SB DX @ ARL $ARLD016
ARLD016 Chesterfield Islands Added to ARRL DXCC List

ZCZC AE16
QST de W1AW  
DX Bulletin 16  ARLD016
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  April 14, 2000
To all radio amateurs   

SB DX ARL ARLD016
ARLD016 Chesterfield Islands Added to ARRL DXCC List

The ARRL DX Advisory Committee and the ARRL Awards Committee have
voted to add the Chesterfield Islands of New Caledonia to the DXCC
List. For DXCC credit, contacts made on or after March 23, 2000 will
be accepted. Cards for this new entity may be submitted after
October 1, 2000.

With the admission of New Caledonia to IARU membership, the
Chesterfield Islands qualify by reason of separation from New
Caledonia. The Chesterfields are more than 350 km from the closest
point of New Caledonia.

The recent Chesterfield Islands TX0DX DXpedition team racked up
72,654 contacts before it shut down March 29 after six days of
operation.

On its way to the Chesterfields, the TX0DX group made a slight
detour to the area where intervening reefs are indicated on some
older maps. The team reports it was able to confirm the French
Navy's documentation that the claimed islands simply do not exist,
and that there is a 350-kilometer open-water separation between New
Caledonia and the Chesterfields.
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/EX