DAREN of WV News June 15, 2014 (.B45)
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.
Things have sure been quiet this week. I've only heard from a couple DAREN operators telling me they are unable to check into the State Wide DAREN, since the Mineral County NODE is off the air. I'm not for sure how much longer the DAREN system is going to stay together. There haven’t been any new NODEs or PBBSs put on the air in a long time, and some of the old ones are starting to go off the air. I can remember when there were 34 of the 55 counties that had a major DAREN station, and we had over a hundred check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net each week. I've been trying to keep the DAREN News going to pass on information that Packet Radio operators, or Amateur Radio operators in general, might want to hear about, and pass on any other activities that may be coming up, like Hamfests, contests, or VE Test sessions. If you know of anyone who would like to put DAREN station in operation, just let me know. If we can get enough interest, maybe we can find some way to fund the project.
I'm sure that most of the people won't forget about Field Day. Field Day will be held on June 28th and 29th this year. The Wood County Emergency Communications group will be operating Field Day at their usual place. The Group will be using the callsign of WC8EC. If you hear one or more of the stations on the air, give them a call.
Don't forget about the West Virginia ARRL State Convention coming up in August. I've been told the date has changed. The new date will be August 23rd, the forth Saturday. The past few years it has been on the third Saturday in August, and I haven't been able to attend, because it was on the same weekend as the Parkersburg Homecoming. At the Parkersburg Homecoming, I'm busy operating the BINGO games Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Also on Saturday I help with the Safety Communications for the Parkersburg Half Marathon. I'll be glad to make it to the convention this year.
That's all I have for this week. If you have any information that you would like to pass on to others, let me know.
There were only 40 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this. I think the loss of the Mineral County NODE/PBBS of MINEWV/KEYSWV, has taken a toll on the net. It would be nice if we could find someone who would be able to work with the SYSOP of the Mineral County NODE/PBBS, and help get the station back on the air, and keep it operational.