The next ARRL “Red Badges on the Air” activity will take place on Saturday, November 22 UTC (starting the evening of Friday, November 21, in US time zones). That’s when holders of red ARRL name/call sign badges will once again be roaming the bands, offering yet another chance to boost your ARRL Centennial QSO Party total. There will be one more Red Badges on the Air activity on New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31. ARRL officers, elected officials such as Director or Section Manager, as well as Headquarters staffers and volunteers, and other members of the ARRL family will take to the air en masse for both occasions. Contacts with red badge wearers are worth as much as 300 points per contact for working ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. Many of the 200 or so holders of red badges will be on the air on November 22 and December 31, along with other ARRL appointees, VEs, and members.

These events are considered activity days, not contests, and operation is permitted on all bands. Participants can call “CQ ARRL Centennial QSO Party” on phone or “CQ CENT” on CW or digital modes. While the focus is to encourage ARRL red badge holders to hand out Centennial QSO Party points, all activity is welcome, regardless of point value.

ARRL members are worth at least one point in the Centennial QSO Party. Participants get credit for each band/mode contact, regardless of point value. ARRL Centennial QSO Party participants can use the leader board to determine how many points they have accumulated.

As of November 13, 13,000 people have reached 1000 points in the QSO points Challenge, and 7000 ops have reached the 3000-point level.

Other high-value contacts include: President Emeritus (PE) or Past President (PP), 275 points; Honorary Vice President (HVP) or ARRL Vice President (VP), 250 points; Director (DIR), Director Emeritus (DE), or Past Vice President (PVP), 225 points; Vice Director (VD), 200 points; Section Manager (SM), 175 points; ARRL officer (OFF) or Past Director (PD), 150 points, and Past Vice Director (PV), 125 points. W100AW, Charter Life Member (CLM), or Past Section Manager (PSM) contacts are worth 100 points.

ARRL Headquarters department managers (DM), 75 points; ARRL Headquarters staffers/volunteers, (HQ), 50 points; Assistant Director (AD), 40 points, and NCJ Editor and QST columnists, 30 points.