DAREN of WV News February 14, 2021(E93)
(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.
It's been a cold, snowy, and a quiet week. Earl Hulce, KB8HRG, and I have been experimenting with solar panels on a couple of the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) HSMM (High Speed MultiMedia) nodes. We have found the AREDN nodes only need about 100 milliamps to operate even on only 12 volts. Earl and I tested three different types AREDN nodes to see what happens to the RF power as we lower the voltage from 24 volts, which they are designed for, down to about 8 volts. We found the RF power only changes about 1 db between 8 volts and 24 volts. Being able to operate the nodes on solar panels and 12 volt batteries, makes it easy to operate nodes that don't have commercial power available to them. We found out that in another area, not too far away, but out of our range right now, are some more AREDN nodes that are operating the same format as ours. As soon as we can find a way to connect the two systems together, it will increase the coverage of the systems.
There were only 29 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. With the bad weather coming this week, I plan on getting the information together to start printing State Wide DAREN Net Certificates for those who have been waiting for them. Right now I'm out of ink for the printer, but I'll be taking care of the shortly.
That's pretty much it for this week. Try to stay warm.