DAREN of WV News September 15, 2019(E19)
(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 Statewide 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.
Nothing much to report this week. I haven't been able to do any work on Packet stations. I'm just staying busy getting ready for the BINGO games at the Volcano Day Engine Show and Festival on September 27th, 28th, and 29th. And, I'm getting the everything ready for the Parkersburg/Wood County Hamfest on October 12th. The Amateurs in Wood County will be providing the safety communications for the next Middle School Cross Country races on October 8th. After the Hamfest maybe I'll find some time to work on the DAREN Packet stations that I'm responsible for, and get some of them up and running before the Winter snow starts falling.
If you or your group has any activities that you would like to tell about, let me know. The activities are one way to let the public know about Amateur Radio and what your group is doing. Be sure to let your Emergency Services and Public Safety agencies know you are there to help them. If you are the ARRL Emergency Coordinator, or know who is, for your county, have them send a report to the WV ARRL Section Manager so he can forward the activities to the ARRL.
Kendale Peterson, KD8QAK, the son of Judy, N8UFQ, will be doing a community project next Sunday, September 22nd. Kendale, his friends, and family will be painting the chain link fence around the community cemetery. The project is his final step for becoming an Eagle Boy Scout. Kendale has had his Amateur Radio license since he was seven years old. He first got hooked on Amateur Radio by operating Field Day with the Wood County Emergency Communications group when he just turned five years old on June 21st. Kendale will be 18 years old next year, and we won't be able to claim him for the bonus points on Field Day.
It looks like Packet Radio activities are dropping off. If you know of any Amateurs in your area who have Packet equipment, but are not on the air, try to get them active again. We need to keep the DAREN system available in case we need it for statewide communications.
There were only 27 check-ins again to the Statewide DAREN Net this week. The net check-ins are sure dropping off. I can still remember when we had as many as 108 check-ins.