May 4, 2008 (.825)
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 figured the DAREN News would be a little bit late getting out again this since I was going to be going to the Ripley Hamfest. I got to meet a lot of the regular DAREN operators, sell a few items, and bring some things home that I couldn't do without.
I got a telephone call from Vivian Arnold, KA8VAH, giving me an update on Jerry Arnold, NQ8B. Jerry is still in the hospital with problems in his legs. The doctor told Jerry that he can't go home until they get the swelling down. I hope to see him checking into the State Wide DAREN Net next week.
I talked to Randy Thomas, K8KHW, again this week and he gave me a report on one of his Packet stations. He told me the PBBS of NPRTOH, is operating on very low power due to radio problems. I used to be able to connect to it from the Ritchie County NODE of RITCWV, but now that path no longer exists. To get to the NPRTOH PBBS, you need to connect to the K8KHW-7 NODE, and then connect to NPRTOH. The K8KHW-7 NODE has a lot of different ports to other frequencies, so the connect procedure is a little different from regular NODEs. To connect to NPRTOH, first connect to K8KHW-7, and then type the command "C VHF NPRTOH". The "C VHF" tells what port you want to use, and the "NPRTOH" tells what station you want to connect to. When you connect on the VHF port, you are using a port that transmits and receives on 145.69 MHz. To find out what other ports are available on K8KHW-7, type the command "PORTS". You'll find that the port of "AX0" is connected to 145.01 MHz, port "AX1" is connected to 145.09 MHz, and port "HF" is connected to the High Frequency of 14.105 MHz with 300 Baud Packet. You need to be a General Class Licensee or above to use the "HF" port. The K8KHW-7 NODE can be a real asset once you know how to use it. It also has a CHAT MODE, for communicating with several stations at the same time. I don't know what all the K8KHW-7 can do, but it has a lot of features. While I was at the Jackson County Hamfest Randy gave me one of his Kantronics Kam-Plus to see if I can fix it. He's been trying with no luck, and figures I may have some parts to try to fix it. He told me that he has a box of Kantronics KPC-2s and KPC-3 TNCs that have been damaged by lightening hits which he gets two or three times a year.
There were 64 check-ins again to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. John Western, KC8ODI, who's been participating in the net since March 13, 2004, has completed 200 check-ins and will be receiving his certificate. Ken Riffle, KB8QPW, needs only one more check-in to make 700. And, Berlin Jones, WA8FFG, needs only one more check-in to make 400. There was one new check-in to the net this week, and that was Keith Dobbins, KC8RFW. Keith has been playing with Packet Radio the last two or three weeks and decided to give the net a try. He left me a message asking how to check into the net. I'm glad to see him checking into the net. I want to welcome Keith to the DAREN system and hope he checks in as often as possible.