DAREN of WV News March 11, 2012(.A27)
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.
Daylight Saving time is here again, and that means that Spring and warmer weather is getting closer. It's time to set your clocks ahead an hour if you didn't do it before you went to bed last night. If you didn't do it last night, you'll need to do it this morning. Of course if you own any of SkyScan Atomic Clocks, they will set themselves. There are still a few clocks that need to be done manually like Alarm Clocks, Radios, VCRs, and a few other devices. After you've set all the clocks in your house, don't forget the one in your car or truck. It's also time to set the clocks in your Packet Radio Terminal NODE Controllers (TNC), both your home station and any remote, hilltop or mountaintop stations, both DAREN, and all other regular Packet stations. I know there are few Voice Repeaters that have voice IDs that announce the time, they need to be reset also. When changing the time in the Packet stations, it's a good time to give them a "RESET", which may help them operate better. The information given here is for most of the Kantronics TNCs, KPC-2, KPC-3, KPC-4, KPC-9612, KAM, KAM Plus, KAM-XL, KAM-98, etc. Not only is it a good time to reset the TNC, it's also a good time to do other things. Don't forget to change the batteries in your Smoke and CO Detectors. Here's how to change the time in your TNCs, if they are made by Kantronics. If you're at the TNC just type the command "DA", <space>, followed by the two number year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. For example: the command to set the date of March 11, 2012, at 2:00 am would be; type DA 1203113020000, and then press <enter>. If you're connecting to a remote station over the air, you must connect to your Remote Access callsign or ALIAS, and give your passcode. When you get the (prompt:) command, then do the "DA" command. I'm sure that you didn't get up at 2:00 o'clock this morning to set your clocks or TNC, so be sure to adjust the above procedure for the time that you do make the changes. While you're into your remote station, and if you haven't done so already, now would be a good time to change the "MYA" to "DAREN". I know there are still several remote stations that have the same "MYA" ALIAS as their "MYN" ALIAS. I found that's it's not necessary to make the "MYA" and the "MYN" the same. By changing the "MYA" to "DAREN" will allow any necessary, or EMERGENCY BEACONs cover the DAREN system a lot better. After you finish setting the time, and the MYA, and have the (prompt:) command back, do a "RESET" command. Doing the "RESET" command may clear out some minor problems that have been building up for the past few months, or the last time you did a RESET. I've sent out test beacons a couple of times to see how they work, but don't know how much of the state got covered. If you are going to Digipeat through the DAREN system, use the "MYN" of the remote stations, don't digipeat using the "DAREN" ALIAS, unless you want to cover the whole state. You would be surprised how many DAREN stations it ties up.
Don't forget about the Charleston Hamfest this coming Saturday, March 17. I'm planning on going down and hope to see a lot of you there.
There were 58 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. John Johnston, KF8OM, who's been participating in the State Wide DAREN Net since December 3, 1994, has completed 750 check-ins and will be receiving his certificate.