[Dx-qsl] DXCC DESK NOW POISED FOR QUICK APPLICATION TURNAROUND

[dx-qsl@mailman.qth.net]

Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 19:07:35 -0500

Reprint from ARRL Letter, Vol 21, No 12

ARRL's DXCC Desk now is down to days in terms of application turnaround
time. It was not long ago that DXCC hopefuls waited in line for more than
two months to get their certificates or updates processed. Now,
applications
are taking approximately one week.

"At one time this past year, we were up to nearly a quarter million cards
and about 2500 applications," said ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne
Mills, N7NG. "This is a good time to send in your cards!" He chalked up a
lot of the earlier activity to the popularity of the DXCC Challenge
<http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/listings/index.html#challenge>.
According
to Mills, the DXCC workload shot up during 2001 by 60% or more over the
previous year.

The basic ARRL DXCC is awarded to amateurs who submit confirmation for
contacts with 100 or more "entities" (formerly called "countries") on the
DXCC List <http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/list_1a0.html>. The DXCC
Challenge evolved from the work of the DXCC 2000 Committee, which
reviewed
the DXCC program and recommended some changes. The revised rules that
went
into effect in 1998 included additional single-band DXCC awards, which
have
proven very popular in themselves. The DXCC Challenge grew out of that
initiative as an overall competitive award for DXCC.

At one point, DXCC awards trailed applications by nearly 12 weeks. Mills
attributes the much shorter DXCC wait now primarily to the fact that
additional staff members were brought aboard last summer. It also has
helped
that the DXCC Challenge application bulge for 2001 passed through the
pipeline as the DXCC "season" ended last September. "We've been able to
catch up," Mills said, despite the fact that application volume remains
at
about the same level as it was during the first quarter of 2001.

On a related note, Mills said the DXCC Desk will begin offering the last
of
the single-band DXCC awards--for 30 meters. An official announcement is
pending, but it's expected the new award will debut October 1, 2002.
Those
planning to participate may send cards now to get a leg up on the new
award.

________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.