DAREN of WV News July 25, 2010 (.941]
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 news this week, things have been very quiet. I've been busy getting things finished up from the BINGO games at the West Virginia Interstate Fair and Exposition. I'm also working on the old tables that we used to use to operate the BINGO games. We are repairing the damage that has happened to them of the past few years. We haven't used the tables for BINGO for the about 10 years, but they do get loaned out to some of the Volunteer Fire Departments for their Ice Cream Socials. We are repairing the damage so that we can use them for the Wood County Hamfest coming up on October 9th. We are changing the location of the Hamfest to make it easier to find, and have better parking and Flea Market space. Keep checking the www.wc8ec.org website for additional information. It looks like we will be giving away an HF Transceiver, a Two Meter Mobile/Base Transceiver, and a Handheld Transceiver for the main prizes.
I've been thinking about how many of the DAREN operators that may not know how to send, or post, messages on the DAREN or other PBBSs or Mailboxes. We practice working our way through the DAREN System each week to connect into the State Wide DAREN Net, but how often do you actually post a message on one of the Mailboxes? I'll give a quick lesson on using a PBBS or Mailbox. The first thing you want to do is connect to the PBBS or Mailbox that you want to leave a message on. The DAREN PBBSs are associated with the Main County NODEs. The PBBSs are named using an abbreviation of the city they are in or near. If you are connected to a NODE, you can not connect to the associated PBBS. You must connect to the PBBS direct or from another NODE. To post a message you need to tell the PBBS who the message is for. Use the "ST Callsign", example: ST WA8LLM. After you have addressed the message, give a short title or description of the message that will be enclosed. Don't use more than about 30 characters and spaces. After you have addressed and put a short subject title, it's time to insert the message. The message can be as long as you like it, as long as you don't use up all of the memory space allotted to the PBBS. When you are finished with the message, press the <enter> button, like you are going to start a new line. After the <enter> button, type a /EX. That will tell the PBBS that you are finished with the message. If you are successful on posting the message, the PBBS will send a short message back saying "Message Saved". That's all there is to posting a message on a DAREN PBBS, or about any PBBS or Mailbox.
There were only 45 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. I'm not sure if it is the weather or the lack of DAREN NODEs that's causing the drop of participants to the weekly State Wide DAREN Net, but it has dropped off a lot in the past few months. I know there are a few NODEs that have been experiencing problems, and operators may not be able to find access to the DAREN System, I've still been busy with other activities, so I haven't had the time to print up the State Wide DAREN Net Participation Certificates, for those who deserve one. As soon as I can get some free time I will get the certificates printed up, and mailed out to those who have been waiting.