December 23, 2007 (.806)
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'.
First thing I want to do is wish everyone a very safe and Merry
Christmas. I hope you get everything you asked for.
I really goofed last week. I should have read the book before I
wrote last week's DAREN News. It's been several years since I used
the crossover system that Bill Davidson, N8JXO, had in service between
145.01 and 145.09 MHz. My memory was outdated, and most of the
information that I gave was completely wrong. To connect to a
station that is on the other frequency of a Kantronics KPC-4 NODE
crossover system you use the "XC" command. I got the crossover
system in operation on Monday, December 17th. While I was working
on the system I also found out the ALIAS for the NODEs on both
frequencies are the same. I have made the name of the NODE for the
145.09 to 145.69 MHz system "WOODXC". The WOODXC NODE can be used
like any other NODE on either frequency. Since the system uses a
Kantronics KPC-4 TNC (Terminal NODE Controller), many of the commands
are the same as the KPC-2 and KPC-3 TNCs. To connect to a station
that's on the same frequency, you use the "C" command, but if you want
to connect to a station, or NODE, on the other frequency, you use the
"XC" command. There's a slight difference of how to do a stations
heard or NODE List with the crossover system. When you use the "J"
for stations just heard, or "N" for NODEs, you need to look at the end
of the callsign, ALIAS, or NODE name. With the "J" command you
will see either a /1 or /2. The /1 or /2 lets you know which
frequency the callsign or ALIAS was heard on. If it's a /1, then
it was a callsign or ALIAS heard on 145.69 MHz. If it was a /2,
then it was heard on 145.09 MHz. The "N" command will either have
nothing at the end, or a /X. The /X means the NODE was heard on
the other frequency from where you are at. A couple of things you
also need to remember is that most of the NODEs on the DAREN system are
Kantronics TNCs and use the "KA NODE" format which gives you a Command
Line (ENTER COMMAND: B, C, J, N, or Help ?). A lot of the NODEs on
145.09 MHz use either a "NETROM" or "TheNET" format, and doesn't give a
Command Line, which means you won't be prompted on what letters you can
use. The most common letters are: I for (information), N for (NODE), B
for (Bye) or H for (Help). The best path that I've found from
WOODXC, on 145.09 MHz, is "MTOLIV". To connect to it from 145.69
MHz, you connect to WOODXC then type "XC MTOLIV", then do a "J" or an
"N". Good Luck, have fun, but PLEASE DO NOT go looking for Buy,
Sell, and Trade type BBS', DX Clusters, etc. WOODXC has direct
paths, on the DAREN system, from JACKWV, RALEWV, RANDWV, RITCWV, ROANWV,
WASHOH, WETZWV, and WOODWV. I've noticed that some stations have
trouble connecting to WOODXC direct, due to low audio. The
Kantronics KPC-2 and KPC-4 are not as sensitive to low audio as the
KPC-3. If you have problems connecting direct, you might want to
go through one of the NODEs listed above.
There were 68 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net.
Tricia Magyarosi, KC8VLI, who's been participating in the net
since December 28, 2002, has completed 200 check-ins and will be
receiving her certificate. Bob Hanson, AF8RH, needs only one more
check-in to make 550. Charlie Dotson, WB8NSL, needs only one more
check-in to make 50. And, I want to welcome Michael Talkington,
KC8FWD, who's been missing from the net since November 21, 1998, back to
DAREN.