DAREN of WV News November 13, 2016 (.C71)
WA8LLM (304) 679-3470 wa8llm@yahoo.com
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS, 319 COMMUNICATIONS DR, WAVERLY, WV 26184
www.wc8ec.com or www.wc8ec.org
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 www.wc8ec.com and www.wc8ec.org websites.
I've been hearing rumors that someone in the southern part of the state is thinking about installing a DAREN station in that area. Over the past few years several DAREN stations have went off the air due to reasons unknown. I was told that someone may be getting a hold of me to find out what is needed to get a DAREN station on the air. With the price of the Kantronics KPC-3 TNC (Terminal Node Controller) going over $220, it's hard to put new DAREN stations on the air, or get them back on the air, after they have been damaged. The Kantronics TNC has been the heart of the DAREN system since it can be a Mailbox (PBBS), a NODE, and a Digipeater all at the same time. To get the DAREN system back up to where it was in the past, another TNC, at a lower cost, may have to found. At one time there were 34 counties in West Virginia, with wide area coverage DAREN stations on the air. With those 34 stations, almost 100 percent of the state had Packet Radio coverage. Any new DAREN stations, that are come on the air, or are replaced, may have to be used as a NODE, or as a Digipeater, with no PBBS. The Mailboxes, or PBBS, may have to be at a different location using a TNC connected to a computer or some kind of server. The only thing bad about using Packet stations as Digipeaters is the fact it may take longer to get the traffic passed since they need to error checked, and error corrected between connected stations. The connected stations may have to go through several Digipeaters, and if there is a weak link in the path, several re-tries may be needed. If anyone has any ideas of how to get the DAREN system back like it used to be in the past, I'd like to hear from you. Besides losing DAREN stations, we have lost a lot of Packet operators. I feel that with the Internet and Cellphones, Amateur Radio operators are losing interest in Packet Radio, since it only operates at 1200 baud. But, in an emergency, if other communications systems are down, Amateur Radio seems to get through.
There were only 31 check-ins to the State Wide DAREN Net this week. Kendale Peterson, KD8QAK, needs only one more check-in to make 300. I want to welcome Maurice Brown, N8VA, back to the State Wide DAREN Net. Maurice has been missing from the net since January 10, 2009, and his check-in will be added to his previous check-ins.