The Worked All Britain (WAB) Page |
The Worked All Britain (WAB) Awards Scheme was devised in 1969 by the late John Morris G3ABG to promote interest in Amateur Radio and in the geography of the British Isles. He was aided in the production of the first WAB Books by members of the Cannock Chase Amateur Radio Club. WAB is based on the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain 'National Grid Reference', the Ordnance Survey of Ireland 'Irish Grid', and the addition recently of the 'Universal Transverse Mercator Grid' which covers the Channel Islands. WAB areas consist of 2 letters which signify the grid Large Square (each of which covers 100km x 100km) and the number of the 10km x 10km square within it, plus the county. For example, the WAB area that covers most of my home town Saltash is SX45 Cornwall. Reference can often be heard on the amateur radio bands to 'WAB Squares', which is not strictly correct, as not all WAB Areas are Square. The Square SX45 covers part of Devon as well as part of Cornwall, so the boundary between the two areas is the shape of part of the River Tamar. Certificates are awarded for working, or hearing (SWLs can participate as well), numbers of stations by various categories. There is no requirement for QSOs to be confirmed with QSL cards - all that is required is that each station QSLs the report he is given by the other station by repeating it.
The best method of collecting is to purchase a WAB record pack or CD-ROM (very useful but not essential), which are available from the Membership Secretary (see link below) . It lists all the WAB areas in the UK, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands (Eire is not covered by WAB), and columns for you to enter the band, callsign and date that you worked/heard a station in that area. Similarly, it has details of all the Counties, Rateable Districts and Unitary Authorities with form the basis of another award. Each 'book' pack carries a unique number and your callsign or name on it, and is non-transferable. Working/hearing book holders forms the basis of another award. All the profits from WAB go to charity, and in 1994, the 25th anniversary of WAB, money was raised through book/award sales and sponsored events to buy an inshore lifeboat for the RNLI, that was named after the founder of WAB, John Morris.
There are many different awards within the scheme, and you can make collecting as difficult or as easy as you like. Certificates are available for working/hearing numbers of Areas, Counties, Authorities, Large Squares, Islands, and Book Holders, along with a Winter Activity Award and a Decade Award which have specific time limits on them. Recently introduced are the Millennium Award, and individual awards for each of the constituent Countries that make up the UK, along with the WAB Beyond 2000 Award, which is worked on a points basis for gaining credits in the other awards. There are also some contests run during the year for added fun! Certificates can be endorsed with any criteria you like - for example you may complete an award on just 80m SSB, or 2m CW, or mixed band, mixed mode - it really is as free as you wish to make it.
Nets are run on various bands with priority given to mobile or portable stations. Awards claimed for mobile or portable operation are free in deference to the amount of petrol used up putting on areas! Don't be afraid of calling in to a net because you feel that everyone has already worked your area - there are new people trying WAB all the time, so there will always be someone who needs your area (there are currently nearly 14000 books issued, so there are a lot of dormant WABers out there!). If you do not know your area, if you call into a net someone will normally be on hand who can look it up for you. Phone nets run around 1.93-1.95MHz, 3.76MHz, 7.06MHz, 14.266MHz, 21.32MHz, 28.655MHz and 144.43MHz and above at various times depending on band conditions.
For those people who run computers in their shacks (and whose computers don't make too much noise on their receivers!), WAB databases are available which can take the place of the record pack and associated claim sheets. Most will even print out award claims and hit lists of those areas, districts etc. that you haven't yet worked.
My interest in WAB started after I got my class A licence, and have always found those enthusiasts on the nets a very friendly bunch. At that time, nets were to be found mostly on 80m, but currently nets seem to run on 40m during the daytime if the skip is right for inter-G working. As we travel down the sun spot cycle and 40m becomes more of a DX band during the day, nets will start reappearing on 80m. Foreign stations can often be heard around 14.266MHz calling CQ UK for WAB purposes. Contacts do not have to be made on nets, and most of the awards can be claimed for back dated QSOs, as long as the area of the station can be traced. A good road atlas with National Grid squares marked on it is another useful addition, as you can help navigate mobile stations who are unfamiliar with the territory, or you can follow their progress if they are doing a mobile run. The paperwork side of WAB can be a little daunting, but if you keep to a system, it should all run smoothly. There is now a CD-ROM version of the WAB Record Book Pack available, if you have a PC running Windows 95 or newer and Microsoft Word 7 or later.
I am a member of the WAB Committee, and have been its president in the past. I was heavily involved in the restructuring of the WAB Awards after the local government reorganisations of 1995-1998, and also produce the WAB CD-ROM (details from the WAB web site - see the link below).
If I have whetted anyones appetite to have a go, please e-mail me for details of where to obtain a book or CD, or for any advice on WAB. It keeps me quiet for hours!!!
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