also someone mentioned LoTW and QSL cards and i got even more confused. do you need both? my elmer kind of glossed over this part and i feel like im missing something obvious that everyone else just knows. sorry if this is a dumb question

my question is like, do those old QSLs even count if I never applied? and how does Logbook of the World work for this, do I need to get everyone to upload their logs or is there another way. also WAS and WAZ - are those completely separate things I apply for separately or is there some bundle deal. I feel like theres a ton of administrative stuff I dont understand and the ARRL website honestly confused me more than helped lol

any pointers from people who have actually done this would be great. I have a modest setup, IC-7300 with a wire dipole up about 30 feet so im not exactly running a kilowatt into a beam but I manage to work some decent stuff

i've been logging contacts since day one so hopefully i have some credits building up, i just never really knew what i was tracking toward. running a modest station here, IC-7300 into a G5RV in a small backyard, so nothing fancy. mostly 40m and 20m. any pointers on where to even start with this stuff would be really appreciated

like is there a strategy people use or do you just work everything you can and sort it out later? i have about 47 confirmed entities in LoTW already just from random contacts i never thought about, so i guess im not starting from zero. running 100w into a pretty decent dipole up about 35 feet if that matters.

any advice from people whove been through this would be great honestly. also not sure if i should be paying for the ARRL account upgrade thing right away or wait until i have more confirmations

i went and read all the ARRL DXCC rules and honestly my brain kind of melted halfway through. i get the basic concept, 100 entities confirmed, submit your QSL cards or use LoTW, whatever. but a few things are confusing me.

first off — do i need to submit all 100 at once or can i submit as i go? i have maybe 35-40 entities worked so far and probably 20 confirmed on LoTW already. also is WAS totally separate from DXCC like do you just apply for them independently or is there some combined tracking thing i'm missing. and WAZ i barely even understand, is that the 40 zones thing? i found the CQ zone map but figuring out which zone a country falls in isnt always obvious to me.

anyway sorry for the wall of text im just genuinely excited about this and dont want to waste QSLs or submit stuff wrong and lose credit somehow

do i need 100 confirmed to apply for the basic DXCC award, or 100 worked is enough to start the process? i know some people mail QSL cards in for credit too which seems kind of old school but i guess it still counts. also how does the mixed mode thing work — if i work the same entity on SSB and FT8 does that count as one entity or two for the basic DXCC. reading the ARRL site has me going in circles a bit

also completely separately, anyone working toward WAS at the same time? im in the midwest so a lot of states are easy but alaska and hawaii are always a pain. wondering if the two awards kind of feed off each other or if its just completely separate grind

i did manage to work about 23 states on 40m last weekend during a contest which felt pretty good, and ive worked maybe 15 or 20 DXCC entities since i got my general. so i guess im making some progress but i dont even know if those contacts count toward anything since i wasnt thinking about awards when i made them. do i have to specifically log them a certain way or submit something before they count? and does it cost money every time you submit credits?

also someone mentioned lotw and i set it up but i honestly dont fully understand how it works with the awards tracking. any help appreciated, this stuff is kind of overwhelming when you first start digging into it

like is there some logical order to go after these or do people just pick whatever sounds fun. i worked a station in japan last week on 20m which was pretty exciting for me, first real DX contact, and now im kind of hooked on the idea of actually going for some kind of award. my setup is just a modest wire antenna and a 100 watt radio so im not expecting miracles but figured id ask before i spend a bunch of time going in the wrong direction.

also do you have to pay for all of these or are some free. seems like every award has a fee attached

anyway i want to start actually going for DXCC but im a little confused about the whole process. like i understand you need 100 confirmed entities but im not sure if i should be using LoTW from the start or paper QSLs or what. also how does WAS and WAZ factor in, are those totally separate awards you apply for independently or do some of the confirmations overlap somehow. i dont want to do a bunch of work and find out i was doing it wrong the whole time.

also someone mentioned mixed vs phone vs digital modes for DXCC — do most people go for mixed first and then try the mode specific ones later or is there some better strategy. sorry if this is a dumb question im just trying to figure out the best path forward without wasting a lot of effort

like, do i need paper QSLs for all of them or can i just submit everything through LoTW and call it a day? i have maybe 40 or so confirmed on LoTW already but a lot of my older contacts especially some of the DX stations just never uploaded. and what about WAS — is that totally separate from DXCC or do some contacts count toward both at the same time if theyre stateside contacts?

also someone at the club mentioned WAZ and i had to pretend i knew what they were talking about lol. is that one actually worth chasing or is it kind of a stepping stone thing people do before DXCC? genuinely not sure where to focus my energy. been working 20m mostly, some 17m when the band cooperates.

my question is kind of about strategy i guess. like should i be focused on getting to 100 confirmed on LoTW first before i even think about applying, or is there a reason to apply earlier? also does it make sense to chase WAS at the same time or is that going to split my attention too much. someone at the club mentioned WAZ too and now im wondering if i should be thinking about all three kind of together or just focus on one thing.

im running an IC-7300 into a dipole at about 30 feet so nothing fancy. bands have been pretty decent lately which helps. just want to make sure im not going about this the wrong way before i get too deep into it

my question is really just... where do most people start? i've been logging contacts in WSJT-X and most of my FT8 stuff has been domestic so i probably have a decent start on WAS without even realizing it. but i dont know if i should be focused on one at a time or just work everything and let the credits pile up. also does LoTW confirmations count for all of them or is it different per award? i uploaded my log last week and have like 40 something confirmations already which felt exciting but i have no idea if those are counting toward anything specific

i started looking into it and now im confused about the difference between chasing DXCC vs WAS vs WAZ because they all seem to overlap somewhat? like if im logging contacts for one am i automatically making progress on the others or do i have to do something special. also does it matter what mode — im mostly doing SSB right now but ive been thinking about trying FT8 because everyone says thats where the DX is these days.

and one more thing, do i need to be submitting QSLs the whole time or can i go back and claim credits from old contacts. i have like 8 months of logs sitting in WSJT and HAMRS that i havent done anything with yet

also is there a difference between having a contact count and actually having confirmed credits? because my logging software shows like 47 countries worked but i only have maybe 12 physical QSL cards and a handful of LoTW confirmations. do those LoTW ones count toward the actual award application or do i still need paper cards for everything. sorry if this is a really basic question, the ARRL website kind of goes in circles when i try to read through it

I'm curious about others' experiences - WAZ seems more logical for "working the world" since DXCC's 100 countries may not be spread worldwide. Some zones look really tough from my QTH in the midwest. Which award did you find more satisfying to chase, and why?

Also wondering about LoTW vs. paper QSLs - I hear LoTW is cheaper but does ARRL accept it for DXCC? Thanks for any guidance!

anyway now im thinking about what to chase next and WAS seems like a natural fit since ive already got like 38 states confirmed just from contacts i made while going for DXCC. my question is does the same LoTW confirmations count toward WAS or do i need to do something separate to apply? i know you need ARRL membership but im already a member so thats not the issue. also is WAZ worth doing at the same time or is that more of a CW thing, i mostly do SSB but ive been slowly getting into digital.

any advice from people who have done these appreciated, ive been reading the ARRL award pages but they dont always answer the practical questions if that makes sense

my question is basically — where do you even start? do most people just pick one and focus on it or are you kind of working toward all of them at once just by operating normally? ive got about 47 states confirmed on lotw already just from ragchewing and the occasional contest and i didnt even know i was that close to WAS until someone pointed it out to me. so maybe i should just finish that first? also do alaska and hawaii count as states for WAS or are they entities or whatever for DXCC purposes — i always get that mixed up

sorry if this is a dumb question, everyone here always seems like they have it all figured out

anyway my real question is just — for someone running about 100 watts into a dipole in a suburban backyard, is there a logical order to go after these? like should i even bother thinking about DXCC until i have WAS done or does it not matter. ive been logging with WSJT-X on FT8 mostly and i think im up to like 38 states and maybe 60-something entities but i have no idea if any of those actually count toward anything official until i go through the confirmation process which also confuses me a bit with LoTW vs paper QSL cards.

sorry for the long post, just trying to figure out how this whole award chasing thing actually works before i start spending money on confirmations i might not need

right now i have a decent HF setup, a Yaesu FT-891 running into a G5RV up about 30 feet, nothing fancy. ive been making contacts pretty regularly on 20 and 40m and im logging everything in WSJT-X plus some SSB. some of my contacts are definitely outside the US. i just havent been doing anything intentional about chasing specific entities or zones.

so my question is basically — should i just pick one award and focus on it, or does working toward one naturally help with the others? and is DXCC even realistic for someone who isnt running big power and a beam? i see guys on here talking about 300 confirmed entities and i feel like thats a different universe from where i am lol

first thing i dont really understand is the difference between worked and confirmed. like i know confirmed means the other station has uploaded their log to LOTW or sent a physical card, but does the ARRL automatically match things up or do i have to do something on my end? also i've heard people talk about mixed vs phone vs digital and i wasnt sure if credits on one mode count toward another or if they're totally separate awards.

also someone at my local club mentioned something about WAS and WAZ and said i should be chasing those at the same time since some of the contacts would overlap. is that actually how it works, like the same QSO can count for multiple awards? sorry if these are dumb questions, just trying to wrap my head around the whole ecosystem before i start being more strategic about it

also how does the whole credits thing work — do i need paper QSL cards or is LoTW enough now? i've been pretty good about uploading everything to LoTW since i got on air but i only have like 23 confirmed entities so far. running 100w into a dipole in the backyard if that matters

not sure where to even start with this stuff, any help appreciated

my main question is — do i need to worry about mixed vs phone vs digital separately from the start or should i just focus on getting the basic 100 confirmed first and then worry about the endorsements later? also is WAS worth chasing at the same time or is that a distraction? some of the elmer types at my club say to focus on one thing but im finding that a lot of the stateside contacts are actually helping me get comfortable with pileups for the rarer stuff anyway.

also what do you all think about eQSL vs LoTW for this stuff — my understanding is ARRL only accepts LoTW or physical cards for DXCC credits but want to make sure im not wasting time logging on both platforms if it doesnt matter for the award

so whats the actual deal? like if i work a station and they confirm on LoTW is that good enough for DXCC credit or do i still need the physical card? and what about WAS — is that totally separate or do the same confirmations count for both. also saw something about WAZ on the ARRL site and im not sure if im supposed to be chasing all three of these at once or if theres a logical order to go in. probably a dumb question but nobody at the club gave me a straight answer and i figured id just ask here