DAREN of WV News June 3, 2012(.A39)
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.
With Field Day coming up at the end of the month, now is the time to get prepared. Don't forget to invite members from agencies that your group serves, elected officials, and the news media. Just by letting the new media know about your Field Day event will get you an extra 100 bonus points. If you invite elected officials, and one of them comes to visit, you can report another 100 bonus points. The same thing goes for agencies that you serve. If one of them comes to visit your Field Day site, you can report another 100 bonus points. You can make about as many bonus points as you do contact points by taking advantage of them. Don't forget to send the West Virginia ARRL Section Manager, Ann Rinehart, KA8ZGY, and the Section Emergency Coordinator, me, an ARRL RADIOGRAM, telling about your Field Day operation. By sending a message to both of us you can get an extra 110 points. You get an extra 100 bonus points for sending either one of us a RADIOGRAM, and 10 extra bonus points (up to 100) for each RADIOGRAM you send. The RADIOGRAMs need to be sent during the Field Day period. As long as the RADIOGRAMs start on Amateur Radio they can be counted. You can send them via the Winlink 2000 systems which will place them on the Internet. The Winlink 2000 systems that should be available during Field Day are the K8KHW-10 available through the RITCWV NODE, and the KC8SIG-10 which is available through the TUCKWV NODE. To send the RADIOGRAM just connect to either one of the Winlink systems and use the following example format. SP SMTP:wa8llm@yahoo.com Then send the subject title such as "Field Day Message". After that just send the RADIOGRAM in proper format and finish by sending a /EX on a separate line. The Winlink system should say the message has been sent. After that you can add the bonus points. You should try playing with the Winlink systems before Field Day so you won't have to take the time to learn over the Field Day weekend. There are several other ways to get extra bonus points, you just need to read over the Field Day Rules. I hope this will give you some ideas for Field Day.
There were 55 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. Sam Mercer, N8SVX, who's been participating in the net on and off since October 28, 1995, has completed 100 check-ins. Melvin Shiflett, KD8OWG, and Kimberly Shiflett, KD8OHG, who have been participating in the net since May 7, 2011, have completed 50 check-ins each. All of these operators will be receiving their certificates.