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

Alan C. Zack k7acz at cox.net
Sun Jan 18 12:42:25 EST 2004


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
        U.S. Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always There
Every hour, Every day, Around the Clock and Around the World
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