[CQ-Contest] Yanks in domestic contests: Please learn a bit about your neighbours

[Alan C. Zack]

Thanks for the good info.
Better send Bud the Spud down from PEI to kick some butt!

Dave wrote:
> 
> "Americans are amiably ill-informed about Canada, while Canadians are
> irritably well-informed about the United States."
> 
> This old chestnut is played out as truth every time I get on in a
> US-organised domestic contest.  I always run into people whose profound
> ignorance about us, their neighbours, irritates the bejeebers out of me:
> - Some whinge that their software does not recognise what multiplier I am (I
> can't fix your software from here)
> - Some ask me what "providence" I am in (the word is "province!")
> - Some try to tell me that they know better that I where I am located ("No,
> no, no - VO1 is New Brunswick!")
> - Some just guess wildly when they have trouble ("My software doesn't
> understand NL, so I'll just put in "NS.")
> And it makes it a drag for me to hand out a multiplier you want to work.
> 
> Please commit the following to memory and make sure your various
> easily-edited multiplier files understand this information:
> 
> Province: Newfoundland and Labrador
> Likely prefixes: VO1 and VO2 (not VØ1 or VØ2)
> Postal abbreviation: NL
> Possible other abbreviations: NF LB NFLD LAB
> Weird possibilities: While this is one province , for some unknown reason,
> the ARRL 10m contest and the CQ 160m contests count the two parts of this
> province as distinct multipliers. In those two contests, you are more likely
> to hear VOs send NF and LB, but they are the exceptions, not the rule.
> Newfoundland and Labrador have been a single political and administrative
> entity since 1800 - long before Hiram Percy Maxim was in short pants.  The
> only recent change has been to the official name of this province from
> "Newfoundland" to "Newfoundland and Labrador."  Anyone who tells you
> anything else should be regarded as a fool.
> 
> Province: Nova Scotia
> Likely prefixes: VE1 VA1
> Postal abbreviation: NS
> Possible other abbreviations:
> Weird possibilities: In ARRL SS and ARRL 160m contests, RAC sections, not
> provinces, count as multipliers.  NS, NB and PEI together form the
> "Maritime" section.  In those two contests only, look for MAR to be the
> abbreviation sent.
> 
> Province: Prince Edward Island
> Likely prefixes: VY2 ( very few VE1s)
> Postal abbreviation: PE
> Possible other abbreviations: PEI
> Weird possibilities: In ARRL SS and ARRL 160m contests, RAC sections, not
> provinces, count as multipliers.  NS, NB and PEI together form the
> "Maritime" section.  In those two contests only, look for MAR to be the
> abbreviation sent.
> 
> Province: New Brunswick
> Likely prefixes: VE9 VA9 (few VE1s)
> Postal abbreviation: NB
> Possible other abbreviations:
> Weird possibilities: In ARRL SS and ARRL 160m contests, RAC sections, not
> provinces, count as multipliers.  NS, NB and PEI together form the
> "Maritime" section.  In those two contests only, look for MAR to be the
> abbreviation sent.
> 
> Province: Quebec
> Likely prefixes: VE2 VA2
> Postal abbreviation: QC
> Possible other abbreviations: PQ QU
> 
> Province: Ontario
> Likely prefixes: VE3 VA3
> Postal abbreviation: ON
> Possible other abbreviations: ONT
> 
> Province: Manitoba
> Likely prefixes: VE4 VA4
> Postal abbreviation: MB
> Possible other abbreviations: MAN
> 
> Province: Saskatchewan
> Likely prefixes: VE5 VA5
> Postal abbreviation: SK
> Possible other abbreviations: SASK
> 
> Province: Alberta
> Likely prefixes: VE6 VA6
> Postal abbreviation: AB
> Possible other abbreviations: ALTA AT
> 
> Province: British Columbia
> Likely prefixes: VE7 VA7
> Postal abbreviation: BC
> Possible other abbreviations:
> 
> Territory: Nunavut
> Likely prefixes: VYØ
> Postal abbreviation: NU
> Possible other abbreviations:
> Weird possibilities: In ARRL SS and ARRL 160m contests, RAC sections, not
> provinces, count as multipliers.  There is no RAC field organisation in the
> territories.  Notwithstanding that, they collectively count as one
> multiplier, abbreviated "NT" for "northern territories."
> 
> Territory: Northwest Territories
> Likely prefixes: VE8 VA8
> Postal abbreviation: NT
> Possible other abbreviations: NWT
> Weird possibilities: In ARRL SS and ARRL 160m contests, RAC sections, not
> provinces, count as multipliers.  There is no RAC field organisation in the
> territories.  Notwithstanding that, they collectively count as one
> multiplier, abbreviated "NT" for "northern territories."
> 
> Territory: Yukon
> Likely prefixes: VY1
> Postal abbreviation: YT
> Possible other abbreviations: YU YUK
> Weird possibilities: In ARRL SS and ARRL 160m contests, RAC sections, not
> provinces, count as multipliers.  There is no RAC field organisation in the
> territories.  Notwithstanding that, they collectively count as one
> multiplier, abbreviated "NT" for "northern territories."
> 
> If you write software or update multiplier files, please make sure you have
> this info right for the various contests you support.
> 
> For that suspiciously large minority to whom this is all news, if you're
> going to make an effort in a domestic contest, take a few minutes to remind
> yourself of the Canadian multipliers you'll be chasing.  At least you'll
> know what you're trying to work, and you might prevent yourself from
> sounding like a boob, even if an amiable one.
> 
> Irritably yours,
> 
> Dave VO1AU
> VO1AU at rac.ca
> 
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-- 
__________________________________________________________________________                       
                                     Alan Zack
                     Amateur Radio Station K7ACZ
                         Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
          Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
  Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
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