so ive been licensed for about 3 years now and mostly just done local stuff, rag chewing on 40m, bit of VHF, you know how it goes. but lately ive been getting into DX and honestly its kind of addicting. worked a few pile-ups last month and got maybe 15-20 new entities confirmed through LoTW which felt pretty great.

anyway im starting to think about actually going for DXCC properly but im confused about how the whole credit system works. like i understand you need 100 confirmed entities but do all modes count separately? someone told me phone and digital are treated as different awards but i wasnt sure if that means i need to work 100 on each to get the base award or what. also does it matter what band you worked them on for the basic DXCC or is that only for the band endorsements?

also while im at it - is it worth trying to knock out WAS at the same time? seems like a lot of states come up pretty regularly on 40m. i started a log check and i think ive already got like 30-something states confirmed without even trying which surprised me. wasnt sure if WAS and DXCC credits can be earned from the same QSOs or if you have to do them separately somehow.

yeah the award structure can be a little confusing at first but once it clicks it makes sense. for basic DXCC you just need 100 confirmed entities total regardless of band or mode - so a contact on 20m SSB and a contact on 40m FT8 with the same entity only counts once toward your basic total. the separate mode awards (phone, digital, CW) each require their own 100 entities, so those are kind of bonus goals once you get rolling.

the band endorsements are separate again - like if you want 160m DXCC that's 100 entities specifically worked on 160. some people spend years just chasing that one.

and yes absolutely go for WAS at the same time, there's zero reason not to. same QSOs count for everything as long as they're in LoTW and confirmed. 40m is great for WAS, you'll probably knock out most states without too much trouble though Alaska and Hawaii always seem to take a bit longer for some reason. good luck, the chasing part really is half the fun

WAZ is worth looking at too if youre already chasing DX - 40 CQ zones, some of them are pretty easy to fill in and others are a real pain. zone 26 took me forever. i kind of did DXCC, WAS and WAZ sort of simultaneously without really planning it that way, just worked whatever came up and eventually realized i was close on all three at once which was a nice surprise.

one tip - dont sleep on 17m and 12m for DX, those bands dont get enough love imo and propagation can be really good on them when the bands are open. got a bunch of entities on 17 that i struggled to work on 20 because the pile-ups are smaller