so ive been licensed about 3 years now and mostly just done local stuff and some casual HF but lately ive been getting really into DXing and i think i want to actually go for DXCC properly. i've probably worked like 60-70 entities already just messing around but never submitted anything to ARRL or bothered with LoTW much.

my question is basically... do i need to have confirmed all those contacts to count them, or is just working them enough to get started tracking? and is there any point in trying to get QSLs from the older contacts or should i just start fresh from here and be more systematic about it going forward. also im confused about whether WAS and WAZ count as totally separate awards you chase at the same time or if most people do one then the other. sorry if these are obvious questions, the ARRL website is kind of overwhelming when you dig into the rules

not dumb questions at all, everyone goes through this when they first get serious about it. so for DXCC the short answer is confirmed contacts count, not just worked ones. you need the QSL card or LoTW confirmation to submit for credit. that said dont throw away those older contacts — if even some of them are in LoTW already you might be surprised how many confirmations you already have sitting there. log into LoTW and check your account, a lot of stations upload their logs retroactively so something from a year or two ago might already be confirmed without you knowing.

as for WAS and WAZ, yeah those are totally separate award programs and most people just chase them all simultaneously honestly. when you work a new state or a new zone you're making progress on multiple things at once, thats kind of the fun of it. i'd suggest setting up Log4OM or DXKeeper or whatever logging software you prefer and just let it track everything in parallel. once you get the workflow down it becomes second nature. welcome to the rabbit hole by the way, DXCC will absolutely consume you haha

yeah what he said about LoTW is spot on. i was in the same boat maybe two years ago and honestly logging into LoTW for the first time and seeing i already had like 45 confirmed entities was a nice surprise. the ARRL interface isnt the prettiest but once you figure out the award credit submission process it's not too bad.

one thing i'll add — dont stress too much about chasing WAZ until you've got a decent antenna situation. some of those zones are genuinely hard to work if you're running modest power or a compromised antenna, zone 23 and some of the polar zones can be real pain in the neck depending on the bands and season. WAS is way more achievable early on and keeps you motivated while you're building up entity count for DXCC. just my experience anyway