DAREN of WV News January 4, 2009 (.860)
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 hope everyone had a couple of safe holidays and are ready to start into a new year. There are many activities to start planning for, so you might as well get sobered up and start working on them. They say antennas work the best when they are installed on foul weather, so now would be the time to get started. Field Day is only about six months away. Now would be the time to start thinking how many stations you are going to operate, and if you want to do something special. The ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) will be held again in October or at least between October and December. And there will be plenty of Hamfest for you to go to. Now is the time to be thinking what you want to do this summer, while the weather is cold and miserable.
Paul Derosky, K8GLA, sent me another E-Mail saying the Hancock County NODE/PBBS of HANCWV/WEIRWV seems to be working okay right now. So the command changes I made in the TNC may have cured the problems.
I got an E-Mail from Liz Myers, W8LIZ, about alerting someone via Packet Radio and how it can be done. Mostly the DAREN system is a traffic handling system, and the State Wide DAREN Net is operated to allow stations to learn and practice connecting through the network. It allows them to find the best paths and it tests out the NODEs to make sure they are still in operation. Then I remembered several years ago, I thought of a way to alert someone using Packet Radio. I never did finish the project, because of a long story, but I won't get into that. The project was to use a Terminal NODE Controller (TNC) which has a Connect Light on it. Most of the TNCs have a Connect Light on them, which will light when someone connects to that station. My idea is to add an external flashing light, bright enough to be seen from anywhere within the room. When someone connects to that station, the flashing light would alert someone in the room that an incoming connection had occurred. My thoughts are to set up such a station in a location that is manned 24/7, such as a 911 Center. The person seeing the flashing light could then find out what kind of emergency might be happening. I'm going to be working on the project and make a report on it in the next few weeks. But you might think about it.
There were 71 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. Roy Humes, N8RH, who's been participating in the net since April 2, 1994, has completed 600 check-ins. Michael Tyler, WA8YWO, who's been participating in the net since December 21, 1996, has completed 100 check-ins. Both of these operators will be receiving their certificates. Shane Harper, KD8BMX, needs only one more check-in to make 50. There was one station on the net this week with the call sign of "NOCALL". The station checked into the net last night at about 7:19 pm. I got an E-Mail from Gary Rosenlieb, KC8YJJ, who told me the station with "NOCALL" first connected to the OHIOWV NODE, and then connected to the WETZWV NODE, before getting connected the Net Control Station. If you don't see your call sign on this coming week's State Wide DAREN Net Announcement, use the OHIOWV NODE as your first NODE, and think it may have been yours, let me know so that I can update your check-in records. No one, but me, needs to know who goofed. I just want to make sure you get all the credit you deserve for your participation in the DAREN nets