Interest in ARRL VHF and above Worked All States Awards (WAS) continues its flurry of activity, now on the 1296 MHz band.

As we reported in ARRL News in January, there have been several new-generation additions to the Worked All States Awards, now at 222 MHz (1.25 Meters) and at 1296 MHz (23 cm).

The original rush to 1.25 Meters WAS began in the early '80s with the first 10 WAS Awards. More recently, the 1.25 Meters WAS ranks have grown to 16, with recent achievers including: #13 John Swiniarski, K1OR, of Pelham, NH; #14 David Kerl, N9HF, Ormond Beach, FL; #15 Ray Rector, Jr., WA4NJP, Gillsville, GA; and #16 Charles Betz, N0AKC, Eau Claire, WI.

An energized pool of rovers activating rare states at both 222 and 1296 MHz have recently contributed to the chase - with the addition of four new 1296 MHz WAS Award recipients: in early September, 1296 MHz WAS Award #4 was awarded to Frank Potts, NC1I, of Southwick, MA; in late September, WAS Award #5 was awarded to Vlada Masek, OK1KIR, of the Czech Republic; and also in late September, WAS Award #6 was issued to HB9Q (DX Group HB9CRQ) in Switzerland. In late October, Zdeneck Samek, OK1DFC (also in the Czech Republic) was awarded WAS Award #7.

Recent award efforts accentuated a 14-year history of increased activity on the band, starting in the summer of 2007, when 1296 MHz WAS Award #1 was achieved by Al Ward, W5LUA, followed by Jay Liebmann, K5JL, who achieved 1296 MHz WAS Award #2. In August 2021, Al Katz, K2UYH, earned WAS Award #3 (Katz is known worldwide for supporting the EME -- Earth-Moon-Earth -- community with his 432 and Above EME Newsletter from 1995 to present, as well as earning the first 432 MHz Worked All Continents [WAC] Award in 1976).

Many 23-centimeter operators have benefitted from the flurry of portable and rare state activations during the past 2 decades, by Gary Perryman, WA5WCP, and Pete Van Horne, KA6U (activating rare States Nationwide); Gene Shea, KB7Q, and Gary Lauterbach, K6MG (activating Western States); and the NC1I team (activating States throughout New England).

"These rover operations substantially benefitted DX Stations, including the likes of OK1KIR, HB9Q (known for many things VHF+, including their EME scheduling/logger page); and OK1DFC (well known for his Septum Parabolic Dish Feeds and other Microwave-Band support hardware, detailed on QRZ)," said ARRL Radiosport Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ. "It is important to realize that these DX-location 1296 MHz WAS Award winners had to contact all 50 states via Moonbounce."

"The new class of 222 and 1296 MHz WAS Award recipients sought these awards often during efforts of several decades, and as such they deserve recognition. Congratulations to all of the newest 222 and 1296 MHz WAS Award recipients on their extraordinary accomplishments," said Jahnke. "Heartfelt thanks to those rovers and support groups who continue to help make these EME and beyond-line-of-sight contacts happen!"

For more information on the Worked All States Awards, visit www.arrl.org/was.

Thanks to ARRL Radiosport Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ for information included in this story.