DAREN NEWS (00-02-27)

=============================================================================== D.A.R.E.N. NEWS of WV. February 27, 2000 (.398' by Ken Harris WA8LLM (304) 679-3470 (HOME) or 428-9980 (WORK) WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS, P.O. BOX 3328, PARKERSBURG, WV 26103 D.A.R.E.N. 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. A State Wide DAREN NET is operated every Saturday from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. DAREN NET Announcements, 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'.

Gene, N8ER called me earlier this week to let me know that Rick, N8HON made it to Spruce Knob and picked up the Pendleton County station, PENDWV/FKLNWV, so they could work on it. Rick was unable to see the antenna, so they were just hoping that everything was okay on the tower. I got a message from Gene Friday saying the station is now back on the air. Gene had to replace an audio chip in the receiver and it seems all right now. He also replaced the battery in the TNC so it lost all of it's memory and had to be re-programed. I want to thank Rick and Gene for getting the station back in operation. PENDWV is a major link for those in the Eastern Panhandle. With PENDWV down, it restricts a few other stations in Pendleton and surrounding counties from getting into the DAREN system. You can get to the Eastern Panhandle through the Mineral County NODE of MINEWV, as long as the band conditions are not in too bad of shape. It just takes more NODEs and a longer time.

Since the FCC has restructured the licensing, some operators have qualified for 5 WPM code, by having taken it some time in the past. The only problem is proving they have taken it. A lot of these Amateurs, and Non-Amateurs may not have a copy of their original, expired licenses. One way to prove they have taken, and passed their 5 WPM is to have their callsign on a call list, such as the Amateur Radio "Callbook" which came out anywhere from one to three or fours times a year. If you have any old callbooks in your library, you might be able to help some of those who need the proof they need by letting them have a photo copy of their callsign listed in the "Callbook". If you want to send me a message giving me a list of your old "Callbook"s, I will make a list of dates of the "Callbook"s, and who has them. I will then post the list on some of the main PBBSs. This will help those who need the proof, and the Volunteer Examiners. No one knows for sure what all the VEC's such as the ARRL and W5YI will use as proof of passing the 5 WPM, but I'm sure that the "Callbook" will be one of them.

Phil, K8MHR is looking for a program that will allow him to put together a map of Packet stations such as the DAREN Path Map that I produce. I just use the ole Cut and Paste method when I make my maps. Phil would like to be able to put together a Path Map for the Eastern Area HF digital NODEs for NTS. If anyone has a good map drawing program, you might drop Phil a message at CHASWV.

There were 85 check-ins to this week's State Wide DAREN Net. Charles, KC8WO, who's been checking into the net since January 23, 1993 has completed 250 check-ins, and Anna, KC8JLK who's been checking in since March 14, 1998 has completed 100 check-ins. Both of the operators will be receiving their certificates. Julie, KB8SYE needs only one more check-in to make 250. James, N8COG needs only one more check-in to make 150, and Arch, W8GWR needs only one more check-in to make 100. ===============================================================================