I’ve been parked at 6BWAS for several months, after completing the 5BWAS award and the 17-Meter band endorsement. Since then I’ve gone from 8 states needed on 12-Meters, down to 2 (DE & WV), and also reduced my 30-Meter requirement down to one: Hawaii.
It dawned on me that three decades ago, when the 30-Meter band first opened for US Hams on October 28, 1982 @ 2200 UTC, I quickly modified my FT-101E to transmit on that band, and started hunting states toward WAS. (In 1982 I was living at 176 Pierce Ave, Warwick, RI, about 16 miles NNE from my current home in North Kingstown.) Several months later, the ARRL announced that since the international community was avoiding contesting on the WARC bands, they would not recognize WAS on that band — that announcement came out several weeks AFTER I had completed my WAS. So the cards never went into the ARRL, and I’ve had them in my file for 33 years.
Perhaps that QSO made on 30-Meters back after the band opened, is now applicable to completing WAS today. So, in theory at least, I have finished my 30-Meter WAS requirement. The only issue is how to get one physical QSL into LotW. Since Hawaii counts as a DXCC entity, maybe I can use the same process that is used to check physical QSL cards into DXCC, and have it show up in that record. At that point, I think it will apply to WAS as well, so I should be able to file a 30-Meter WAS application, completing my seventh WAS band.
Here is the QSL from Archie, KH6CF, dated November 17, 1982 for our 10-Meter CW QSO. I checked, and Archie no longer holds that card.
