On May 25, 2021, at 7:52 PM, Kermit Lehman via groups.arrl.org <ktfrog007=aol.com@...> wrote:



Here are two things I'd like to see for the DXCC Challenge:

1. 200 or 250 band-entity steps instead of 500, which is too big. I got to 1500, but that's likely the end of the road for me (currently 1615).

2. A high quality mailed paper certificate for a reasonable fee.  I did not get the plaque on the advice of my dentist.

73,

Ken, AB1J.

-----Original Message-----
From: Hans Brakob <hbrakob@...>
To: ARRL-Awards@... <ARRL-Awards@...>
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2021 11:51 pm
Subject: Re: [ARRL-Awards] 5B DXCC and WAS Medallions

Scott,

It isn’t about recognition.  It’s about revenue.

I moved from Guam to the mainland in 1969 and restarted my DXCC from scratch.

Early this year, 51 years later, I qualified for the DXCC “Challenge” award.  A long hard struggle from the black hole of Ø-Land.

Spent my money and applied via LoTW for the long-anticipated award.  Waited awhile for the certificate to arrive.  Nothing arrived, but LoTW showed an asterisk that the award was granted.

After an appropriate waiting interval, I emailed the DXCC desk, and it turns out that there is no certificate, only a $90.00 plaque.  To me, the message is “If you want recognition, Hans, you’re gonna pay big bucks for it.  We don’t make enough money mailing paper.”

Director said he’d check on it, but I’m only hearing crickets.

73, de Hans, KØHB

“Just a Boy and his Radio”™ 

Member ARRL Diamond Club