DAREN of WV News September 20, 2009 (.897)
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.
Gene Roy, N8ER, said that he and Rick Gillespie, N8HON, went to the Pendleton County, Spruce Knob, tower site last Monday. They removed the DAREN station of PENDWV/FKLNWV and Rick's Two Meter voice repeater which operated on 147.285 MHz. The equipment was removed by the request of the new tower owners, since the Amateur Radio equipment was not going to make them any money. I don't know if the new tower owners know it or not, but they will have to coordinate any transmitting radios, that are put on the tower, with the people at the Greenbank Observatory. The tower is within the National Radio Quiet Zone. When the DAREN station was first put on the air at that tower site, I needed to coordinate with the Greenbank Observatory to let them know how much power and the frequency the station was going to be operated on. They wanted to make sure that we could disable the station if it was to start causing interference with their listening equipment. It took several weeks to get the approval to install the DAREN station. I'm sure that Rick had to do the same thing when he installed his Two Meter Amateur Repeater. When I first got the information about the tower being purchased, Bob Tuckerman, W3RUA, gave me a little history of the tower itself. He said that he saw tower inspection papers dated back in the early 1990's, and said that he wouldn't have climbed the tower if he had to back then. Any way Rick is looking for a new location to install his repeater and with any luck the DAREN station can also be installed. If anyone knows of a good tower site, or would like to help install the station, contact Gene, Rick, or Bob.
Don't forget, the Net Control Station for the State Wide DAREN Net this Saturday, September 26, will be located in Preston County at the Buckwheat Festival during their Special Event. You might want to test some of the paths to the Preston County NODE of PRESWV before the net starts. I know a lot of operators connect to my Net Control station long before the net officially start, but may not be able to do that this weekend. The operators at the Buckwheat Festival will only be able to operate between certain hours. Just make sure that you try to get checked in between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm on Saturday.
The Wood County Emergency Communications group will be holding their first Hamfest in Parkersburg. The Hamfest will be held on Saturday, October 10th. Plans are still being put together, but they are coming along. There will be at least 6 main prizes and a door prize drawing every 15 minutes. There will also be a mobile check-in drawing, and W5YI VE Amateur Radio testing. The announcing of the Radio-A-Day Give Away raffle will also be held at the Hamfest. For more information about the Hamfest check out the www.wc8ec.com website. Information is being updated as it is becoming available. There were 61 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. Michael Whitco, KC8OAN, who has been participating in the net since February 3, 2001, has completed 350 check-ins. And, Bob Klinger, WD8MTN, who has been participating in the net since April 15, 1995, has completed 250 check-ins. Bill Wagner, N8RSM, needs only one more check-in to make 500.