5 Band WAS
For those of you wanting a real challenge try working all states on five different bands. To be honest I thought this feat was challenging so I decided to go for it several years ago.
Granted, it was challenging enough to work them all on 80 meters, I did most of my work on the 3.905 net. Alaska and Hawaii were tough ones to work on 75/80 meters but it is certainly possible.
Good propagation to those two states often comes around 1100 Pm to 0100 AM. Keep in mind Hawaii is six hours behind this time zone, so do not expect to hear them at 6 pm our time.
On the five band WAS you can pick your bands, so you can ignore 75/80 meters if you wish and concentrate on other bands. I for one gave 75/80 a go and made them all with a little dedication and work.
Forty is much easier to work them all and of course you can do it during Sweepstakes or N.A. qso party.
On the higher bands like 20/15/10 I had to listen close for ground wave and backscatter signals for those states close to me. Tell you a couple of stories about my quest for five band honors. One state, namely Delaware is not that plentiful, I had one op who worked me on the twenty meter county hunters net on 14,336 khz. I asked the station in Delaware if he could work 40 and he indicated he would meet me on the band within a few minutes.
Well, as it turned out I suggested a frequency in the ssb portion of 40; well my station realized his error after we had made the contact. Due to his license class he was not allowed in the advanced section of the band. Whoops! Ok, a quick qsy and we made it legal and moved on to other contacts.
My last state on ten meters and the completion of five band was Michigan. I could copy the station I wanted on ground wave and backscatter, but I needed some help.
At the time my Michigan station was in contact with a station in Argentina. So, I waited until they were finished, contacted the station in Argentina, asked him to inform the station in Michigan to listen for me. It worked and I qualified for number 408 in the entire world.
This occurred way back in 1978 and of course I never forgot that challenge. My five-band plaque hangs proudly on the walls of my shack.
To qualify for this award, it is required you have 250 confirmations, either real qsl cards, or LOTW. Remember that EQSL does not count for ARRL awards. However, EQSL does offer single band awards, so if you wish you can take them one band at a time and qualify for five awards if you desire,
Following this achievement I also worked all states during the Bicentennial Year and “We The People” 200th birthday of our Constitution.
The challenge of 5 band of course requires you log your contacts, exchange qsl cards, or LOTW confirmations.
Of course this will require some antennas capable of working five bands that you select, so that good old vertical should do it. But, you are the one that must operate and do the hunting. Give it a try and even if you just do it once, that is a mixed bag of contacts, it does give you a sense of accomplishment.
The choice is yours, ssb, cw, digital, rtty, etc, get on the air and start hunting.
