ARRL's Logbook of the World to Add Support for CQ WAZ Award

Newington, CT and Hicksville, NY – December 14, 2017 -- Participants in CQ magazine's Worked All Zones (WAZ) award program will soon be able to use the Logbook of the World (LoTW) system of ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, to apply for the WAZ award and its endorsements, both ARRL and CQ announced today.

Amateur radio operators will be able to use LoTW logs to generate lists of confirmed contacts to be submitted for WAZ credit. Standard LoTW credit fees and separate CQ award fees will apply.

Implementation, documentation, and internal testing of the link between LoTW and WAZ is complete. ARRL and CQ are now assembling a team of external "beta testers" to assure that the link is ready for widespread use. A separate announcement will be made when LOTW's support for CQ WAZ is available to everyone.

Logbook of the World is ARRL's electronic confirmation system for amateur radio contacts. It provides a confirmation when both stations in a contact submit their logs to the system and a match between the logs is confirmed. LoTW has supported the CQ WPX Award program since 2012.

“I am very pleased that participants in the CQ Worked All Zones award program will finally be able to use Logbook of the World confirmations in their applications for WAZ awards and endorsements,” said CQ magazine Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, adding that “WPX program participants have made excellent use of this service for the past five years and we look forward to providing it to WAZ program participants as well.”

“We are excited about the prospect of supporting CQ magazine’s WAZ program through Logbook of the World, as it is something that many ham radio operators have been asking for,” said Greg Widin, K0GW, ARRL First Vice President and chair of the Logbook Study Committee. “We believe this partnership will enhance the amateur radio experience for many practitioners.”

ARRL (www.arrl.org), a noncommercial organization of radio amateurs, has a proud history of achievement as the standard-bearer in amateur affairs. ARRL’s underpinnings as Amateur Radio’s witness, partner and forum are defined by five pillars: Public Service, Advocacy, Education, Technology, and Membership.

CQ Communications, Inc. (www.cqcomm.com) is publisher of CQ Amateur Radio magazine and is the world's largest independent publisher of amateur radio magazines, books and videos. Worked All Zones is the second-oldest active award program in amateur radio, behind only the International Amateur Radio Union's Worked All Continents award.

For more information, contact:

Richard Moseson (W2VU)
Editorial Director, CQ Communications, Inc.
(516) 681-2922 / w2vu@cq-amateur-radio.com

David Isgur
Communications Manager, ARRL
(860) 594-0328 / disgur@arrl.org

 

I don't know why any one would send the ARRL a dime.

 

A cheapskate strategy could be to log into LoTW (which doesn't have a cost) and then only pay for a membership and the credits required for an award at the time that you have completed and apply for all of the awards you want. Not as cheap as not paying anything and simply knowing what you worked, but less than maintaining a membership while building up the contacts needed for the awards.

I've still got some time before I'll be in a position to decide on whether I want to spend money on awards. For now I log my contacts into LoTW for what might be a future benefit for me, and what may be a current or future benefit for the operators that I worked.

 

The use of LoTW does not require ARRL membership. Submitting QSOs to LoTW and viewing confirmations in LoTW are both free to everyone, ARRL member or not.

The ARRL's DXCC, VUCC, and WAS awards have been lifelong objectives for many competitive DXers; for ops pursuing these awards, LoTW saves significant postage costs, as well as time spent wrangling QSL cards. Being able to apply LoTW confirmations to CQ WAZ and WPX awards saves even more postage costs and eliminates even more administrative overhead.

 

And furthermore, the use of LoTW and the pursuit of ARRL awards does not imply mindless support for all ARRL policies.

 

Ya...what AA6YQ said.

 

To support an organization that makes things like LOTW happen. That's why.

 

Clublog is showing the way of the future. ARRL extinct

 

Michael G7VJR of ClubLog has been working with the LoTW team for the past several years. ClubLog is an LoTW Trusted Partner.

Here's a picture of Michael during a break from our in-person LoTW meeting at ARRL headquarters last October:

 

I have mixed feelings. I'm glad WAZ is now included, and for all awards LoTW has tremendous cost and time advantages. I certainly use it--wouldn't have paid for the NPOTA program without it. But there is still something neat about getting a card in the mail. After 8 boxes full of them I still find that a thrill, and some are quite beautiful. (I also print the LoTW reports and put them in the boxes.) Perhaps someday Logbook will be able to include virtual QSLs that you can download with the report and then we'll reach a seamless place. Meanwhile I'll use LoTW and "real" mail, and Clublog for cards too, depending on the situation.

 

I am happy that CQ and LoTW are working together on WAZ. A question I have, when will the two work together on CQ's Worked All Counties?

Respectfully,

Ric AF7VT

 

Now that LoTW's "technical debt" has largely been retired, the focus going forward will be on adding functionality and improving ease-of-use, particularly for ops outside the US seeking to participate in LoTW. WAZ support came first because the user community made it clear that WAZ should be at the top of the list. Continued suggestions - like yours - will certainly be taken into account in the prioritization process.

Don't expect any announcements of new functionality until it's ready for beta (external) testing, meaning that the functionality has been implemented, tested internally, and fully documented.

73,

Dave, AA6YQ (volunteer member, ARRL LoTW Committee)

 

Too late for IOTA to be handled through LoTW, as they recently released their new website for awards processing. They accept ClubLog matches. It would be great if they could be persuaded to accept LoTW confirmations as well.

 

How the station's zone is determined in LoTW?
VE7NBQ is in Zone 3 actually.

 

VE7NBQ's CQ Zone is specified by the Station Location that VE7NBQ used to submit your QSO to LoTW. To correct this, contact VE7NBQ, inform him that the Station Location he used to submit your QSO contains an erroneous CQ zone, and ask him to resubmit your QSO with a corrected Station Location. When he does that, your confirmation will be updated with the correct CQ zone.