DAREN of WV News March 20, 2016(.C37)
WA8LLM (304) 679-3470 wa8llm@yahoo.com
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS, 319 COMMUNICATIONS DR, WAVERLY, WV 26184
www.wc8ec.com or 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 www.wc8ec.com and www.wc8ec.org websites.
I checked around some of the mailboxes to see if there were any messages, but didn't see anything. My wife Dot, KC8HAI, Sammy Mercer, N8SVX, Terry Mills, KC8TUE, Joe Rice, KD8YVB, and I made the trip to the Charleston Hamfest yesterday. We met a few of the other DAREN operators, and talked to a lot of others that we've known for several years. Joe found a couple Kantronics KPC-3 Terminal Node Controllers, which he purchased. In a few weeks we should be seeing him checking into the State wide DAREN Net. He wants to get a radio that he can use on both voice and Packet. Did anyone else go to Charleston and bring back anything they couldn't live without?
I think the Morgantown Hamfest will be held on April 23rd, but I don't know the details yet. I'll try to get them together and put them in the DAREN News next week.
Not much else has been happening, and my wind generator isn't coming along very well. I have found that it might be just as cheap to purchase one as opposed to building it. You can find them on the Internet on Ebay, Amazon, and Home Depot for around $400. I've been playing with Solar Panels for several years and have had fun. I've used solar panels at Field Day for about 10 years and have made several contacts. Since the Solar Panels are only good when it's daylight, you have to rely on a good set of batteries at night. I'm hoping a wind generator will help keep the batteries charged when the sun isn't available.
The Wood County Emergency Communications group will be providing the Safety Communications at WVU Parkersburg tomorrow. The group monitors 300 to 500 challenged kids while they are participating in several different activities that are provided by the Artsbridge of Parkersburg. Those in the group helping with the event just walk through the crowd, and watch for any problems the kids might be having. A base station is set up in a central location for the group of communicators to report back.
That's it for this week.
There were 39 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. Ronald Whitehair, KD8YKQ, needs only one more check-in to make 50.