Who Can Be A W1AW/4 Portable Approved Operator?
If you wish to be one of the official W1AW/4 authorized operators for North Carolina, contact the North Carolina VOTA Coordinator: Art Tolda W1AJT, at w1ajt@atolda.com. When approved, you may, subject to the coordinator’s approval, select any available two-hour operating time slot for the band and mode (SSB, CW, Digital) of your choice, except operation on 12 Meters, 17 Meters, 30 Meters, 60 Meters, 630 Meters, and 2190 Meters is prohibited.Approved operators must use an approved electronic logging program capable of creating an ADIF file. Email your completed logs to w1ajt@atolda.com within 48 hours of your final time slot.
All approved W1AW/4 operators are expected to observe all FCC regulations, including only operating on frequencies allocated to their license class and at permitted power levels. Violators, may The Old Man be merciful, will be Wouff Honged!
An interactive map, created by Bill Mitchell AE0EE, of all portable W1AW registrations in this system, is available at this link.
Select Your Band/Day/Mode
To select a day/mode/band slot starting time, make your selections from the dropdown boxes and click the submit button.Display Slots Selected By Callsign
Display Slots Selected By Day
Portable W1AW Operation
As a part of the ARRL Year of the Volunteer celebration, the mystical callsign W1AW will be operating from the corners of ARRL-land. ARRL members in each state/territory will be approved to operate their stations during two different weeks using the callsign W1AW/x where x is one of the local regions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, KL, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH7, KH8, KP2, KP3, or KP4. For example, North Carolina’s first week starts 2023-04-12, at 0000z and will run through 2023-04-18, at 2359z, using the callsign W1AW/4.Each state coordinator will approve start time, band, and mode slots throughout the week and hams will be able to operate their stations using W1AW/4.
Portable W1AW Rules
- Each operator must follow the rules for their own license class. Stay in the sub-bands that you are legally allowed to operate.
- Operators can operate anywhere in the state/territory.
- ARRL members that contact the Portable W1AW stations will receive 5 points in the VOTA event.
- Each band/mode combination can be activated simultaneously. For example, N5OP could be working on 20 M SSB, N5OK could be working on 20 M CW, N5AZQ could be working on 20 M FT8, and N5HZR could be on 40 M SSB, all at the same time.
- State operations start at 0000z each Wednesday and stop at 2359z the following Tuesday.
- Operations are not allowed on the 12 M, 17 M, 30 M, 60 M, 630 M, or 2190 M bands.
- All logs for the week must be consolidated into one ADIF file. Email your completed logs to w1ajt@atolda.com within 48 hours of your final time slot.
- Each state W1AW coordinator, in North Carolina that is Art Tolda W1AJT will make a schedule to optimize the on-air time for those interested in running the callsign. This page is the North Carolina schedule.
Taking a slot on 40m CW does not mean you may use any mode on 40m. You may only use the band and mode you have been allocated, for the time period you requested. You may request multiple slots throughout the week.
Do you want to run another two-hour slot? Request that slot here before you start operating. Once you have been approved to operate by the state coordinator, you are ready to go.
We only allow one operator per band and mode at a time. Two operators can not share a slot. ie. W1AW/4 running CW on 7.022 and another station running W1AW/4 CW on 7.042 would be a violation of our agreement.
If you have any questions, please contact North Carolina State Coordinator Art Tolda W1AJT at w1ajt@atolda.com.