ok so ive been licensed for about 4 years now and did a lot of casual operating but lately ive been getting into actually chasing DX more intentionally and i want to start submitting for DXCC. i think i have somewhere around 140 confirmed entities on LoTW but i honestly haven't been paying close attention to what counts and what doesn't.

my main confusion is around the mixed vs phone vs digital credits - like do i need separate confirmations for each mode or does a mixed DXCC just mean i can use any mode to get to 100? and then there's the whole thing with deleted entities which i don't really understand at all. if i worked someone in a place that's not a current entity anymore does that still count?

also is WAS and WAZ worth chasing at the same time or should i just focus on DXCC first. feel like i might be spreading myself thin across too many goals. anyway any advice from people who've done this would be appreciated, theres a lot of conflicting info online

so for mixed DXCC yeah you basically get credit for any mode - phone, CW, digital all count toward the same 100 entity threshold. it's when you go for the endorsements like Phone or CW or Digital that you need 100 confirmed specifically on that mode. so if you worked VP6A on FT8 that counts toward mixed AND toward your digital count. the LoTW system tracks all of this separately once you apply so it's not as confusing as it sounds once you're actually in there.

deleted entities - yes they still count as long as you worked them while they were active. so like Minerva Reef or whatever, if someone has a log from when it was valid you can still get credit. you wont be working any new deleted ones obviously but old confirmed QSLs or LoTW from back then are fine. some of the older guys have some really interesting deleted entities on paper cards from decades ago.

as for WAS vs WAZ at the same time - honestly i'd say just keep logging everything and let the awards sort themselves out later. WAZ is 40 zones and WAS is 50 states, theyre different enough beasts that you'll naturally make progress on both just by operating. the one thing id say is make sure you're confirming on LoTW when you can because that works for all three programs.

yeah what he said about LoTW tracking modes separately is right, i was confused about that too when i started applying. one thing i'll add is dont sleep on paper QSLs for some of the rarer entities - there are places that just never upload to LoTW and if you want credit for them you're gonna need the card. i got burned waiting on a couple confirmations that never came through digitally and had to go track down the operator's QSL manager which took forever.

also 140 confirmed is actually a solid start, you're not far from the initial 100 threshold if you havent applied yet. id just go ahead and submit for the basic mixed DXCC now and then keep building from there. the certificate is kind of motivating honestly, made me way more focused about which bands i was working things on so i could eventually go for the band endorsements too.