This net is held every Tuesday evening at 9:00PM on 145.610. You can check into this net by connecting to your local Telpac Node (ours is W9SM-9) and sending a message to KB9MMC-5@winlink.org. In the subject line type Check In, (city), (traffic or no traffic). The NCS station will reply and send out who is on the net and if there is a topic or exercise for the evening. Check out this link for more information on the net and some examples.

The W9SM-9 Telpac node is located at the home of Travis KC9JVC near the town of Moon near the south central border of Marathon county. This site will give us 24/7 internet access for the node and also back up power. The Telpac node is made up of a 10amp GE power supply, a GE/Ericsson 2M MDX 40 watt radio and a Kantronics KPC2 with version 3.0 firmware. The radio is currently hooked to a KB9VBR j-pole at 50ft on Travis's tower. There is about 75ft of RG8U coax running between the antenna and radio. The back-up power consists of 4 90-amp/hour batteries that are charged by a 20amp trickle charger. This will allow seamless operation if the AC power fails. The 10amp power supply is just in case it is needed if the batteries fail. The computer that is running the node is a Celeron 1.1Ghz PC with 256Meg of RAM hooked to his DSL router. The computer and router are also on battery backup power.

12/20/07 - Reprogrammed the MDX radio to add 145.03 packet and 144.390 APRS frequencies in the event that we would need to change the Winlink node to a different digital channel.

1/24/08 - The computer on the Telpac Node crashed today. Travis KC9JVC is looking into it to see if it is something that can be repaired or if we need to hunt down another computer.

1/25/08 - After warming up the computer and giving it a good dusting, it appears to be working fine. While Travis was testing the computer, he updated some software and added 128M of RAM for a total of 256M. Because the computer and all the other associated equipment for the Telpac Node is mounted in a cabinet in an unheated garage, Travis is going to put a 100watt light bulb in the cabinet to see if it keeps it warm enough to keep everything up and running. The node should be back up sometime on Saturday 1/26/08

1/30/08 - It was -18degrees F this morning in Wausau. Not sure what the temperature was at Travis's house, but it was too cold for the computer to work. The node is down until we can get it warmed up or the outside temperature warms up.

2/9/08 - Since Travis reinstalled the computer and wrapped the cabinet with a blanket and put the 100watt light bulb inside the cabinet, the computer has been working fine.

4/16/08 - The W9SM-9 Telpac Node will temporarily be off line. The people that run the Winlink 2000 network have made some required software changes. This means the we have to get some changes implemented at the node. The node will be down until we can get the new authorization key code from the Winlink 2000 system administrators. Hopefully this will happen today or tomorrow.

The W9SM-7 KA-node (digi) is located at the FOX55 tower in the town of Hewitt, northeast of Wausau. The radio is a GE/Ericsson 2M MDX 40 watt mobile type radio. The TNC is a Kantronics KPC3+ running the 9.1 firmware programmed for KA-node operation. These are powered by an Astron SL-11 power supply. The radio is run into a WACOM duplexer that is also connected to the 146.265 receive radio. The output of the duplexer is fed into the VHF port of a PCTEL/Maxrad VHF/UHF diplexer. The output of the diplexer is connected to 7/8" hardline that is then run up the tower to a level of 375ft. The total run of hardline is approx 575ft. The antenna is a Diamond X500HNA on a Pyrod 6ft side arm bracket.

10/15/07 - Set the TNC to the correct time and date. Also change the "my alias" command to relay so that it will digi out the position strings from the Telpac nodes.

12/7/07 - Reprogrammed the "my alias" setting to none and programmed the "uidigi", "uitrace" and "uiflood" the same as the settings for APRS. Also got the node running on UPS power.

WINLINK 2000 - RADIO EMAIL

OVERVIEW AND SYSTEM COMPONENTS

On this page:

WINLINK 2000 RADIO-EMAIL OVERVIEW...

Fig. 1: COVER..

Fig. 2: HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE.

Fig. 3: THE WINLINK 2000 NETWORK..

Fig. 4: EMAIL FORMAT..

Fig. 5: ADDRESSING, ROUTING..

Fig. 6: WINLINK 2000 ACCESS.

Fig. 7: THE USER INTERFACE.

Fig. 8: AIRMAIL CLIENT..

Fig. 9: FIVE WAYS TO USE AIRMAIL.

Fig. 10: TELPAC GATEWAY.. 12

Fig. 11: TELPAC AND SWITCH STATION..

Fig. 12: PACLINK CLIENT..

Fig. 13: PACLINK INTERFACE TO LOCAL DATA NETWORK..

Fig. 14: PACLINK AGW - POST OFFICE MULTIPLE CHANNELS.

Fig. 15: THE “LAST MILE”.

Fig. 16: THE “LAST MILE” WITH INTERNET FAILURE.

Fig. 17: LOCAL AREA NETWORKS - RADIO..

Fig. 18: SOME ARES CONSIDERATIONS.

Fig. 19: SOME NTS/NTSD CONSIDERATIONS.

Fig. 20: SUMMARY OF COMPONENTS.

Fig. 21: TELPAC GATEWAY MAP, JAN 05.

Fig. 22: PMBO MAP, JAN 05.

Fig. 23: SYSTEM INFO URLS.

Fig. 24: AIRMAIL DOWNLOADING..

Fig. 25: AIRMAIL TYPICAL TELNET SETTINGS.

Fig. 26: AIRMAIL NOTES.

WINLINK 2000 RADIO-EMAIL OVERVIEW

The Winlink 2000 global radio network messaging system gives ARRL operators the ability to send email by radio to augment the operations of our own responders and those we support. Email messaging is the common denominator which ensures interoperability between our operators and all those agencies we serve. This attribute is very well suited to modern incident command strategies.

Amateurs and officials alike are familiar with creating and sending emails. The Winlink 2000 system uses email applications for the user interface and the process of sending and receiving mail is similar to using any internet service provider. Not only can radio email now be sent when the telephone system and internet are down in an affected area, but officials may send such mail from their own computers at their own desks or in the field with amateur radio operator supervision. This is what our served agencies need.

The Winlink 2000 system operates as a global “email server” for all user clients which can access the system over radio links. It can handle email between all connecting clients with call sign or “tactical” addresses and exchange email with addressees on the public internet through a filtered and secure interface. The system also provides valuable weather, location information and system bulletins for all users.

Radio-email on Winlink 2000 may contain multiple addressees and multiple copies, and may contain binary attachments limited in size only by the speed of the radio links in use. Winlink 2000 radio-email generally moves quickly around the world with delivery times to the addressee’s mailbox or ISP within a few minutes or less.

AIRMAIL: The Winlink 2000 system uses two different client software programs. Any amateur operator in ARES^® or NTS/NTSD can access the system as an email client using free AirMail software with a modest computer (Windows™ 95 or better). With the addition of a basic KISS TNC and a VHF/UHF radio the operator can bridge across the “last mile” where the telephone service and internet are down. This is a very modest equipment list allowing ARES^® teams to deploy the technology at minimal cost. AirMail has its own built-in email application and can access the system via the internet, VHF/UHF packet radio, or HF radio (using the more expensive SCS PTC-II PacTor-III HF modem) for use in remote areas

PACLINK: The Paclink client software provides a more robust email server program using an operator email interface application such as Outlook Express™, Outlook™, Eudora™, etc. The Paclink server allows officials to connect to the system as remote clients using the email applications on their own computers. Paclink stations access the system via the internet or via VHF/UHF radio. The AGW Packet Engine (AGWPE) software provides the interface for multiple connection channels and a number of different TNCs for radio connections. Use of the Paclink server and radio connections is transparent to the email user.

PMBOs: Winlink 2000 distributes email through “public” primary mailboxes (PMBOs) set up around the world, and through special PMBOs within ARES^® jurisdictions, all linked over private internet connections to a distributed central mailbox (CMS) system. ARES^® PMBOs can serve all radio connected clients even without an internet connection. There are over 25 public PMBOs in operation in the US and more are being deployed in jurisdictions throughout the US and Canada - many with both VHF/UHF and HF radio access. In most ARES^® jurisdictions the deployment of Winlink 2000 will consist of local area networks on VHF, UHF or frequencies permitting higher speed wideband connections. Stations in VHF/UHF range access the system through local gateway (Telpac) stations. There are over 600 Telpac gateways already in operation. (See the <winlink.org> web site stations page and downloads page for current lists of PMBOs and Telpac gateways.)

ROUTING: A powerful feature of Winlink 2000 is that the routing of all mail is automatic and dynamic. A client can connect to any of the system ports and exchange mail with any other client in the system. Client stations may move about and connect via any link path to an available port and mail will be automatically forwarded.

LANs: Building radio local area networks to connect everyone to the system and tie our clients together when the telephones lines and internet are down lets all of us exchange email over radio as easily as clicking “send” on our email program. This also gives the ARRL a common communications layer to fully integrate the operations of all ARES^®, NTS and NTSD services nation-wide.

(See the following slides for a graphical tutorial of the system attributes and components.)