ok so ive been chasing dx for maybe 8 months now and i finally feel like im starting to get it but the whole DXCC credit system is still kinda confusing to me. like i understand that you need 100 confirmed entities for the basic award but what i dont understand is whether each band counts separately or if its all pooled together into one big pile.

also i worked Heard Island last month during that expedition and the qsl came back confirmed through lotw which was awesome, but i dont know if that automatically gets added to my dxcc total or if i have to actually submit it somewhere. ive been logging everything in WSJT-X and then syncing to lotw but im not sure the arrl is actually seeing my credits pile up or if i have to do something on their end to make it official. sorry if this is a dumb question, i just dont want to lose credit for a contact i worked really hard to get

not a dumb question at all, i was confused by the same thing when i started. so the basic DXCC award is mode and band agnostic — meaning all your confirmed entities regardless of band or mode go into one pool for the basic mixed award. once you hit 100 confirmed entities you can apply and pay the fee on the arrl website. but here's the thing, lotw doesnt automatically apply for the award for you, you have to actually go into your account and submit the application. the credits are sitting there waiting, you just gotta pull the trigger on the application.

the band-specific awards like 160m dxcc or 10m dxcc are separate things you chase on top of that, and yeah those do require 100 confirmed on that specific band. Heard Island is a tough one to get confirmed so thats a great get. WAS and WAZ work a bit differently too so dont mix those up in your head — WAZ is zones not entities, took me a while to figure out the difference honestly.

yeah what he said. i'll just add that the arrl dxcc page has a thing called the online application where you can literally see all your lotw-confirmed credits listed out and then submit from there. its like 15 bucks or something for the first award i think. once you get that first certificate in the mail its pretty motivating, i ended up going down a rabbit hole chasing WAS after that and now im halfway through WAZ too so just be warned lol