D.A.R.E.N. News 2013

DAREN of WV News June 23, 2013(.A94)
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 good time at Field Day this year.  The weather was good except for a brief rain shower on Saturday.  There was no high winds, thunder, or lightening, just a brief shower.  As usual, we had problems with some equipment, but we were able to work around them.  I like Field Day because it gives me a chance to get as much of our emergency equipment together and test it out, or repair it, if necessary.  Our group doesn't go for all of the contacts as in a real contest, we just like to let everyone get a chance to operate on the High Frequencies and see what they may be missing.  We have several kids and young people who have been getting interested in Amateur Radio, and several of them have already got their licenses.  A couple of the youngest, that we have, are: Colt Wotring, KD8UAC, 8 years old, and Kymber Wotring, KD8UQR, 7 years old.  They are the son and daughter of Cathy, KC8DJJ, and Larry Wotring, KC8TRQ.  Since most of us are getting older, and won't be around forever, we need to get the younger generation involved with Amateur Radio.

Randy Thomas, K8KHW, sent me a message about his Winlink system.  He says he has setup a new and improved Winlink system.  The system consists of all new hardware and antennas.  The callsign on the system is K8KHW-10 on the VHF Packet side, and K8KHW on the HF Pactor I II III side.  The HF frequencies for Pactor I II III are: 3.592 MHz, 7.104.5 MHz, 10.134.5 MHz, and 14.098.5 MHz. All the HF frequencies are center frequencies using USB (Upper Side Band). Randy would like to see some connections from anyone who wants to try and see how things are working.  On the VHF Packet side you can connect to K8KHW-10 using the Ritchie County DAREN NODE of RITCWV.  To send an E-Mail is easy. Once you get connected to the Winlink system, you send the command: SP SMTP:email address, press <enter>.  An example of sending an E-Mail would be: SP SMTP:wa8llm@yahoo.com <enter>  You then type in the subject of the E-Mail, then press <enter>, then type or send your message.  When you are finished with your message, press <enter> and then type a /EX.  You should get a message back saying that you message has been sent.  Everyone should play with the Winlink 2000 systems so they can be familiar with them, and will be able to use them in an emergency.

There were 43 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week.  Tom White, W3JTW, who's been participating in the net since November 7, 1998, has completed 650 check-ins.  Robert Sellars, KB2FEL, who's been participating in the net since September 9, 2006, has completed 300 check-ins.  Kimberly Shiflett, KD8OHG, who's been participating in the net since May 7, 2011, and Doug Cutlip, KC8AJH, who's been participating in the net, on and off, since November 11, 1995, have both completed 100 check-ins.  All of these operators will be receiving their certificates.  There was one new participant to the net this week and that was Elizabeth Broschart, KD8PMI, from Elkins.  I want to welcome Elizabeth to the net and hope that she uses the DAREN system as often as she can.