okay so i've been licensed about 8 months now and i keep hearing people talk about DXCC and WAS and WAZ and honestly i'm a little lost about how all this works. like are these completely separate award programs or do they overlap somehow? i've been logging contacts pretty carefully since day one because someone told me to do that, and i've worked maybe 35-40 different countries so far which i think counts as entities? and all but like 4 or 5 US states. but i have no idea how to actually submit for any of these or what the difference between confirmed and worked means in practice.

also i saw something about LoTW and i set that up but i'm not sure if my logs are actually syncing right. i uploaded a file last week and only like 12 of my QSOs show as confirmed even though i know i've talked to a lot of people who use LoTW. is that normal or did i mess something up? sorry if this is a dumb question, i just feel like every time i read about this stuff i end up more confused than when i started

not a dumb question at all, this stuff is genuinely confusing when you first get into it. so yeah they're all separate awards from different organizations essentially. DXCC is the big one from ARRL and it's based on working 100 or more DXCC entities which arent quite the same as countries — more like geographic/political entities so some places count separately even if theyre technically the same country. you need 100 confirmed to get the basic certificate and then there are endorsements for working more. WAS is Worked All States, also ARRL, you just need all 50 US states confirmed. WAZ is Worked All Zones and thats from CQ magazine — the world is divided into 40 CQ zones and you need all 40 confirmed for that one.

the LoTW thing sounds pretty normal actually. not everyone uploads to LoTW right away or at all, so your match count will go up slowly over time as other people upload their logs. some guys only upload once a year or after contests. just keep logging and keep uploading and the confirmations will trickle in. 40 entities in 8 months is honestly pretty solid if you're on HF, keep at it

yeah what he said about LoTW is right, it took me like 6 months before I really started seeing my confirmed count climb because so much depends on the other station uploading. one thing i'd add — for DXCC specifically, confirmed means you have either a paper QSL card OR a LoTW confirmation, and when you go to actually apply you can do it online through the ARRL website now which is way easier than it used to be. just dont lose your paper cards if you get them, i had a guy in my club lose a bunch in a basement flood and he was pretty bummed out. anyway 35-40 entities already puts you well on your way to the basic DXCC award once you get the confirmations lined up