Watch for an official announcement from the ARRL.  Until then, ARRL HQ
has approved 
the pre-release of the information below! 

Who: The ARRL and ARRL Affiliated Clubs 

What: Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary and the Year of the Club
by offering a 
special WAS in 2026 along with its endorsements to include (1)
contacting 50 ARRL 
Affiliated Club callsigns in all 50 states, (2) contacting W1AW/p in all
50 states. 
Where: All amateur bands (even WARC) except 60 meters 

When: 0000z January 1, 2026 through 2359z December 31, 2026 

How (as a pursuer of a WAS250 award): Make contacts throughout 2026,
logging all to 
the ARRL’s LoTW where you can apply for the base WAS award along with
all possible 
endorsements based on what your uploaded log shows.
 
How (as a W1AW/2 activator): Register to activate W1AW/2 by clicking
>>https://www.nnyarrl.org/w1aw
<< (the NNY section is leading the effort for all of NY).  You will
receive further instructions 
after that.  Then, you can sign up for a date, time, and mode. 

Activate and log all contacts with a logger that can generate an ADIF
file (ADIF is a 
requirement).  When activating, say something like, “CQ ARRL WAS250,
W1AW 
portable 2, New York”.  The W1AW/2 activation in NY will be available
for only 2 weeks; 
once in January and again in August.  Sign up early and don’t miss
activating during 
your slot(s).  You will be popular! 

How (as an ARRL affiliated club callsign activator): Get club’s
permission to activate 
the club’s callsign, and do so on Voice, CW, and Digital.  When
calling CQ on voice, 
periodically say something like, “CQ Yacht-See (YOTC) from ARRL
affiliated club [Call 
Sign] in New York”.  On CW, “CQ YOTC de [Call Sign]”.  Activate
throughout the year 
and upload your club callsign’s log to LoTC (paper-logs are not
accepted).
 
Happy 250th Anniversary, America!  Happy “Year of the Club”!  Get
prepared now, for a 
lot of fun in 2026!

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ARRL New York City-Long Island Section
Section Manager: James N Mezey Jr, W2KFV
w2kfv@arrl.org
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