>> In contests that distinguish between Canada's Yukon, Northwest Territories,
>> and Nunavut, it makes as much or more sense to recognize the District of
>> Columbia as being separate from Maryland. As scare as DC might be, it still
>> has more active hams (or at least more active hams that can be heard
>> through auroral propagation) than all three of those territories combined.
>>
>> In contests that combine those three territories into one multiplier, it is
>> logical is to include the District of Columbia as part of Maryland.
>>
>> Likewise, in contests that use ARRL/RAC sections, it follows to use the
>> MDC section. (The Canadian northern territories are not an RAC section;
>> they
>> are a special exception from their administrative treatment of being part
>> of the Alberta section).
>>
>> The NAQP is the first type of contest - it counts the three Canadian
>> northern territories as separate multipliers.
>>
>>
>> 73 - Jim K8MR
>>
>> Message: 14
>> From: "Richard F DiDonna NN3W" <richnn3w@verizon.net>
>>
>> Nobody is requesting that DC be considered as a new section. Indeed, the
>> ARRL's criteria for a section are usually predicated on a population base of
>> 7,000 to 10,000. That's not what is being suggested - at all.
>>
>> Instead, what is being suggested is that the District be considered as a
>> multiplier in NAQP. As I mentioned, several other contests based on the
>> "state" multiplier concept have already done so: ARRL DX, CQWW 160, ARRL 10,
>> and the ARRL RTTY Roundup all have recognized it as a mult.
>>
>> Now, if you want to talk populations, I think you'll find that there has
>> been more activity from DC than from several actual states. Take the ARRL
>> DX CW test, there was one submitted score from North Dakota - a whopping 589
>> QSOs. W3DQ was on from DC with almost 1,800 QSOs, and others were on.
>>
>> In the ARRL 10 contest (still awaiting all the logs), there have been 2 logs
>> submitted from ND. By contrast, there were 7 or 8 different DC stations on.
>> I think the folks in the District have shown viable activity levels.
>>
>> 73 Rich NN3W
>>
>>
>> 73 - Jim K8MR
Yeah - what K8MR and NN3W said.
Also I would point out that Bill N6ZFO added DC in 2010 as a distinct
multiplier in the NCCC Thursday Night Sprints. How's that for NCCC/PVRC
teamwork, huh? Rich is absolutely correct about DC activity increasing
significantly in recent years. We added 5 new DC callsigns in our house
alone in 2010.
Coincidentally, last week we invited 13 Boy Scouts over to do the Signaling
Merit Badge: http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Signaling. The boys all
learned 13 Morse Code characters and all the Semaphore flag combinations in a
2-hour session. Now the boys are all madly practicing on www.lcwo.net to get
up to 7 wpm by December 31, 2010 which is the expiration date for Signaling.
Signaling MB was one of the original 4 BSA Merit Badges in 1910, along with
Carpentry, Pathfinding and Tracking, but was subsequently 'decommissioned' in
1992 (a clear 'canary in the coal mine' for the FCC No-Code License, as it
turned out). BSA brought back Signaling in 2010 only as one of the four
'Centennial Merit Badges' during the 2010 BSA Centennial year.
Finally, I'll offer a book suggestion: "Geek Dad" by Ken Denmead. My 16-year
old son Patrick bought it for me for Christmas, and it's full of suggestions
for projects geeky dads can do with their kids, like building an autopilot for
a RC plane and a Wi-Fi Signal Booster. If you are reading this posting, by
definition you are one of the 7 personality types described on page 3, where
the author presents a 'Venn Diagram' of Dweebs, Nerds, Dorks, Twits, Gadflys,
Goobers and the 'king' of them all: Geeks, who have the optimal combination of
Knowledgeability, Obsessiveness and Social Skills (yes - minimal Social Skills
are necessary too, otherwise there would not be any kids around with whom to do
projects!) It's absolutely hilarious.
Happy New Year to all and Good Contesting in 2011!
Ken KE3X (Geek Dad)
Kody K3ODY
Patrick K3PAL
Aidan KB3SPI
Palisades Radio Club K3PRC
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