An amateur radio operating award is earned by an

amateur radio operator An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators hav ...

for establishing

two-way communication Two-way communication is a form of transmission in which both parties involved transmit information. Two-way communication has also been referred to as interpersonal communication. Common forms of two-way communication are: * Amateur radio, CB or ...

(or "working") with other

amateur radio station An amateur radio station is a radio station designed to provide radiocommunications in the amateur radio service for an amateur radio operator. Radio amateurs build and operate several types of amateur radio stations, including fixed ground sta ...

s. Awards are sponsored by national

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

societies, radio enthusiast

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s, or amateur radio clubs, and aim to promote activity on the amateur radio bands. Each award has its own set of rules and fees. Some awards require the amateur radio operator to have contacted other stations in a certain number of

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

, Maidenhead grid locators, or

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. Because amateur radio operators are forbidden by regulation to accept financial compensation for their on-air activity, award recipients generally only receive a certificate, wooden plaque, or a small trophy as recognition of their award. Most amateur radio operating awards require that the applicant submit proof, such as

QSL card A QSL card is a written confirmation of either a two-way radiocommunication between two amateur radio or citizens band stations; a one-way reception of a signal from an AM radio, FM radio, television or shortwave broadcasting station; or the re ...

s, of the contacts which satisfy the requirements of the award. There are thousands of operating awards available. The most popular awards are the Worked All States award and the Worked All Continents award, and the more challenging Worked All Zones, DX Century Club (DXCC), Islands on the Air (IOTA) and VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) awards. DXCC is the most popular awards program, initially requiring amateurs to contact 100 of the 340 () separately designated countries and territories ("entities") in the world. Other popular awards include contacting remote islands,

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, US counties, and

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

. Many awards are available for contacting amateurs in a particular country, region or city.

Summits On The Air Summits On The Air (SOTA) is an amateur radio operating award program launched in Great Britain in 2002 by John Linford. The aim of SOTA is to encourage licensed amateur radio operators to operate temporarily from mountainous locations using any m ...

, or SOTA, tallies points towards awards to hams who broadcast from mountain elevations or make contact with those transmitting from them, for which events are scheduled periodically.

Special event stations

Many amateurs also enjoy setting up and contacting special event stations. Set up to commemorate special occurrences, they often issue distinctive QSLs or certificates. Some use unusual prefixes, such as the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

s with "96" that amateurs in the US State of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

could use during the 1996

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, or the OO prefix used by Belgian amateurs in 2005 to commemorate their nation's 175th anniversary. (Not surprisingly, there are also awards for working sufficient numbers of prefixes.) Some events are held annually such as

Guides on the Air Guides on the Air (GOTA), also known as Thinking Day on the Air (TDOTA), is an event for Girl Guides. It is held the third full weekend in February, close to Thinking Day, which is February 22. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts get together with amateu ...

and

Jamboree on the Air Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devis ...

. Many amateurs decorate their radio "shacks" (the room where they keep their radios) with these certificates.

References

External links

Užice Award

Summits On The Air (UK site open to hams internationally)

Summits On The Air Italia (IT site open to hams internationally)

Islands on the Air (UK site open to hams internationally)
* {{Amateur-radio-stub

Special event stations

See also

References

External links