January 06, 2008 (.808)
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, or to my E-Mail: wa8llm@yahoo.com. A State Wide DAREN NET is operated every Saturday from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and lately, before and after those hours. The DAREN Net Announcement, 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'. The DAREN News can also be found on the wc8ec.com website.
I've been communicating back and forth with Mike Talkington, KC8FWD.
Mike says he is going to be installing several Packet systems this year.
His plans are to add a 145.01 MHz Digipeater in Clarksburg, and a DX
Cluster by the beginning of Summer. In the Fall he plans to have
an APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) Digipeater and a DAREN
NODE in the Clarksburg area. He wants to have a 512K memory chip
in the DAREN station so that it can have a large PBBS. I've mailed
Mike a copy the DAREN Plan which he can use to set up his DAREN station.
He needs to find a tower to install the equipment. He says the DX
Cluster will be located at his house, and to access it will be by a
Digipeater. By the end of 2008 he's hoping to have a regular BBS
like the old WA8OMR BBS, which isn't in service any longer. I'm
not for sure what frequency he will have the Regular BBS on, but I'll
keep everyone updated.
After reading what Mike is planning to do, I thought I might put some
more Packet equipment on 145.01 and 145.09 MHz. I have two towers
here at the house that haven't had anything on them for a couple of
years, so I've been getting them ready. I have outdoor cabinets at
each of the towers, but they have been just sitting on blocks, and held
to the towers by ropes. The ropes have been rotting away, and with
the high winds that we had this past week, some of them broke. I
have buried electricity to both towers, but it was just ran in the door,
which had to be left opened and unlatched. That let the field mice
and bees make a mess in the cabinets. I decided to bolt the
cabinets on the towers and wire the cabinets up properly. I now
have the cabinets hung, cleaned up, and the wire in them. I was
just about ready install the electrical boxes and receptacles when the
snow came. I should have that project done this week, and I'll be
ready to start putting equipment in the cabinets. The antennas
that are on the towers will need to be replaced, but they can be used
for now and replaced some time this Summer.
There were 71 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net.
That's pretty good for starting out a new year. Maybe we can keep
it up all year. Bud McDowell, W8OO, who's been participating in
the net since July 5, 1997, and Anna Hendershot, KC8JWW, who's been
participating in the net since May 9, 1998, have completed 500 check-ins
each. Charlie Dotson, WB8NSL, who's been participating in the net,
on and off, since January 15, 1994, and Robert Sellars, KB2FEL, who's
been participating in the net since September 9, 2006, have completed 50
check-ins each. All of these operators will be receiving their
certificates. Gene Roy, N8ER, needs only one more check-in to make
750. And Roy Humes, N8RH, needs only one more check-in to make 550.
I want to thank all of the operators for supporting the DAREN system.
I also want to welcome Susie Howell, KB8RNG, back to the DAREN Net.
Susie has been missing from the net since December 13, 2003.