10/28/2022

Interest in ARRL VHF and above Worked All States Awards[1] (WAS) continues its
flurry of activity, now on the 1296 MHz band.

As we reported in ARRL News in January[2], there have been several
new-generation additions to the Worked All States Awards, now at 222 MHz (1.25
Meters) and at 1296 MHz (23 cm).

The original rush to 1.25 Meters WAS began in the early '80s with the first 10
WAS Awards. More recently, the 1.25 Meters WAS ranks[3] have grown to 16, with
recent achievers including: #13 John Swiniarski, K1OR, of Pelham, NH; #14 David
Kerl, N9HF, Ormond Beach, FL; #15 Ray Rector, Jr., WA4NJP, Gillsville, GA; and
#16 Charles Betz, N0AKC, Eau Claire, WI.

Frank Potts, NC1I, of Southwick, Massachusetts, visited ARRL headquarters in
September, receiving his #4 1296 MHz WAS Award certificate.

An energized pool of rovers activating rare states at both 222 and 1296 MHz
have recently contributed to the chase - with the addition of four new 1296 MHz
WAS Award recipients: in early September, 1296 MHz WAS Award #4 was awarded to
Frank Potts, NC1I, of Southwick, MA; in late September, WAS Award #5 was
awarded to Vlada Masek, OK1KIR, of the Czech Republic; and also in late
September, WAS Award #6 was issued to HB9Q (DX Group HB9CRQ) in Switzerland. In
late October, Zdeneck Samek, OK1DFC (also in the Czech Republic) was awarded
WAS Award #7.

Recent award efforts accentuated a 14-year history of increased activity on the
band, starting in the summer of 2007, when 1296 MHz WAS Award #1 was achieved
by Al Ward, W5LUA, followed by Jay Liebmann, K5JL, who achieved 1296 MHz WAS
Award #2. In August 2021, Al Katz, K2UYH, earned WAS Award #3 (Katz is known
worldwide for supporting the EME -- Earth-Moon-Earth -- community with his 432
and Above EME Newsletter[4] from 1995 to present, as well as earning the first
432 MHz Worked All Continents [WAC] Award in 1976).

Many 23-centimeter operators have benefitted from the flurry of portable and
rare state activations during the past 2 decades, by Gary Perryman, WA5WCP, and
Pete Van Horne, KA6U (activating rare States Nationwide); Gene Shea, KB7Q, and
Gary Lauterbach, K6MG (activating Western States); and the NC1I team
(activating States throughout New England).

"These rover operations substantially benefitted DX Stations, including the
likes of OK1KIR, HB9Q (known for many things VHF+, including their EME
scheduling/logger page[5]); and OK1DFC (well known for his Septum Parabolic
Dish Feeds and other Microwave-Band support hardware, detailed on QRZ[6]),"
said ARRL Radiosport Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ. "It is important to realize
that these DX-location 1296 MHz WAS Award winners had to contact all 50 states
via Moonbounce."

"The new class of 222 and 1296 MHz WAS Award recipients sought these awards
often during efforts of several decades, and as such they deserve recognition.
Congratulations to all of the newest 222 and 1296 MHz WAS Award recipients on
their extraordinary accomplishments," said Jahnke. "Heartfelt thanks to those
rovers and support groups who continue to help make these EME and
beyond-line-of-sight contacts happen!"

For more information on the Worked All States Awards, visit
www.arrl.org/was[7].

Thanks to ARRL Radiosport Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ for information included in
this story.

[1] http://www.arrl.org/was
[2] http://www.arrl.org/news/growing-number-of-operators-completing-was-on-222-mhz
[3] http://www.arrl.org/50-mhz-and-up-was-lists
[4] https://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/em70cm.html
[5] https://hb9q.ch/
[6] https://www.qrz.com/db/OK1DFC
[7] http://www.arrl.org/was

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