DAREN of WV News December 25, 2011(.A16)
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.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and got some more radio toys to play with. We didn't get a white Christmas, but that didn't break my heart. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year.
Sammy Mercer, N8SVX, contacted me about the Wood County NODE/PBBS of WOODWV/PKBGWV. He wanted to know if the station was down. I used the NODE on Thursday the 22nd to post the DAREN News and State Wide DAREN Net Announcements, and it was okay at that time. I did some testing and was unable to connect to the station. I tried the NODE, the PBBS, and tried to connect into the backdoor, but no luck. I will need to contact Duane Jones, N8LDM, who's the Assistant Emergency Services Director for access to the Wood County Emergency Services tower site, where the station is located. In the mean time I will be setting up a temporary Wood County NODE/PBBS. While at the tower site I will also retrieve the Wood County APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) station. The APRS station went off the air several months ago when the antenna became defective. I will reinstall the APRS station here at my house on one of the four towers. It may not be as good as the Wood County Emergency Services tower, but I will have unlimited access to it.
There were 57 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. Jeremie Hamilton, KB3UMW, who's been participating in the net since September 25, 2010, has completed 50 check-ins and will be receiving his certificate. Ray Gorrell, WV8RG, needs only one more check-in to make 900. Jim Perry, KB8LSR, needs only one more check-in to make 200. There was one station that checked into the net again this week with the callsign of "TEST". The station with the callsign of "TEST" checked into the net at about 7:14 PM on Saturday evening. That station has checked into the net for the past several weeks. If your call doesn't show up on the DAREN Net Announcement this coming week, and think it may have been you, let me know so that I can give you credit for the participation in the net. Someone wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas because they checked into the net with the callsigns of: SANTA, MERRY, XMAS, and HOHOHO. Everyone have a very safe and Happy New Year.