DAREN of WV News June 22, 2014 (.B46)
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.
This is going to be a busy week for me. I have several projects to work on, to get ready for Field Day. Field Day is the one time of the year that I do most of my operating on frequencies other than VHF Packet. I mostly like Field Day because it gives me time to test out some of my other Amateur Radio equipment to make sure that it is ready for the real emergency when it happens. It doesn't mean the equipment is going to work when the time comes, but it lets you find any problems that may have happened since the last time you used it. If you don't test it at least once a year, you have no idea if it even works. Just because you tested the equipment doesn't mean that it will work when you need it. The equipment may have broke down right after you tested it. But if you don't test it at least once in awhile, you have no idea if it works at all. If you test it, and find it doesn't work, you can try to get it repaired, and maybe have it when you need it. We do the weekly DAREN Net for the same reason. If you don't use your Packet Station once in awhile, you don't know if it works or not. If you don't connect to as many NODEs and PBBSs as you can, you don't know if they are usable or not. Have a great time at Field Day, be safe, and try to learn a little bit of something. Try to bring new Amateurs to your Field Day event, and let them see how much fun it is to operate in a less than ideal setting.
I got a telephone call from Gary Lipscomb, KB8EQC, who is the Emergency Service Director of Summers County, WV. Gary said that his county is taking over a tower site that is being abandon by state. He is going to clean up the tower, place all new grounding, and remove any unused antennas and transmission lines. The transmission lines that are staying on the tower will be secured to the tower using the proper mounting hardware, and have lightening protection installed. He said that he found an old Kantronics KPC-3 TNC and an Alinco Transceiver that hasn't been in operation for several years. He said that he is going to replace the battery in the TNC to see if it works. He is going to place a DAREN NODE/PBBS back in operation. He said that he has been looking at the DAREN Setup information, which is on the www.wc8ec.org website, and thinks he can get it in operation in a couple of months. I want to thank Gary for trying to get the station back in operation.
There were 43 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week.