Are you ready for the Apr 1st ARRL/RAC Section changes? Here are the latest maps and section definitions: http://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/maps/sections_2.php
"The number of Sections needed for a clean sweep in the ARRL November Sweepstakes (SS) will rise to 84 in 2020, with the addition of a new Prince Edward Island (PE) Section. Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) announced this week that the new Section will become effective on April 1." http://www.arrl.org/news/radio-amateurs-of-canada-announces-a-new-section
Congrats to the PEI hams who got the change they wanted. I hope they are just as committed to working Nov SS. My first clean sweep was in 1998. 2019 will be my 14th. Does anyone remember when the first clean sweep mugs were introduced?
Do you have mugs for those years? The style has changed a couple times through the years. Just wonder what they looked like then. The 75th and 8th anniversary of the Sweeps had a unique mug. I'm trying to hang on for the 100th in 2033 (I'll only be 80) just to get the special mug. There will probably be 150 sections by then.
I wondered about that. But they already posted it on the web site. A little early for April Fools. Looks like it's for real.
I'm a little confused. As recently as last month's RAC Winter Contest the area shown on the map as "NT" was three different sections (the Yukon, Northern Territories and Nunavut). Yet I see no mention of them being recombined - only that PEI is now a separate section. So is this section map/list only for certain contests or have there been (or will there be) additional changes to the 'official' section designations in Canada?
WB9QVR: There are only three contests that use "sections" as multipliers: ARRL's Sweepstakes (SS) CW, Sweepstakes SSB and the ARRL 160m contest. Sections are the geographic areas used by the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) and by ARRL to organise emergency preparedness work by Amateurs, such as the ARES. Canada has ten provinces and three territories. These are the component parts of my country. Many more contests use Canadian provinces and territories as multipliers, including the RAC contests, ARRL's DX contest, and, in a slightly mistaken way, the ARRL 10m contest. (***For reasons best known to them, the ARRL 10m contest uniquely counts the Island of Newfoundland (NF) and Labrador (LB) as separate multipliers, even though they are parts of the same province (Newfoundland and Labrador (NL)) and have been parts of the same political unit since the year 1800. This is akin to counting the Upper and Lower peninsulas of Michigan as separate states, which no contest does.***) The provinces of British Columbia (BC), Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK), Manitoba (MB), Quebec (QC), and Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) have identical territory to the RAC Sections of the same name. Ontario (ON) is a province, but for RAC's field organisation, it has been divided into four sections (ONE, ONS, ONN and GTA). RAC's Maritime (MAR) section currently includes three provinces: New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS) and Prince Edward Island (PE). As of 1 April 2020, PE will become a separate section in RAC's field organisation. This will happen because Amateurs in that province took the initiative to organise and request a separate RAC section for PE. After 1 April, the remnant MAR section will include only two provinces - NB and NS. I suspect there will be a similar move in the next year or two to make each of those two provinces a separate section, but no one has become all that energised yet. Watch and wait. There has never been a RAC field organisation in the three territories of Yukon (YT), Northwest Territories (NT) or Nunavut. ARRL's SS and 160m contests developed the harmless fiction of an "Northern Territories (NT) section." A contact with the NT section is often the rarest and most sought-after section in the SS, as every serious competitor seeks a "Clean Sweep" - a contact with every section. So, when changes happen in RAC's or ARRL's field organisation, there can be a consequent change in the way multipliers are counted in three ARRL-organised contests. This happens despite there being no necessary connection between ARES activities and contesting. You're right to be confused. This is an odd little anomaly that does no harm and occasionally obliges a Canadian to give a lesson in Canadian geography to Americans. I am the Atlantic Director of RAC and I represent the four Atlantic Provinces (NB, NS, PE and NL) on RAC's our Board of Directors. Changes to the sections will have no impact on my area of responsibility. 73, Dave VE9CB
Northwest Territories (NT) section is made up of three different territories. The RAC Winter Contest counts Provinces and Territories, Sweepstakes counts sections, as illustrated on the map in post #1. Hope this helps.
Dave, thank you for your explanation. It does seem strange to me that different contests 'look' at Canadian provinces and RAC sections differently but I suppose that each has their reasons for doing so. As an aside, I do enjoy participating in the RAC Winter Contest as well as the Canada Day event each year. My goal is to one day have a clean sweep of all the provinces in one of those contests. I've yet to make that ever-elusive contact with Nunavut - but that just emboldens me to try even harder!
It's not quite so strange. Those same three contests also treat US states differently than most: 9 Californias, 2 Washingtons, 3 Texases, 2 Pennsylvanias, 3 Floridas, 2 New Jerseys, 4 New Yorks. Each contest has its own focus, appeal, history and, occasionally, outright weirdness. Sometimes weird is fun. I'm glad to hear you enjoy the RAC contests. Please keep coming back.
Awww Man I cant get a clean sweep now!!!! So they add more? oh boy I hope they extend the operating time of the contest.
