WS7I Card Checking
Last Updated: July 2, 2010
Introduction:
WS7I is an ARRL certified card checker as we;; as a CQ WAZ award checker. Please follow these guidelines below.
FAQ:
Q: Will you check anyone's cards?
A: Yes. Eastern Washington is the normal area that I check. I check cards only
in person or at conventions.
Q: What materials do I need to bring to you?
A: You need to bring these items:
Your cards to be checked, in the order specified below. |
A DXCC Application form (text file available from the ARRL Web site. Or CQ WAZ form or other ARRL form. |
A record sheet of QSOs you are claiming |
I would recommend 100% using a Bank Card instead of any other method of Payment. |
If your application is 3 pages or less, please include a business sized envelope addressed to the ARRL DXCC Desk with one unit of postage. There are many complex fee's. $2 for paperwork, $2 for certificates. Initiation fee's it is highly recommended to just use a bank card. Fee's are the #1 problem now. If your application is greater than 3 pages, please include a 6x9" manila envelope envelope addressed to the ARRL DXCC Desk with 2 units of postage. This is nearly always the case. |
ARRL Convention fee's apply to all cards checked at a ARRL Convention (Like NW DX Convention) $7.00 |
Q: Can you check all cards?
A: No. I cannot check cards for 160 Meters or deleted countries. (The previous
rule about not checking cards older than 10 years old has been dropped.)
Q: Can I just send my materials to you?
A: No, I no longer do any applications by mail.
Q: Can I check the status of my DXCC application at the ARRL?
A: Yes, the League has setup a web page where you can check that your application has been
received, and where you are in the processing queue. That would be on there
Applications Received page.
Q: What order do the cards need to be in?
A: The DXCC Desk requires that your cards be sorted by band, then by mode, then multi-QSO
cards at the end of the stack. This is spelled out on the record sheet of QSOs you
got from the League's web site. So, first put 80 Meter CW cards, then 80 Meter RTTY
cards, then 80 Meter SSB cards, then 40 M CW cards, and so on, until 10 Meter SSB
cards. After that, list any cards that have multiple QSOs on them. For CQ WAZ see
there web page.
Q: Are official DXCC Rules available online?
A: Yes, again on the ARRL Web page. The rules contain a detailed description of how
field checking works, and what cards are acceptable for field checking. Other ARRL awards
and CQ WAZ information can be found on there web pages.
Q: Can I use any DXCC forms I have in the shack?
A: No, please make certain the forms are the latest ones. They must be dated within
1-2 years (as noted on the bottom right), please use the above links to download and print
the latest forms.
Q: What common mistakes are observed on DXCC forms and paperwork?
A: Prefix and Country Names do not match. Please double check your entries,
especially if hand prepared and not computer generated. Also, many applications are
missing the award, certificate or endorsement desired. Please check the appropriate
box(es) in the upper left corner of the form. Also, it may be difficult to calculate
the fees required for your application. Please contact the DXCC desk with any
specific questions.
Q: Should I submit exactly 100 cards for my initial DXCC certificate?
A: No, you should submit 2 or 3 extra cards in case I need to reject a card or two (see
the next question).
Q: Why do you reject a card?
A: I have found 3 reasons that cards are typically kicked out. First, the callsign
is wrong or missing. In several cases, letters in the callsign have been transposed,
such as W1AW was submitted as W1WA. Also I have seen cards with no callsign.
It's just missing. In both of these cases the cards are rejected and as far as I
know there is no recourse, you must resend to the QSL manager or station to get it fixed.
Second, the entity name for some common prefixes is missing. This is the case for prefixes such as FO, VP8, VK9 and probably others. If you submit a FO card for credit as the Australs it must clearly say Austral Islands somewhere on the card. This is also true for Falkland Islands and so on. As far as I know, it is not required to have the entity name displayed on the card for all entities, just the ones with multiple definitions. So if you submit a card for DL1ABC it is obviously a German card even if Germany is not displayed on the card.
Third, if the QSO data has been rewritten, struck through or modified I may reject the card. This is much less common in these days of computer printed labels. I have seen cards with "white out" covering part of the QSO data and new data rewritten over the "white out". A card like this will get rejected.
Q: Does the ARRL maintain a DXCC FAQ list?
A: Yes! DXCC questions and answers maintained by the DXCC Desk. Or the ARRL
Blog.
Q: Do you check VUCC or WAS cards?
A: Yes I now check the following: WAS, 5-band WAS, VUCC, WAC, and Region 2 IARU
award as well as CQ's WAZ.
Q: Do you need a SASE?
A: Yes, The applicant shall provide a stamped no. 10 envelope (business size) addressed to ARRL HQ or CQ.
Q: How do I get your mailing address?
I no longer check applications via mail, I check them at the Spokane DX association events
and at Hamfest's conventions, and other Ham public events.
Jay Townsend, WS7I
Email: ws7i@arrl.net