[PaQSO] Early announcements

[Michael Coslo]

Good day everyone,

Preparations for the party are proceeding apace. I've been dealing with some non-ham issues, and will be getting to the website soon.

For those who might be new, we are always the second full weekend of October, and the week after the California QSO Party. This year we are holding the party on the 12th and 13th of October.

There are no changes to the rules, although an updated version will be posted soon, with a couple of errors fixed.

1. Probably the biggest single issue addressed is the Canadian sections. 

As many of you know, or will know in a couple seconds, RAC has split Ontario into 4 sections. They did this shortly before the party last year.

After a lot of investigation, I found that as opposed to the US sections, there is absolutely no standard for the Canadian sections. We changed the VE sections a few years ago to try to keep up. But no one is keeping up. I've found anywhere from 8 to 16 sections in various parties and contests, and several variances in between.

In the end, if I added all the Ontario sections as they sort of are today, it would just be one more non-standard section list. So until the sponsors of parties and contests come together with a standard, there is no point to rewrite the software again.

2. Plaque changes:

The 20 meter "Good Neighbor" plaque will now be awarded to the >out of state< Participant who works the most PA Stations on 20. It just makes more sense that way.

There will be at least one, and maybe two plaque classes that will need sponsors. I'll announce those later.

	- 73 Mike N3LI -