DAREN of WV News January 26, 2014 (.B25)
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 guess it's just too cold to do much outside, let alone be going to tower sites to do any work. I have some work to do at a couple of tower sites, but I think they will last until the weather gets a lot warmer. I did hold the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) class that has been planned for a couple of months. Even though it was snowing Saturday morning, 14 Amateur Radio operators showed up for the class. We had a good time at the class and I think everyone learned something, even myself. We went over how to design the layout of the PCB, and had a program that made the layout a lot easier. The class was to help those who have never made PCBs. The PCB that we worked on was a Soundcard Interface board so that we can get more Amateurs on Packet Radio. The Soundcard board can also be used on the HF bands with all of the Soundcard Programs like PSK- 31, MT-63, Easypal, and whole bunch more. In the class we showed how to transfer the layout to the PCB, and how to etch the board. Some of the other Amateurs who were there had additional ideas of how to clean, layout, and etch Printed Circuit Boards. After the class I talked to some other Amateurs who said they would like to have attended to class, but due to the weather they didn't want to take a chance. Another class may be held again in the future.
Not much else going on, but I did see one station who checked into the State Wide DAREN Net several times. I kind of figured that he was having some kind of problem. He was getting checked into the net, but may not have been able to see the NCS response. If you think you may be having trouble connecting to a station, you might want give your TNC a Hard RESET, and try again. I know that from time-to-time I have problems with some of the Terminal Node Controllers that are remote locations, and have to give them a RESET, to get them corrected, and back in operation. Sometimes just giving the a Soft RESET (just turning them off, and back on) will clear up some minor problems. Just turning any piece of electronic equipment off and back on sometimes clears problems in them. When you turn off any electronic equipment, and then back on, leave it off for a few seconds before turning it back on. I remember an operator who was going to give his TNC a soft RESET, but didn't wait a few seconds. He turned it off and right back on. The TNC had several messages stored in it's Mailbox. Some how the TNC got spiked, and was RESET clear back to the day it was new, and just out of the shipping box.
That's all I have for this week. If you have anything to pass on to others, let me know.
There were 54 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. John Peterson, K8ZPR, who's been participating in the net since April 23, 1994, has completed 1000 check-ins and will be receiving his certificate. Judy Peterson, N8UFQ, needs only one more check-in to make 1100. Howard Peek, N8SCS, needs only one more check-in to make 50.