ARRL Diamond DXCC Challenge
REVISED December 30, 2011. All 231 entities are now included on the list. Please see the revised entity list.
2012 is the 75th anniversary of the ARRL’s DXCC Award. The world’s
preeminent DXing award continues to be DXCC, so reaching the “Diamond
milestone” is an event that we all want to celebrate. Going back to the
roots of the award, and specifically reading the 1937 DXCC List (January 1937 QST, pages 52-53) to learn what countries were counted at the onset led us to create the Diamond DXCC Challenge.
The country list we will use for the Diamond DXCC Challenge is
based upon the list of 231 places shown in 1937. We tried to find
corresponding entities today that would represent the places listed in
1937, and we were mostly successful. There are a couple of places that
were merged, like French and British New Hebrides, and the Papua and New
Guinea Territories. In those places, for 2012 if you work a YJ or a P29
(on the main island of New Guinea) you will get credit for working two
entities! Many other oddities are sprinkled throughout the list, too.
Returning to the air in 2012 will be the Canal Zone (any HP operating
within 8 kilometers of the Panama Canal), the Cities of Gdansk, Poland,
and Ifni, Morocco and Balochistan. The list is fascinating and leads us
to learn more about world history and how geopolitics has changed
leading up to today.
As you “check off” these entities during the course of 2012 working
DX (which is an achievement even today) using spotting networks,
pan-adapters, 200 watt rigs and stacked tribanders, imagine how DXing
was different in the early years of radio and DXCC! Working Tibet or
Aldabra with 50 watts and crystal-controlled transmitters to simple wire
antennas had to be a thrill like no other in that time for ham radio
operators.
We anticipate that this award will be very popular thanks to the
unique nature of the entities that we will try to put-into the log in
2012. Not only are there traditional DXCC entities, but there are
cities, Islands on the Air (IOTA by RSGB) island groups, and
various sub-political entities inside DXCC entities, such as the Indian
State of Goa, and many States in Malaysia and islands in Indonesia.
There are even three individual “countries” that make up today’s Yemen
(7O –Yemen, Socotra Islands and the City of Aden)! Yes, we would like
to have even one of them on the air. An interesting factoid about this
1937 list came via the late Jim Maxwell, W6CF. Jim said the only entity
from the 1937 list to be removed without a single QSO being made was
Wrangel Island.
For some entities that today consist of multiple countries, you may
work any of today’s entities to qualify for that single 1937 country.
For example, French Equatorial Africa will be considered worked if you
log a station in TL, TN, TR or TT in 2012. The Diamond DXCC country
tables show the current entity names and prefixes that qualify for the
1937 countries.
The Diamond DXCC Challenge is an “Honor Award” and will not require
acquisition or inspection of QSLs or proof of confirmation, although it
still will be fun and useful to seek out cards or LoTW confirmations. We
will provide forms online to use at your operating position to track
what you have worked and forms for applying for awards and endorsements.
As the year goes on, we will also provide hints and tips about what is
happening with the Diamond DXCC Award and, for instance, who might be on
the air from Goa or Gdansk!
The Diamond DXCC certificate will be available for working 100 of the
226 entities, and will be endorsable at 5 levels: 125, 150, 175, 200,
and 225. If anyone works all 226, there will be a special award for that
remarkable achievement! There will also be awards for the top
finishers. We hope to publish award recipients’ call signs online during
the year, and identify high numbers.
There will be a Diamond DXCC Challenge Honor Roll. The Honor Roll
level will be determined by the leader in worked entities submitted to
HQ, and the bottom of the Honor Roll will be 9 entities less than that
of the leader. Example: If W1AW has worked 165 entities, the bottom of
the Honor Roll will be 156 entities. In February 2013, HQ will issue a
final Honor Roll tally with overall leaders.
The entity list is not frozen, so if we discover something
significantly in need of change, we will do so and make an announcement.
ARRL Diamond DXCC Challenge Rules
1. The
Diamond DXCC Challenge Awards are available to all amateurs worldwide
who contact a minimum of 100 countries from the Diamond DXCC List. US
amateurs must be members of the ARRL. Generally, the rules for the
Diamond DXCC Challenge are the same as the rules for the DXCC Program,
except as listed here.
2. Contacts must be made from within the same DXCC entity by the same operator.
3. Contacts must be made
during 2012 — from 0000Z on January 1, 2012, through 2359Z on December
31, 2012. All amateur bands may be used except for 60 meters.
4. There are no mode
endorsements or band endorsements. The Diamond DXCC Challenge is
considered to be a Mixed-Mode/Mixed-Band award. There are no power
categories or restrictions for the award.
5. Confirmations are not required to obtain this award, but HQ will review submitted entries for accuracy and validity.
6. The Diamond DXCC
Challenge certificate will be available for working 100 entities and
will be endorsable with stickers at the following levels: 125, 150, 175,
200 and 225.
7. Applications should use ARRL-supplied forms available online or obtained by writing DXCC, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
8. The Diamond DXCC Award certificate fee is $12 including shipping within the USA, and $13 including shipping outside the USA.
9. Endorsement stickers are $1, including shipping in the US, and $2 outside the US.
Thanks to W3LPL, IK2UVR, YO3JW and K9JF for their assistance with this project.
For more info on DDXCC, go to http://www.arrl.org/diamond-dxcc
Active DXers in qualifying Diamond DXCC entities for Malaysia (http://www.arrl.org/active-stations)
To all listed callsigns, take note that the WORLD is chasing us right now. So, warm up your shack because we are the DIAMONDS now. Get on the air, make CQ calls. Show to the WORLD that we are live and kicking!