February 25, 2007 (.763)
Kenneth Harris WA8LLM (304) 679-3470 wa8llm@yahoo.com
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS, P.O. BOX 3328, PARKERSBURG, WV 26103 http://www.wc8ec.com
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 A State Wide DAREN NET is operated every Saturday from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. DAREN Net Announcements, 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'.
I regret to announce that one of our dedicated DAREN users has passed away. James (Jim) McEwuen, W8GUL, passed away February 9th. Jim participated in the State Wide DAREN Net starting February 20, 1993. Jim's last check-in was on February 3rd, with 566 check-ins. I'll miss having him check-in and also meeting him at some of the Hamfests. I want to thank Bob Steele, N8HGL, for passing this sad information on to me.
Well, it's official, the FCC, has dropped the requirement of having to take a Morse Code test to operate on frequencies below 30 MHz We had a special VE examination session on Saturday to process the paperwork needed to allow those who have taken their written exams, and were needing to take the Morse Code test before upgrading to General or Extra. There was several at the test session some of those also took their written exams for upgrades.
I got a message from Roy Humes, N8RH, about the Hancock County NODE/PBBS of HANCWV/WEIRWV. Roy says the transmitter is putting out garbage when you connect to it. He said the last time that happened, it was a power source problem with either the backup battery and/or the power supply. Roy says the tower site is located about a mile from his home. Chuck Bennett, WD8DNC, has been the SYSOP since George Puzzuole, K8QEW, passed away. Chuck has been having health problems so Roy said that will start being the SYSOP for the station. Roy needs to get authorization fro the tower owner to have access to the tower site.
There were 70 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. Jery Nelson, KC8HUP, who's been participating in the net since April 17, 1999, has completed 400 check-ins and will be receiving his certificate. Ray Gorrell, WV8RG, needs only one more check-in to make 650. Bob Tuckerman, W3RUA, needs only one more check-in to make 600. And, John Johnston, KF8OM, needs only one more check-in to make 550. There was one station that checked in with the callsign of "NOCALL". The "NOCALL" operator connected to the NCS at about 10:48 pm on Friday by going through one NODE. If you don't see your callsign on this week's State Wide DAREN Net Announcement, and think it may have been you, let me know so that I can update your participation records.