Diamond DXCC

[WM3O]

hey all you DX'ers, there is a great challenge for the 75th anniversary of the DXCC award. the ARRL (boo, hiss, cheer) has a special Diamond DXCC award; all contacts have to be made in 2012 and there is a specific country list. i decided to knock it out and got my start on 27 March when i got back on the air after a few months of other things. i missed the good DX contests so i would be starting at zero. that first night i knocked out 50 entities, the next night i was up to 77 worked. i quickly shot up to 105 DXCC worked, but as i started to fill in the specific list i started to see the value in this special award - the geo-political world has changed a great deal in 75 years and i'd need to really know what i needed to work.

working toward the Diamond DXCC is a lesson in change. what once was a single entity is now many, so of the 105 DXCC entities i worked in 2012, in 1937 i'd only have 86 in my log. the USSR, parts of Africa, parts of Europe, island groups, parts of Asia, and even parts of Canada have all shifted over the years. possessions have become independent and what was once independent has now become part of another entity, what we see from 1937 is simply a snapshot of what once was in a state of constant change. the hard part is working a new one that wasn't a part of an entity you have already worked. "sweet, i worked Belarus, wait, i already worked Russia so that doesn't count as a new one for this award, dang!"

for all this who haven't taken up the challenge of the Diamond DXCC award i say give it a try, it's harder than you think and you might learn a thing or two about the history of a region. isn't that the best part about our hobby, that there are so many areas to learn something new?

http://www.arrl.org/diamond-dxcc

[N2ADV]

Good luck to those pursuing this.

[KC2ZPK]

Good luck to those pursuing this.

Been giving it a go, and for me, not so easy with low dipoles. Good thing is you are on your honor for this one. No QSLs are required, So I should be somewhere around 40 or so.

[N2ADV]

Been giving it a go, and for me, not so easy with low dipoles. Good thing is you are on your honor for this one. No QSLs are required, So I should be somewhere around 40 or so.

I'll have to check to see how many I have already that are on this list - I'm up to 87 countries (460 contacts) worked as of this morning since getting licensed in December and upgrading in February using just an old 11 meter 102" whip mounted on a camera tripod. Almost all of those contacts are in 2012.

I'm picking up a 6BTV on Monday so I should see some improved performance, lol

I may just try it myself. I already had the goal of Mixed DXCC within a year of being licensed so maybe I'll add this one to the list of stuff I want to do!

[W6GMT]

This is a nice award program. You can get a Excel sheet on the ARRL Web site to help you track your progress. Honor System any mode. Have 58 countries at this point hope to make the rest if the sun spots ever return !!

[WM3O]

being able to work CW in the Extra segment is really important for working DX. there is just so much good DX to be found down low. for those new to the bands, being able to work CW is worth the effort. i suck at CW but i have been able to work around my suckage and do pretty well. go for it!