On Friday, he ARRL Awards Branch unveiled a new design for two IARU award certificates: the Worked All Continents Award (WAC) and the 5 Band Worked All Continents Award (5BWAC). WAC is awarded to amateurs who have confirmed contacts on any band with Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, North America and Oceania, while 5BWAC recognizes hams who have made confirmed contacts with those continents on 10, 15, 20, 40 and 80 meters.

The WAC/5BWAC rules state that all contacts must be made from the same country or separate territory within the same continental area of the world. Contacts made on 10/18/24 MHz or via satellites are void for the 5-band certificate and 6-band endorsement. All contacts for the QRP endorsement must be made on or after January 1, 1985 while running a maximum power of 5 W output or 10 W input. US amateurs must be ARRL members to receive these awards; foreign amateurs must be members of their IARU Member-Society and should apply through their Member-Society.

According to ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, the WAC award -- originally announced in April 1926 issue of QST -- continues to be a popular award around the world with more than 6000 participants. "Besides the certificate design change, the WAC certificate will also display the award holder's name alongside their call sign. We do this already on the 5BWAC certificate."

Moore said there are a couple of ways that hams interested in applying for WAC or 5BWAC can do so. "They can download the form from the WAC Web site and send it via regular mail (along with QSL cards and payment) to ARRL, or DXCC recipients can send an e-mail, referring to their DXCC award. We can look into your account to verify the contacts; just include your payment information in your message," he said.

WAC is currently not supported in ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW), but Moore said that an upgrade to do so is currently in the planning stages. Any comments or questions regarding the WAC or 5BWAC program should be referred to the WAC Desk.