July 01, 2007 (.781)
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 hope everyone has a safe 4th of July Holiday, and be careful with those fireworks.
I got an E-Mail from Dick Wilt, K8TPH, about a callsign that wasn't
posted on last week's State Wide DAREN Net Announcement. He said the
Clarksburg Field Day site checked into the State Wide DAREN Net with the
callsign of K8DF. I looked at the original check-in list and didn't see
it, but when I checked my back up list to see if it had been monitored,
it was there. The NCS station did acknowledge K8DF at 4:12 pm on
Saturday, but it wasn't on the main list. Dick said the callsign will
probably only be seen once a year during Field Day. But, it did bring to
my attention there can be some problems when the net is being operated.
If at any time you don't see your callsign on the weekly net
announcement, let me know so that I can give you the credit you deserve.
Dick also gave me a report on the amount of Field Day messages, that
were handled by the K8TPH-10 Telpac/WL2K system. He said that 111 Field
Day related messages were handled, but only about 10% of the messages
resembled the NTS (National Traffic System) format. Messages that
started on an RF frequency, and went to the Internet, during the Field
Day period, could be counted as traffic handled. The first message would
give you 100 bonus points, and every message after that would count as
10 bonus points. The messages should have been in NTS format. I know the
messages that I sent were not exactly NTS, in the fact, they contained
more than 25 words, and were not spaced at 5 words per line. A problem
that could occur with that type of message is the fact, it may have to
be handled on a voice, or CW net somewhere along the line, and that may
add confusion to the relaying operators. Next week if I don't have much
news, I'll give an example of an NTS message. I'll also give examples of
other message headings, like MARS, SHARES, and Red Cross, that you may
see being handled on the DAREN system. Dick also wants everyone to know
that the Stonewall Jackson Amateur Radio Association will be holding a
Special Event Station at Jackson Mill during the WV ARRL State
Convention in August. They will be using the callsign of W8WVA. To get
further information about the SES, go to the website of:
www.sjara.org.
While I was at the Parkersburg Health Department on Friday, testing
their Packet station, I noticed the Jackson County NODE/PBBS,
JACKWV/RPLYWV, was off the air. I had posted the State Wide DAREN Net
Announcement on it Thursday afternoon, and it was okay then. There was
some thunderstorms that went through the area Thursday evening, and it's
possible it was hit by lightening. The first chance I get, I will take
some new equipment to Jackson County and try to get it back on the air.
In the mean time, a BEACON, giving the path from the Southern part of
the state to the Northern part of the state, has been turned on so
operators will know a path that can be used.
There were 56 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. Tom Jones,
N8NMA, who has been participating in the net, on and off, since June 19,
1993, and Tyler Lewis, KD8CPP, who's been participating in the net,
since May 27, 2006, have both completed 50 check-ins each and will be
receiving their certificates.