The ARRL has designated 2023 as the “Year of the Volunteer.” As such, they have created a special year long even called Volunteers On The Air, or VOTA for short. During this time W1AW will be moving around from state to state in order to provide amateurs with achieving a new certificate as well as a points competition.
Each state will be activated twice, providing amateurs the opportunity to earn a special WAS certificate. Tennessee will be activated March 22-28, and September 13-19, 2023. Monroe County ARES will be operating as W1AW/4 on March 26th and September 17, from Noon until 3:00 PM, on 20 meters, using all modes.
We are looking for volunteers to participate in the event! Please check the groups.io or email aec@mcares.net to get the link to the signup spreadsheet! We are especially in need of CW operators!
Each club or organization is scheduled a specific block of times and bands on which they may operate. They can operate CW, SSB and digital during that time, and on any frequency within the designated band they are given, so you will want to check with them to see when and where they are operating.
If you work all 50 states’ special event stations, you will be eligible for a special certificate. You do NOT need to be an ARRL member to participate.
In addition to the the W1AW VOTA WAS award, you can earn points for contacting ARRL members, officers, and various other position holders. Again, you need not be an ARRL member to participate. That said, IF you ARE an ARRL member, and especially if you hold any official position within the ARRL, you absolutely should submit your logs into the Logbook of the World (LOTW.) If you are merely hunting these stations, you need not submit them, as your score is based upon the ARRL members and designees submissions, however, it is advised.
This event is a two pronged event, featuring a special WAS VOTA award for working all 50 states W1AW activations, as well as tallying points for contacting regular ARRL members and leadership stations. While the special event stations are scheduled, the other ARRL stations may activate anytime during the year, and whether they call “CQ VOTA” or not, they will count for points, based upon their position. You can view the points list here.
To check your current score, you can visit the leaderboard to check your current tally.
For more information about VOTA, you can view the official VOTA video from ARRL HQ here: