July 15, 2007 (.783)
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've been saying that I would let you see examples of some messages that you may see being transmitted across the DAREN system. Here's an example of an American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) RADIOGRAM:
NR 1 R HXC 7 WA8LLM WAVERLY WV 15 JULY
TO: JOHN BROWN
ADDRESS: 303 MAIN STREET
PARKERSBURG
WV
PHONE: (304) 428-9980
BT
THIS IS THE TEXT OF THE MESSAGE
BT
KEN WA8LLM
Here's an example of a Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) MARSGRAM:
MESSAGE NR 1
R 151200Z JUL 2007
FM SMITH AAT3AA / WV
TO JONES AAT3ZZ / VA
GROUPS 7
BT
THIS IS THE TEXT OF THE MESSAGE
SGN SMITH AAT3AA
BT
I also said you may see Red Cross and Civil Air Patrol messages being passed on the DAREN system. Basically Red Cross messages may be in the form of either the ARRL RADIOGRAM, or the MARS MARSGRAM, depending on which agency may be handling the Red Cross traffic. Since the Civil Air Patrol is an Auxiliary of the Air Force, their messages will look pretty much like the MARS MARSGRAM. MARS message format is what the military calls a 16 line format, so all branches of the military uses about the same format. You may also see other type formatted messages being passed depending on what served agency is passing the information.
Speaking of types of messages that may be passed over the DAREN system, I received an E-Mail from Ray Gorrell, WV8RG, in reference to posting traffic on the DAREN PBBSs. It's been questioned before if ARRL RADIOGRAMs and other NTS Type traffic should be posted on the DAREN PBBSs. Since the DAREN system is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week system, traffic which is being passed by Amateur Radio should use what ever network is available, as long as the messages are picked up and delivered. Before messages are just posted on any BBS or PBBS, we need to be sure they will be picked up and delivered. I know there are a few DAREN PBBSs that are checked on a regular basis, and some of them have operators who pick up and deliver any messages which are there. Not all PBBSs are that lucky. I feel it would be better to post Traffic on any BBS/PBBS, if it's going to be a long time before the next Voice of CW net, and have them picked up and delivered, as opposed to holding the traffic until the next net. If the traffic isn't picked up by the next Voice or CW net, then it can be removed from the BBS/PBBS and passed on those nets.
There were 60 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. Ray Bodie, N8TWV, needs only one more check-in to make 350 check-ins.