World Wide Award - WWA 2026 competition rules

World Wide Award (WWA) is a global amateur radio competition/project/award aimed at promoting friendship among amateur radio operators worldwide and involving as many countries as possible in a single event.. It takes place in January every year and is open to all participants without the need for prior registration – everything is monitored and evaluated automatically via the HamAward.cloud platform.

📅 Competition date

• WWA 2026 runs from 00:00 UTC January 1 to 23:59 UTC January 31, 2026.

📡 Who can participate?

• Participants can join as hunters (connection hunters) or activators (activators of special stations).

• All licensed amateur radio operators can compete regardless of level.

• There is no need to send paper QSL confirmations - the system works automatically and results are tracked online.

📻 Frequency bands and modes

• Bands: 80 m, 40 m, 30 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m, 10 m.

• Modes: CW, SSB, DIGI (including FT8,FT4,RTTY, Psk).

📊 Scoring of connections (QSOs)

Each connection with a special station during the competition earns points:

• Each special station can be contacted once a day on each band and in each mode (the so-called 'no dupes' rule).

• It is strictly forbidden to request QSY by mode or band (which means requesting a station move to another band or mode).

🏅 Conditions for obtaining the WWA Award

• To award the prize, the participant must achieve at least 100 points earned throughout the entire competition.

• The award is issued electronically (digital diploma in high resolution) and is freely available for download after the event ends.

• It is not necessary to send QSL logs or physical confirmations.

🏆 Categories and prizes

For Hunters

• Top 3 positions in each category:

  • All bands MIXED

  • All bands SSB

  • All bands CW

  • All bands DIGI

For Activators

• Top 3 positions by the largest number of QSOs in:

  • All bands MIXED

  • All bands SSB

  • All bands CW

  • All bands DIGI

For Multi-operator team units

• Top 3 in All bands MIXED for activator teams.

🌍 Competitions by country

• In addition to the overall ranking, it is also possible to obtain an award for the most successful hunter from each country (country award), in mode mixed mode.

🏅 Levels of achieved results (Achievements)

WWA 2026 also evaluates performance levels for Hunters and Activators:

🎯 Hunters – All Bands

• Bronze: 500 points

• Silver: 2000 points

• Gold: 4000 points

🎯 SSB

• Bronze 500, Silver 1500, Gold 2000

🎯 DIGI

• Bronze 400, Silver 800, Gold 1500

🎯 Activators – All Bands

• Bronze 500 QSOs, Silver 1500 QSOs, Gold 2000 QSOs

WWA 2026 stations

📌 Summary

WWA is a unique international amateur radio event that offers not only a quality competitive challenge but also a space for building global connections and friendships. Thanks to the automated system HamAward.cloud awarding is fast, fair, and accessible without the need for traditional paper confirmation QSL