SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX016
ARLX016 New section ups the ante on SS clean sweep

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Special Bulletin 16  ARLX016
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  June 13, 1997
To all radio amateurs

SB SPCL ARL ARLX016
ARLX016 New section ups the ante on SS clean sweep

Keep an ear out for VO1 and VO2 call signs during this fall's ARRL
Sweepstakes. Canada's new Newfoundland-Labrador (NL) Section will be
among those that SS participants will have to snag this November on
their way to that coveted Clean Sweep Award. The ARRL received formal
notification of the change last week from Radio Amateurs of Canada
President J. Farrell ''Hoppy'' Hopwood, VE7RD, although the addition of
the NL section actually was approved last year. Some NL hams gave NL
as their section in last fall's SS, although the change had not yet
been incorporated into the list of SS sections. Joe Craig, VO1NA, of
Torbay, Newfoundland, is the Section Manager in NL. RAC Vice
President and General Counsel Tim Ellam, VE6SH, said the new section
was created ''primarily as it was hard to service VO1/2 from the MAR
(Maritimes) section due to geography.''

The addition of a new section could prove to be a significant
challenge for those hoping to work all ARRL and RAC sections, plus
VE8/VY1 (a total of 79 multipliers) in the popular fall event. Some
Canadian sections already are among the more difficult ones to find
and work. (A heads up: Ellam says RAC has also explored the
possibility of creating additional new sections north of the border,
but no decisions have been reached yet.) The change also means that
those who use computerized logging programs will have to add the new
section to their program's list of SS sections--just as they had to
do last fall with the addition of the Northern New York section.

This year's ARRL Sweepstakes weekends are November 1-2 (CW) and
November 15-16 (SSB).
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