DAREN of WV News May 2, 2010 (.929]
Kenneth Harris WA8LLM (304) 679-3470 wa8llm@yahoo.com
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
P.O. BOX 3328, PARKERSBURG, WV 26103
http://www.wc8ec.org
DAREN News, are articles and information about the Digital Amateur Radio "Emergency" Network of WV, which operates on 145.69 MHz. Anyone having any information about DAREN, or Amateur Radio in general, and would like to share it with others, may send it to WA8LLM @ PKBGWV on 145.69 MHz, or to my E-Mail: wa8llm@yahoo.com. A State Wide DAREN NET is operated every Saturday from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and lately, before and after those hours. The DAREN Net Announcement, showing the MAIN NCS, ALTERNATE NCS, NODEs accessible to both, and the previous week's check-ins, are posted by Thursday on most of the Main county DAREN PBBS'. The DAREN News can also be found on the wc8ec.org website.
Not much to report this week. I didn't get to attend the Jackson County Hamfest again this year. This is the second year the Challenge at Mountwood, Mountain Bike Race, was held on the same day as the Hamfest. I helped the Wood County Emergency Communications group provide the Safety Communications at the Mountain Bike Race today. This was the worst weather that we've ever had for the bike race, and we've been doing it for several years. It rained all day, and several of the spotter locations were not easy to get into. Some of us had to walk the Mountwood Park Hiking Trails to get to some of the locations. Those who walked in had to carry their communication equipment, pencils, papers, clocks, clipboards, and had to have a way to build a shelter to keep dry while spotting the bike riders as they passed by their location. The primary purpose of the spotters was to keep track of the riders, report any problems, and make sure that all of riders returned to the finish line.
That's all I have for this week. If you have anything you would like to pass along to others let me know, and I'll put it in the News.
There were only 49 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. It seems the net participation has been dropping off the last few weeks. Jerry Sturm, KC8SIG, who's been participating in the net since May 9, 2009, has completed 50 check-ins, and will be getting his certificate. Bill Bayless, KB8HEK, needs only one more check-in to make 400.