DAREN of WV News October 19, 2014 (.B63)
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.
Last week I talked about a telephone conference call that I was going to have with Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ, who is the ARRL Section Manager for Indiana about the West Virginia DAREN system. We had the conference call, but there were only three of us who showed up. The other two on the conference call asked me questions such as how the DAREN system was started and how we keep the system from being abused. I told them how all of the Packet operators in West Virginia wants to keep a system, that will be available in times of emergencies, and how they help police the system to keep unwanted type of traffic such as Buy, Sale, and Trade BBSs, and BEACONs off the system. I had sent Joseph a copy of the DAREN Plan that was written several years ago, but is still a good working plan. Trying to keep the plan up-to-date would be an everlasting job. Bill Davidson, N8JXO, put the plan together almost 20 years ago, and kept it up-to-date for several years. With all of the new features of the Kantronics TNC units, it's almost impossible to keep it up-to-date, but the original plan will give everyone a good start. In case you would like to see the DAREN Plan, it can be downloaded from the www.wc8ec.org website. There have been changes in some of the parameters that aren't in the plan. One of the main changes is the re-naming of the MYALIAS from the name of the county, to the ALIAS of DAREN. But, for the most part any new DAREN station that can be put on the air, can use the DAREN Plan. The conference call lasted for over an hour with a lot of information exchanged.
The Wood County Emergency Communications and ARES group finished up with the last High School/Middle School Cross Country foot races Thursday. Now they will just have to wait for another organization to ask for their help.
Next Saturday, October 25th, I will be teaching a General Class Radio License class to a few Technicians who would like to upgrade their license. The class will be held at the Mid Ohio Valley Health Department in Parkersburg. The class will start at about 9:00am, and will finish with giving the FCC exams.
Another project that Sammy Mercer, N8SVX, and I have been working on is putting together a 2 Meter Transmitter system for the purpose of transmitting Morse Code practice transmissions. We have the 100 Watt transmitter ready to go, but we need to get the 4 Bay antenna installed on the top of the 90 foot tower. I hope the weather gets good enough to get the antenna installed on the tower before winter sets in. The transmitter should be strong enough for those wanting to learn Morse Code to be able to hear it with their Handie/Talkies within several miles. The frequency hasn't been selected yet; we want to find a 2 Meter frequency that is not being used by anyone in hearing distance.
There were only 37 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. Roy Humes, N8RH, who has been participating in the net since April 2, 1994, has completed 900 check-ins, and will be receiving his certificate.