ok so ive been licensed about 8 months now and i keep hearing people talk about chasing DXCC and WAS and WAZ and honestly it's getting a little overwhelming. like i understand the basic idea - you work entities or states or zones and log them - but what i dont really get is whether i need to be doing anything special in my logging software to track all this separately or if it just kind of... happens automatically if i log everything correctly?

right now im using Log4OM and i think it has some award tracking built in but ive never actually set it up or looked at how it works. and then theres the whole thing about LoTW confirmations - do all my contacts count toward all the awards at once or do i have to submit separately for each one? a buddy at the club told me i need to apply separately to ARRL for DXCC and WAS but i wasn't sure if he meant i have to like re-submit all my QSOs each time or if LoTW just handles it once i upload.

i guess my main question is - if im logging everything to LoTW already, am i basically building toward all three awards at the same time without realizing it? also does WAZ go through ARRL or is that CQ magazine? i get those two mixed up all the time. sorry if this is a really basic question, just want to make sure im not missing something obvious before i get too far into this hobby.

totally normal to be confused by all this at first, it took me a while to sort it out too. so the short version is yes, if youre logging everything and uploading to LoTW, youre basically building toward multiple awards simultaneously with the same contacts. the key thing is that LoTW matches your log against the other stations log, and once theres a confirmed QSO it counts toward whatever awards that contact is eligible for.

DXCC and WAS are both ARRL awards, so you apply through ARRL and LoTW handles the credit tracking once youve got enough confirmed contacts. you go into your LoTW account, look at your QSL credits, and when you hit the threshold you pay the application fee and apply. WAZ is CQ magazine, completely different organization, and they dont use LoTW - you have to submit cards or use eQSL for that one depending on what the band/mode is. thats the one that trips people up.

Log4OM should handle tracking all three if you configure the award modules, but honestly LoTW's own interface shows you where you stand for DXCC and WAS pretty clearly. just keep logging everything and uploading regularly and youll be fine.

yeah what he said about WAZ being CQ is correct, burned me on that one a couple years back when i thought i was all set and then realized i had basically no paper QSLs and eQSL credits for it. WAZ is one of those where you really do need to think about it ahead of time a bit, especially if you want to do it on multiple bands eventually.

for DXCC though LoTW is honestly the easiest path now. 8 months in you might already have more entities confirmed than you think, go check your LoTW account and look at the DXCC credits tab, sometimes its a nice surprise when you first look.