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.
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. Deleted entities that still count toward your plain DXCC total do not count toward 5BDXCC.
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.
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.
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.
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.
| Counts | Does not count |
|---|---|
| LoTW confirmations and original paper QSL cards | QRZ, eQSL or email confirmations |
| Current DXCC entities | Deleted entities, even ones that still count toward your plain DXCC total |
| 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.
Toward plain DXCC yes, toward 5BDXCC and the Challenge no — those are current entities only.
Only on the five bands it counts, and only up to 100 on each.
Because 10 m is a solar-cycle award. Most 5BDXCC chases finish on 80 or 10.
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.
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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