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   NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2026   
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   1st January 2026  NZART Centenary 100 QSO Challenge   
      
   You are invited to kick off the NZART Centenary year in style with a fun,   
   on-air event. Can you make 100 contacts in 24 hours?   
      
   1101 31 December 2025 UTC, i.e.  0001 NZDT 1st January 2026 to   
   1059  1 January  2026 UTC,     2359 NZDT 1   January 2026.   
   Object:   
   To celebrate the start of the 2026 NZART Centenary Year by making 100 QSOs   
   with amateur radio stations in 24 hours.   
      
      
   All bands including WARC as this is NOT a contest.   
   All modes are permitted.   
      
   Special categories include   
      
   Most Portable stations:Most DXCC Entities:   
   The fastest to work 100 QSOs as judged by the time of their hundredth QSO.   
   Most Modes: For the person who uses the most different modes in makingtheir   
   100 QSOs.   
      
      
   Full details on the new NZART site which Bruce will tell us about in a   
   moment, but the link is in the text edition of this weeks WIA NATIONAL NEWS   
      
      
   sites.google.com/view/zl-amateur-radio-hsistory?usp=sharing   
   (NZART)   
      
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   ROSS HULL all January.   
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   QSO Party Day Contest organized by Marconi Club is scheduled for Saturday,   
   January 3rd, 2026 its as always in "short contest" format and is now inits   
   8th edition.   
      
      
   The purpose of the event is to introduce the club and CW to the younger   
   generations and bring together all those who truly love and believe in   
   telegraphy. The event will involve all members of the historic club, which   
   has nearly 1000 members from all over the world, and all enthusiasts of the   
   wonderful and magnificent art of CW.   
      
      
   Further information may be found at marconiclub.it   
   (IRTS)   
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   VHF UHF FIELD DAY JANUARY 5 and 6   
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   JANUARY 2026 AX DAY CONTEST.   
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   FEBRUARY 21 and 22 ARRL DX CW   
      
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   WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS   
   SUMMITS ON THE AIR, WORLD WIDE FLORA, FAUNA PROGRAM,   
   PARKS ON THE AIR and other ADVENTURE GROUPS.   
      
   hema.org.uk/index.jsp   
   minesontheair.com/about-mota   
   parksontheair.com/   
   sota.org.uk   
   sotawatch.sota.org.uk/en/   
   facebook.com/SotaAustralia/   
   wwffaustralia.com/   
      
   NZART Centenary Portable Activity Day January One kicks off the associations   
   centenary.   
      
      
   New Zealand viewers and listeners to this the WIA NATIONAL NEWS SERVICE are   
   encouraged to take their radio equipment to a branch-organised or family New   
   Years day picnic or barbeque to expose the public to our exciting hobby.   
      
      
   Many parks, summits, lakes, islands and lighthouses will be activated by   
   adventure group enthusiasts during the first day of the year day ensuring   
   plenty of radio contacts.   
   Meanwhile.   
      
   Parks on the Air (POTA) will have five official events in 2026.   
   Each event starts at 00:00:00 UTC and ends 23:59:59 UTC.   
      
   The main goals of these events is to get activators out in the parks   
   and for activators and chasers to have as much fun as possible.   
   New Years Week   
   First full week of the new year. January 1-7, 2026   
   Support your Parks   
   3rd Full Weekend of January. January 17-18, 2026   
   3rd Full Weekend of April. April 18-19, 2026   
   3rd Full Weekend of July. July 18-19, 2026   
   3rd Full Weekend of October. October 17-18, 2026   
      
   There are participation certificates for Support your Parks events.   
      
   (ZL1PSH/sourced to nzart)   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - BALLOONS   
      
   Pico Balloons Update: ZS1ERZ-12 and ZS1ERZ-13. The high-altitude Pico balloon   
   ZS1ERZ-12 was on the verge of completing its ninth circumnavigation of the   
   planet when it fell silent on 28 November, THEN   
      
   unexpectedly, ZS1ERZ-12 was heard again. V 51 RS received a transmission   
   whose WSPR grid placed it deep in Antarctica, at latitude 85.5, after nearly   
   ten days of silence. Three hours later, another transmission appeared, and   
   the balloon continued transmitting throughout the day, with many stations   
   spotting it. At present, ZS1ERZ-12 is heading back past South Africa to   
   complete its ninth lap.   
      
      
   Meanwhile, another Pico balloon, ZS1ERZ-13, was successfully launched on   
   Sunday, 7 December, its payload is more advanced and transmits three messages   
   in each 10-minute cycle on the 10-metre band: a standard WSPR   
      
   message followed by two telemetry frames. The second telemetry frame includes   
   ambient temperature, humidity, air pressure, and an altitude value derived   
   from that pressure. This allows a direct comparison between pressure-derived   
   altitude and GPS altitude.   
      
      
   ZS1ERZ-13, on its maiden voyage, is already well on its way toward Australia.   
      
   (sarl written December 14)   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER   
   AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org   
      
   As you are well aware it is against our rules in Australia to run buy sell   
   and swap items on air and in particular on news services.   
      
      
   BUT WHAT THE HECK this IS DIFFERENT.   
      
   An Australian company wants to buy a satellite already travelling in space   
   and use it in 2029.   
      
      
   Sydney-based HEO Robotics, a provider of commercial satellite-to-satellite   
   imagery, wants to add to the international missions already planning to get   
   up close to the 1,115-foot-wide (340 meters) asteroid Apophis as it zooms by   
   Earth in April 2029 by buying a satellite near the end of its life up in   
   geostationary orbit and use its remaining fuel.   
      
      
   HEO aims to buy a satellite near the end of its mission lifetime and, using a   
   little more fuel than needed for the graveyard trip, make a close approach to   
   Apophis, which will pass within the GEO belt when it makes its close approach   
   to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.   
      
   (sourced to twiar)   
      
   Four astronauts will venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed   
   mission on NASA's path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for   
   science and exploration through Artemis. The 10-day flight will help confirm   
   systems and hardware needed for early human lunar exploration missions.   
      
      
   But when is this to happen? No Later Than April 2026   
      
   nasa.gov/event/artemis-ii-launch/   
   LOST IN SPACE.   
      
   When the orbit of NASAs MAVEN spacecraft took it behind the Red Planet on   
   December 6th, ground controllers expected a temporary loss of signal.   
      
      
   Unfortunately, the Deep Space Network hasnt heard from the science orbiter   
   since.   
      
      
   Engineers are currently trying to troubleshoot this issue, but without a   
   sign of life from the stricken spacecraft, there are precious few options.   
   Even though MAVEN was launched in November of 2013, its a spring chicken   
   compared to the other Mars orbiters. The two other US orbiters: Mars   
   Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey, are significantly older by around a   
   decade.   
      
   (TWIAR)   
      
   WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - INTERNET - THE HAMS DOMAIN.   
   KENTUCKY   
      
   Early in the history of the internet, the powers that be granted amateur   
   radio operators over 16 million IPv4 addresses.   
      
      
   Now a proposal has emerged suggesting the same community be granted a   
   substantial chunk of the IPv6 numberspace.   
      
      
   The proposal to give amateur radio operators some IPv6 addresses emerged in   
   an IETF draft that appeared in early November. It's not an official IETF   
   position because anyone can propose a draft policy. Sole author Preston Louis   
   Ursini, who operates the Paducah Internet Exchange in Kentucky and   
   participates in internet policy development processes, points out that   
   amateur radio operators need an addressing system and the IPv4 bloc assigned   
   to the community has done the job for years.   
      
   (eHam)   
      
   MEANWHILE:-   
      
   ARDC has launched 4Net Connect, a new portal designed to make it easier for   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)