World Wide Award 2026 is the third running of this annual international amateur radio event. It is run between 00:00 UTC on the 1st January and 23:59 UTC on the 31st January. The aim of taking part is to accumulate as many points as possible. This is accomplished by working the event’s registered activator stations once each day, on as many bands, and using as many modes, as possible.
Third running of the event – getting better every year
The first year, 2024, 110,118 hunters chased and 330 registered activators from all over the world. Last year, these numbers rose to 152,829 hunters and 828 registered activators. 2026 was the best yet with 172,159 international hunters chasing 1,093 activators. The event gets bigger and better each and every year.
It can be hard work to achieve the top spots because you have to be on the air as much as possible each day. Sadly, I was never going to get right up there because I had to miss operating on several days due to family commitments and work for the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain). However, I had a great time operating roughly 1 hour during my lunch time and two hours in the evening when I could.
World Wide Award 2026
My chosen modes for the World Wide Award 2026 event were FT4 and FT8 which secured two points per contact. CW operators scored ten points per contact, but I guess this must reflect the vastly reduced number of operators on the air these days. SSB operators gained five points for each contact made.
In the end, I was happy to receive a silver award in both the World Wide Digital Modes section (549th overall) and the English Digital modes section (30th overall), scoring 1,228 points. My best band position was 14th on the 30m band in England.
What a plonker!
Now I have to confess to, in the worlds of Del Boy, being a bit of a plonker. Up until the 15th of January, I had only worked each activator once on each band, using each mode. This was because I had forgotten that you could work each registered activator station every day of the event. What a fool, all those lost points. Never mind.
Looking forward to World Wide Award 2027
In conclusion, this is one my favourite events of the year. It makes the dullest and darkest of months of the year pass by a lot quicker. I throughly recommend you take part in next year’s event.