WAIL - Italian Lighthouses Award - Worked All Italian Lighthouses

RULES

Updated to 1st January 2024

Download WAIL rules as PDF file:

1) The WAIL Award (Worked All Italian Lighthouses) has been managed and issued by ARI Genova Club since June 1st, 2013, and previously managed by ARI Nizza Monferrato Club. The Award is established to promote the Italian lighthouse heritage and to support portable ham radio activities.

2) The Award will be issued:

- to any Italian/foreign OM/YL/SWL (“hunter”), who will have connected/listened at least 30 Italian lighthouses from 5 different Italian Regions;

- to any Italian/foreign OM/YL (“activator”), who will have activated at least 10 Italian lighthouses.

3) QSOs are allowed in any band (from 0.7 to 160m) and emission mode (SSB, CW, RTTY, SSTV, digital modes, etc.), just respecting the Band Plan. QSOs via repeaters and cross band are forbidden in any case.

4) To pursue the Award, an official lighthouse directory is available from the Award Manager Giacomo Frola (IU1LBK) and from the References page.

5) The lighthouse directory is based on information published by the Italian Navy. Any addition and deletion of a reference, proposed by activators too, will be evaluated by the Award Manager. His decision is unquestionable.

6) References deleted from previous directories but confirmed/validated prior to May 31st 2013 will be considered as valid for pursuing the Award.

On 01/01/20 the Award is divided into two parts, the global ranking will remain unchanged and an annual ranking will be added in parallel for both activators and hunters.

GLOBAL RANKING

7) No QSLs verification is required to Hunters, as QSOs will be proved electronically. SWLs will be asked for sending a copy of their logbook in ADIF format.

8) The award is issued to any OM/YL/SWL upon request, filling in the Award request form. The award is free of charge in the electronic version and it is downloadable from “Activators' e-Awards” or “Hunters' e-Awards” pages in Awards & log. For the paper version, a contribution of 10 Euros (15 US dollars) is requested to cover shipping costs. The deposit can be charged after receiving instructions from the Award Manager.

9) Endorsements (“Steps”) and “Honor Roll” are envisaged, too. Endorsements, both for hunters and activators, consist of special awards issued stepwise every 35 references, until complete confirmation of the references, following the scheme below:

Activator # refs	WAIL Award type	Hunter # refs (EU and Mediterranean Countries)	Hunter # refs (rest of the world)
5	Basic	30	15
10	First Step	65	25
20	Second Step	100	35
40	Third Step	135	45
60	Fourth Step	170	55
80	Honor Roll	208	65

On 01/01/20 an annual ranking is also established which will make the diploma more competitive.
In fact, at the end of the year, the first 3 Hunters by score and the first 3 Activators will be awarded (with appointment and contribution to be defined).

10) The awarded OM/YL/SWL will be allowed to put our logo on his/her personal QSL cards. The logo is downloadable from the Links page and it is available in high resolution.

GUIDELINES FOR ACTIVATORS

Updated to 1st January 2024

a) Operations must meet the following criteria to be validated:

--- Operations are allowed up to a distance of 500m (545 yards) from the lighthouse (operations in maritime mobile are also allowed);

--- The minimal amount of QSOs/lighthouse in each band is:

HF: 50 QSO/lighthouse;

50/VHF: 10 QSO/lighthouse;

UHF: 5 QSO/lighthouse;

--- Clear photographic proof of the activation, with at least two pictures of the lighthouse. Pictures must be exclusively in .jpg format.

b) Additional pictures (at most 2, exclusively in .jpg format) including personal QSL cards are warmly welcome, although not mandatory. Such additional material will be published on WAIL photo galleries.

c) Activators must send a copy of their log file in ADIF format and pictures using the Validation Form page.

d) Within the same day and in case of an activation with more than one operator, the lighthouse will be credited to the first operator been on the air, following criteria described in bullet a). If other group members wished the extension of the reference, each operator must log at least 30 additional QSOs, using his/her personal callsign and without any limitation of band. Each operator will independently upload log and pictures as reported in bullet c).

--- In case of activation with special or Club callsigns with the collaboration of one or more operators (Team), the reference will be always credited to all members. The log file in ADIF format will be only submitted by the special call owner.

e) Since June 1st 2015, Activators will be credited a double reference valid for both the Activators’ and Hunters’ rankings.

f) Simultaneous activations of two lighthouses is not allowed, as well as more than two New-Ones per day using the same callsign. The overall activation time will take at least 1 hour and at least one band change is mandatory.

g) The Award Manager might reserve the rights of checking QSOs by means of any electronic device. E-mail contacts between the Award Manager and hunters are part of the validation process, too. If a relevant number of QSOs are not confirmed by hunters, the Award Manager might declare the activation as invalid. The final decision is unquestionable.

h) Each activator will receive a customized, and detailed, “Certificate of Attendance” after the validation process.

i) The final courtesy of a QSO is the QSL. The Award Manager strongly recommends all the activators to confirm their QSOs with a QSL via bureau or electronic devices, or specifying the preferred method of QSLing. More than one QSO report in a single QSL is allowed.

l) It is possible to continue with the activation for the next 30 days, and this will be considered valid once the necessary QSO quorum has been reached

m) Once an activity is announced, other activators will not be able to plan it for 30 days prior to the scheduled date, or 15 days in the case of a NewOne. If the activator who booked fails to perform the activity for any reason, he loses the exclusive right to the reservation. You will still be able to announce the activity again, but in this case, it will be open to all activators, even in the days before the new set date. For example, if IU1LBK books the LI-001 task for January 30, 2024, no other trigger will be able to schedule it before January 31, 2024. However, if IU1LBK does not fulfill the task on January 30 and reschedules it for February 10, the protection will cease and any activator will be able to carry it out, even the day before the new date.

n) Activators can announce their activations early, sending information (lighthouse reference, callsign, date, QSL manager, etc.) through the Announcement form and freely accessible by everyone. Information will be automatically added to the website and sent to all the Mailing List users.

o) The 20 Italian Regions are listed below:

- Val d’Aosta (Aosta Valley)
- Piemonte (Piedmont)
- Liguria
- Lombardia (Lombardy)
- Veneto
- Trentino Alto Adige
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- Emilia Romagna
- Toscana (Tuscany)
- Marche
- Lazio
- Umbria
- Abruzzo
- Molise
- Puglia (Apulia)
- Campania
- Basilicata
- Calabria
- Sicilia (Sicily)
- Sardegna (Sardinia)

The Award Manager IU1LBK Giacomo Frola