Plain DXCC asks for a hundred entities on any band. 5-Band DXCC asks for a hundred on each of five, which is a different order of undertaking entirely — it is the award that turns a DX chaser into someone who thinks about propagation by band and hour.
What 5BDXCC requires
The DXCC rules ask for one hundred current entities confirmed on each of 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 m — five hundred confirmations in all, with each band capped at its own hundred. A band where you hold 140 entities still contributes 100.
Two constraints carry over from all ARRL awards: 60 m counts toward nothing, and only LoTW confirmations and original paper QSL cards are accepted.
"Current entities" matters here. A deleted entity counts toward your plain DXCC total only for contacts made while it was valid, and it never counts toward 5BDXCC.
The endorsements
Beyond the core five, ARRL endorses 5BDXCC for 160, 30, 17, 12, 6 and 2 m. DxQSO shows each of those as its own row, tested the same way as the five core bands.
DxQSO tests every endorsement band against 100 current entities, exactly as it tests the core five. ARRL's rules list the endorsement bands without restating a number, so treat that as how DxQSO counts rather than a quotation of the rules, and check with the DXCC Desk before you apply.
The Challenge, while we are here
DXCC Challenge is the other multi-band award and works differently: 1,000 band-entity slots across 160 through 6 m, current entities only. Where 5BDXCC wants depth on five specific bands, the Challenge rewards breadth across ten.
What DxQSO shows
Achievements → ARRL Awards lists 5BDXCC with a per-band drill-down, so you can see which bands are complete and which are holding you up — usually 80 or 10, depending on where you are in the cycle. Beside it sits ARRL's granted credit, imported from LoTW's DXCC credit report, so you can tell the difference between a band you have confirmed and a band you have actually been given.
A worked example
Numbers make the per-band cap clearer than any rule. Take an operator whose current, LoTW-confirmed entities look like this:
| Band | Confirmed | Counts toward 5BDXCC | Still needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 m | 72 | 72 | 28 |
| 40 m | 118 | 100 | 0 |
| 20 m | 164 | 100 | 0 |
| 15 m | 131 | 100 | 0 |
| 10 m | 97 | 97 | 3 |
| Total | 582 | 469 of 500 | 31 |
That operator has 582 band-entities confirmed and is still 31 short, because the 113 surplus on 40, 20 and 15 m cannot be spent on 80 m. The whole award now lives on two bands: three more on 10 m, which is a matter of being on when it is open, and 28 on 80 m, which is a matter of antennas, low noise and long winter nights.
Planning it band by band
- 20, 15 and 40 m usually take care of themselves for anyone who chases DX regularly. Check them, then stop thinking about them.
- 10 m is a solar-cycle band. Near the top of the cycle it gives up entities faster than any other band; near the bottom it can go quiet for DX for long stretches. If you are short on 10 m, the strong years are the time to fix it.
- 80 m is where most 5BDXCC chases finish. It rewards the dark hours around your sunrise and the other station's sunset, and it rewards patience with DXpeditions, which usually put serious effort into the low bands.
- Check what is already granted. If you have been applying for DXCC for years, some of those band credits may already sit with ARRL from paper cards. The credits page shows confirmed and granted side by side, per band.
What counts, and what does not
| Counts | Does not count |
|---|---|
| LoTW confirmations and original paper QSL cards | QRZ, eQSL or email confirmations |
| Current DXCC entities | Deleted entities, even contacts made while the entity was valid (those count toward your plain DXCC total only) |
| 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 m, up to 100 each | 60 m, and any surplus above 100 on a band |
| Contacts from 15 November 1945 | Anything earlier |
Once the core five are done, the endorsements are the next ladder, and the DXCC Honor Roll is the one beyond that.
Limits
- Satellite is not computed, and a satellite contact is counted on its band as though terrestrial.
- Only the DXCC rules DxQSO models are applied — contacts from 15 November 1945, CW DXCC from 1 January 1975, no 60 m, a deleted entity only on contacts made before ARRL retired it, current entities for Challenge and 5BDXCC. Rules we do not model are not approximated.
Common questions
Does a deleted entity count?
Toward plain DXCC, yes, but only for contacts made while the entity was still valid. Toward 5BDXCC, 10-Band DXCC, the Challenge and the Honor Roll, no — those count current entities only.
Does working an entity on six bands help 5BDXCC?
Only on the five bands it counts, and only up to 100 on each.
Why is my 10 m number so far behind?
Because 10 m is a solar-cycle award. Most 5BDXCC chases finish on 80 or 10.
How close am I to 5BDXCC?
Add up each of the five bands, counting no band above 100. The worked example in this post shows the arithmetic; the ARRL Awards page in DxQSO does it for you, per band.
Does DxQSO tell me when a band moves?
Yes. Achievement alerts are kept per band, so a confirmation that adds a new entity on 80 m is announced as a new 80 m entity, not just as a confirmed QSO.
73, Steve, N1EZ
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