Worked All States (US), Worked All Counties (US), Worked All Provinces (Canada), Worked All Oblasts (Russia), and many, many more. See below sources of information. Some of these can be found on the websites below.

It has been said in the past, and I’m certain that you’ll hear it in the future, that some people “cheat” in pursuing their awards. You may hear that: help was provided in making a contact by someone else at another station actually hearing the DX station and relaying the information via telephone or 2m to the “cheater”; or perhaps, the “cheater” had arranged the contact with the DX station, resulting in fabricated QSO between the stations involved. What ever, the case, you will encounter these as rumors or as personal observations. Whatever the case, while it is disconcerting, it should not, in any way, lessen your own sense of satisfaction from your own accomplishments. That some people cheat is a fact of life – those who do have done so have done it in the past and will probably continue to do so every day in one form or another. Cheating, among other things, is a manifestation of low self-esteem, in which the individual is desperately seeking approval from others at any cost in order to capture some feelings of self-worth. Sadly, these individuals are to be pitied rather than despised – they do not realize that they are simply digging a deeper hole. If you know of a fellow ham who is like this, then perhaps the compassionate thing would be to discuss it with them and/or help them by trying to bolster their self-confidence through friendship, honest assistance, and camaraderie. Otherwise, don’t let them get you down – your correctly-earned achievements are an item of self-satisfaction, not of group-satisfaction – YOU are the one that knows the truth and that’s what counts!