December 02, 2007 (.803)
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'.
This coming Saturday, December 8th, will be a busy day, are you going
to participate in the Emergency Exercise? So far we haven't had
very many Amateur Radio operators commit to the exercise. There
have only been a couple of High Frequency operators say they will act as
a Net Control Station for the Mountain State Emergency Net on 3865
and/or 7235 kHz. I haven't seen very many Packet operators
connecting into the DAREN Chatroom to see how it works. I have
seen a few operators read the Suggested DAREN Chatroom Procedures, which
was posted on most of the DAREN PBBSs this past week. I was out of
town during last month's DAREN Chatroom Net, which was operated on the
first Thursday of the month, so I don't know if anyone opened the net
last month, or even tried to check in. If all goes well, I'll be
in town this Thursday, and will open the DAREN Chatroom Net at the same
time as the West Virginia FONE Net (WVFN). Due to bad HF band
conditions, the WVFN has changed their starting time from 6:00 pm back
to 5:30 pm. This will allow them to hold the net, and pass
traffic, before the band goes long, and no one in West Virginia can hear
anyone else in West Virginia. The Mountain State Emergency Net
(MSEN) will open as soon as the WVFN closes. If the band is as bad
as it has been the last few weeks, there won't be much success with the
MSEN. To off set the loss of HF band conditions, check into the
DAREN Chatroom Net, which will start at 5:30 pm, either during the WVFN
or the MSEN. The DAREN Chatroom Net will close after the MSEN
closes. If the MSEN can't be held, the DAREN Chatroom Net will
still stay open until 7:00 pm.
A quick list of those agencies and groups who have said they will
participate in the December 8th exercise "I R Phone Home" by bringing
their Communication Vehicles and equipment to Wood County is: The States
West Virginia and Ohio Offices of Emergency Services; Kanawha County
Office of Emergency Services. The National Guard 35th Civil Support Team
and another West Virginia National Guard Communications Team, out of
Charleston; the National Guard 52nd Civil Support Team out of Columbus,
Ohio; Washington County, Ohio, Office of Emergency Management; Wood
County Emergency Communications; the US Navy/Marine MARS; the US Air
Force MARS; the West Virginia Civil Air Patrol; Verizon Telephone
Company; Dominion/Hope Gas. There may be others that are coming,
but this is the list that I know of so far. It will be a very
large exercise and I would like to have as many Amateur Radio operators
as possible show their support. A Nation Wide After Action Report
will be published after the exercise, and it would be nice to see how
Amateur Radio support back-up and overload communications.
There were 57 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. My
daughter, Cathy Wotring, KC8DJJ, who's been participating in the net
since April 27, 1996, has completed 600 check-ins and will be receiving
her certificate. Donnie Woodford, KC8YVR, needs only one more check-in
to make 150. I want to welcome Theodore Biser, WB8PJC, I assume he
may go by Ted, to the DAREN system. In any case, I hope he checks in as
often as possible.