This weekend starting Saturday afternoon (ET) and going into Sunday evening, you have a great opportunity to Work All States (WAS). WAS is popular ham radio award/accomplishment and with the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes this weekend, you can work all, or most all states. Rules at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/novss.html

2 weekends ago was the CW version of this same ARRL contest and I worked all states except Mississippi. I run 100w into a G5RV wire antenna so I’m running a modest setup. Also located on the east coast makes some states, specifically Alaska, a bit more difficult then those in the midwest and west coast, but Hawaii and Alaska are very doable during the right time of the day.

For those that already have WAS accomplished, the opportunity for getting states on different bands then you already have logged is another benefit of a contest like this.  I need a few more states on 80m and 2 more states on 20m to complete WAS on those bands.

Amateur radio provides a tremendous array of various areas to provide achievements and rewards in, and if this is one you’d like to try to accomplish, then contests, and specifically the ARRL Sweepstakes, is great for Worked All States.

73 and hope to work you this weekend!
K2DSL