Do not despair! Certificates and plaques for stations that participated in the ARRL Centennial QSO Party are in process. At this point, point totals are being calculated and confirmed. Participation exceeded expectations, with nearly 16,000 stations achieving at least 1000 points in the Centennial QSO Points Challenge. Approximately 2500 stations reached the Top Level at 15,000 points. W1AW portable operations completed nearly 3.5 million contacts during 2014, and W100AW completed about 70,000 contacts. Most Centennial QSO Party participants entered their contact information into the ARRL’s Logbook of The World (LoTW).

“The W1AW WAS certificate and plaque designs are complete, as is the design for the Centennial Points Challenge certificate,” said ARRL Field Services and Radiosport Manager Dave Patton, NN1N. “Once the web and software processes are ready to go, we will be able to start fulfilling awards.” Patton said order forms will be available on the Centennial QSO Party web page for those who do not use LoTW or online ordering tools.

Patton said that in late January, the entire database of 2014 logs submitted to LoTW will be rerun through the Centennial QSO Party software in order to pick up any late changes to the database and produce more accurate scores. “Most participants will see their points total climb a bit higher,” he said.

Designs for QSL cards for W1AW portable operations are under consideration, and cards likely will go out via the QSL Bureau and directly to stations in a few months. US stations who prefer to receive W1AW QSLs via a QSL Bureau account may sign up via the web form. “You must have a current, funded account with your district QSL Bureau,” Patton noted. “Stations outside the US will receive cards via their bureaus as normal.

Patton said the number of QSLs from W1AW will be limited to one per each weekly operation and per each territorial operation (KH2, KH8 etc), with each card confirming about 10 contacts chosen from the W1AW logs. Printed cards will not be able to confirm counties or grid squares, but the LoTW system will, and has done that.