If you’ve been curious about contesting, the ARRL November Sweepstakes is a friendly place to start, and Canadian stations are a full part of it. The CW weekend is this weekend.
When it runs
The contest begins at 2100 UTC Saturday, November 7 and ends at 0259 UTC Monday, November 9. In Alberta time, that’s 3:00 pm Saturday to 8:59 pm Sunday.
Each station can operate up to 24 of those 30 hours, and breaks must be at least 30 minutes long. Listening counts as operating time. The Phone weekend follows on November 21 to 23 (UTC).
Who you’ll work
Stations in the United States and Canada work each other on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres. There are 85 sections, including the Canadian ones from Radio Amateurs of Canada. Alberta is its own section: you send AB. That means Alberta stations are a multiplier that others want in their logs.
The exchange
Sweepstakes has a longer exchange than most contests, which is part of the fun:
- Serial number, starting at 1
- Precedence: Q for 5 watts or less, A for single operator up to 100 watts, B for single operator high power, U for single operator unlimited, M for multi-operator, S for school club
- Your callsign
- Check: the last two digits of the year you or the station were first licensed
- Section: AB for Alberta
Write your own exchange on a card before you start. When the pileups get busy, it helps more than you’d think.
Not ready to send? Just listen
Anyone with a receiver can tune in. It’s great practice for copying CW at speed, and you’ll hear the same exchange over and over until it sounds familiar. If your certificate includes HF privileges, even a few contacts with low power is a good start.
Logs are due within seven days after the contest ends. The full rules are on the ARRL Sweepstakes page.
New to all this? Read our contesting guide and our CW page, and check PropMap before you call to see which bands are open.