Earlier this year, the ARRL and CQ Communications announced that the ARRL will provide support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by the ARRL’s Logbook of the World (LoTW) electronic confirmation system. The WPX Award is the first of the CQ-sponsored awards that LoTW will support.

“We had originally planned to introduce this new program in early April, but due to the introduction of the new DXCC fee structure and our new Online DXCC application, we had to push the date back,” explained ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B. “We are now beta testing the program with a select group of hams and are looking forward to launching to LoTW-WPX partnership in the first part of May.”

The ARRL’s LoTW system -- an interactive database recording contacts between radio amateurs -- was created in 2003 and has been adopted by almost 50,000 radio amateurs worldwide. It already has records of more than 400 million contacts and is growing weekly. Amateurs will be able to use LoTW logs to generate lists of confirmed contacts to be submitted for WPX credit. Standard LoTW credit fees and CQ award fees will apply.

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, observed that this step gives radio amateurs throughout the world an inexpensive and convenient means of gaining credits toward CQ’s popular operating awards. “LoTW has significantly increased interest and participation in the ARRL’s DXCC, Worked All States and VUCC awards programs,” he said when the partnership was announced. “We anticipate a similarly positive response to the addition of the CQ WPX award. Amateurs will be able to spend more time operating and less time chasing QSL cards.”

CQ President Richard Ross, K2MGA, said he is very pleased to be able to move forward with LoTW support for CQ awards. “We have had excellent results with electronic confirmations for several years,” he explained. “I am glad that we are now able to begin expanding that convenience to those participants in our award programs who use Logbook of The World. We look forward to a smooth launch for WPX and to the expansion of LoTW support to include the rest of our award programs, as well.”

Yaesu is the Principal Sponsor of the LoTW website.