[continued from previous message]   
      
   at home and, of course, the chance to meet other hams in person at   
   last. In fact, she said, there are even a few boat owners and campers   
   using tents who have joined the parade of camper vans, caravans and   
   motor homes.   
      
   Linda, G 0 YLM, would love to see the group become an international   
   one.   
      
   "If you enjoy radio and enjoy traveling, that's all we ask."   
      
   (NewsLine 2455)   
   ----------------   
   WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS - AM   
      
   H  Night Contest   
      
   This years ZL "H Night" contest will be on Sunday December 8th.   
      
   The contest marks ZL amateurs return to air after WW2, which was on   
   8th December 1945. It is also the (NZ) anniversary of the   
   1941 Pearl Harbour attack, and commemorates all the amateurs who   
   served, and especially those who gave their lives for our freedom   
   during WW2.   
      
   There are 5 x 1/2 hour sessions, starting at 7.30PM NZDT concluding   
   at 10PM.   
      
   All stations are to use AM mode on 80 meters.   
      
   Points are awarded depending on the equipment used by the station you   
   contact.   
      
   There is also an SWL section, with points awarded according to the   
   type of receiver used.   
      
   The contest was reactivated a few years ago by Rob ZL2IW who is the   
   coordinator. Rob will use the special call sign ZL6H for the evening   
   and extra points are awarded for contacts with ZL6H, and for   
   vintage (valve) stations.   
      
   The rules are to be found on the NZART website under contests"   
      
   (breakin)   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - DIGITAL   
      
   Its with sadness that we noted the passing of Thomas E. Kurtz, on   
   November 12th.   
      
   He was co-inventor of the BASIC programming language back in the 1960s,   
   and though his creation may not receive the attention in 2024 that it   
   would have done in 1984, the legacy of his work lives on in the   
   generation of technologists who gained their first taste of computer   
   programming through it.   
      
   Origins of BASIC lie in the Dartmouth Timesharing System, like similar   
   timesharing operating systems of the day, designed to allow the   
   resources of a single computer to be shared across many terminals.   
   In this case the computer was at Dartmouth College, and BASIC was   
   designed to be a language with which software could be written by   
   average students who perhaps didnt have a computing background.   
      
   In the decade that followed it proved ideal for the new microcomputers,   
   and few were the home computers of the era which didnt boot into some   
   form of BASIC interpreter. Kurtz continued his work as a distinguished   
   academic and educator until his retirement in 1993, but throughout he   
   remained as the guiding hand of the language.   
      
   Should you ask a computer scientist their views on BASIC, youll   
   undoubtedly hear about its shortcomings, and no doubt mention will be   
   made of the GOTO statement and how it made larger projects very   
   difficult to write. This is all true, but at the same time it misses   
   the point of it being a readily understandable language for first-time   
   users of machines with very little in the way of resources. It was the   
   perfect programming start for a 1970s or 1980s beginner, and once its   
   limitations had been reached it provided the impetus for a move to   
   higher things.   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER   
   AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org   
      
   AMSAT-SM, the Swedish group of AMSAT are reporting the recently   
   launched ASRTU-1 CubeSat's FM Transponder is active.   
      
   Satellite ASRTU-1 recently deployed to space with an FM transponder,   
   SSDV cameras, and a telemetry system. Initial images and telemetry   
   have been received by ground stations and the FM transponder continues   
   to be active.   
      
   The FM transponder's uplink of 145.850 MHz (67 Hz CTCSS tone required)   
   and a downlink of 435.400 MHz. After the repeater detects the end of   
   uplink, it will wait for 0.5s. If no new uplink in 0.5s, telemetry will   
   be sent. So make fast QSOs as the telemetry is less like to interrupt   
   you.   
      
   The satellite two cameras with an SSDV downlink for low resolution   
   images on 436.210 MHz, and a high speed downlink on 10460 MHz for   
   high resolution images.   
      
   ASRTU-1 is a 12U CubeSat designed through a collaboration between   
   Chinese and Russian students from the Harbin Institute of Technology.   
      
   More information is available from AMSAT-SM.   
      
   amsat.se/2024/11/10/asrtu-1-launched-november-4-2024/   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA   
   iota-world.org/   
      
   Listen for Krish, W4VKU operating in the Andaman Islands,   
   IOTA number AS-001, using the callsign VU4A.   
      
   Krish is activating in late November and will be on the air through   
   mid-December. He will operate  SSB  and  FT8 in multi-stream MSHV mode   
   on 160-6 metres.   
      
   For  QSL details see QRZ.com   
      
   (newsline 2455)   
      
   ----------   
      
   Listen for Dave, WJ2O, who will be active as PJ6/WJ2O from Saba,   
   IOTA Number NA-145, until November 26.   
      
   QSL via N2ZN.   
   (newsline 2455)   
      
   -----------------   
      
   Oleg, ZS 1 ANF, can be heard operating as ZS 7 ANF from Wolf's Fang   
   Runway, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, IOTA number AN-016, from mid   
   November through to late February of 2025.   
      
   Listen for him using CW on 40-10 metres.   
      
   Again s QRZ.com for QSL details.   
      
   (newsline 2455)   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS - YOTA   
   (Youngsters On The Air)   
   WIA committee:- Steve VK6SJ, Alec VK2MV and Pete VK2LP.   
   ham-yota.com/category/yota-region-3/   
   facebook.com/groups/YOTAOC/   
   youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA   
      
   We YOTA's seem to be more active overseas than right here in VK so   
   I'd really like to hear from fellow youngsters of local activity, both   
   for this WIA National News Service and in our column in Amateur Radio   
   Magazine.   
      
   So a quick look at our YOTA world.   
      
   Eyewitness News in North-eastern and Central Pennsylvania, comes from   
   WBRE-TV, an NBC affiliate, and WYOU-TV, a CBS affiliate has a weekly   
   " Here's to You Kid" segment.   
      
   Recently, 28/22 News introduced viewers to a teen and his role at the   
   Monroe County Public Safety Centre. Samuel Thrall is not seated at a   
   Pleasant Valley School desk where you would usually find him. Instead,   
   he is lending a hand at the Monroe County Public Safety Centre.   
      
   The 14-year-old teen can help behind the mic in the event of an   
   emergency. "So say a blizzard happened, we would be deployed to   
   various Red Cross centres through the county to establish   
   communications," stated Thrall.   
   Back in October, Sixty-two middle school students participated in the   
   national School Club Roundup and got a chance to talk amateur contacts   
   across the USA and around the world! The Estes Valley Amateur Radio   
   Club worked with individual groups of 2-3 students to teach them how to   
   use the radio and make contacts. This took place at the Estes Park   
   Memorial Observatory where a radio room has been set up for student   
   use.   
      
   (Eham)   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS   
   qcwa.org   
   raotc.org.au   
      
   Recently we ran the story of a ham radio station/club being set up in   
   an over 0's lifestyle village in the USA.   
      
   Now from the UK comes word a Merseyside society for former radio   
   officers has found a new home at the Nautilus retirement estate in   
   Mariners' Park.   
      
   The club meets every Friday morning and members transmit to amateur   
   radio enthusiasts around the UK and beyond. The equipment they use is   
   similar to the devices they used on board every day for work until the   
   radio officer role was phased out in the 1980s.   
      
   Some of the retired radio officers who live or now meet at Mariners'   
   Park have been members of the club since it was founded over a decade   
   ago as the Marine Radio Museum Society (Wirral). The call sign at that   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)