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The VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) is the premier award for amateur radio operators active on the bands above 50 MHz. Sponsored by the ARRL, VUCC recognizes operators who have confirmed contacts with stations in 100 or more Maidenhead grid squares on a single VHF, UHF, or microwave band.
While HF awards like DXCC and WAS count countries and states, VUCC uses the Maidenhead grid locator system — a worldwide coordinate grid that divides the Earth's surface into squares roughly 70 × 100 miles (111 × 160 km) at mid-latitudes. This makes VUCC fundamentally about geographic breadth: how many different grid squares can you reach from your station?
The Maidenhead Locator System divides the world into a hierarchy of grid squares identified by alternating letter and number pairs:
For VUCC, each four-character grid square (e.g., FN31, EM48, IO91) counts as one grid. Your logging software should automatically calculate grid squares from the other station's reported location.
Most VHF/UHF operators include their grid square in their QSO exchange (e.g., "FN31" or "EM48"), so you will naturally accumulate grid data as you operate.
To earn the basic VUCC award on a given band:
The minimum grid requirement varies by band — see the table below.
VUCC is awarded separately for each band. The minimum number of grids required differs because higher bands are progressively harder to work over distance:
| Band | Minimum Grids |
|---|---|
| 50 MHz (6 metres) | 100 |
| 144 MHz (2 metres) | 100 |
| 222 MHz (1.25 metres) | 50 |
| 432 MHz (70 cm) | 50 |
| 902 MHz (33 cm) | 25 |
| 1296 MHz (23 cm) | 25 |
| 2304 MHz and above | 10 |
| Satellite | 100 |
After earning the basic award, endorsement stickers are available at increments of 25 (for bands requiring 50+ grids) or 5 (for bands requiring fewer grids).
Building your grid count depends on the band and the propagation modes available:
Six metres is the most accessible band for VUCC because it benefits from multiple propagation modes that can carry signals hundreds or thousands of kilometres:
Many operators achieve 6-metre VUCC primarily through Sporadic E during the summer season.
On 2 metres and higher bands, propagation is predominantly line-of-sight, but several mechanisms extend range:
On the higher bands (222 MHz and above), activity is concentrated in populated areas, and most contacts are over shorter distances. The lower grid requirements for these bands reflect this reality.
VUCC Satellite requires contacts through amateur radio satellites on any combination of satellite transponders. Grids contacted via satellites count separately from terrestrial contacts. See Amateur Satellites.
VHF contests are the single best opportunity to accumulate grids quickly:
Many VHF enthusiasts also organise grid expeditions — portable operations from rare or unoccupied grid squares. These expeditions are often announced on VHF mailing lists and forums, giving chasers advance notice to be on the air.
VUCC chasing benefits from equipment that maximizes your effective range:
Most logging programs can display your confirmed grid count per band. Some operators use grid maps — visual representations of all the grids they have worked — to identify gaps and plan which directions to target.
Online tools and websites also provide grid maps and analyses of your LoTW confirmations.