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Winlink
This section outlines how to send and receive messages with Winlink Express. More information about how to configure the hardware can be found on the Packet How-To.
Operating Modes
When composing a new message, you must choose how the message will be sent:
Winlink Message: Your station makes a radio connection to a Radio Message Server (
RMS). The
RMS makes an Internet connection to a Common Message Server (
CMS) that is the central message repository. Your messages are sent via radio to the
RMS and then through the Internet to the
CMS until the recipient connects and downloads messages addressed to themselves. This mode is efficient and highly reliable. Winlink operates multiple
CMS that synchronize with each other frequently to provide completely redundancy. If an
RMS is down and unable to receive a connection, the client can connect to a different
RMS. Since all messages are stored in the central
CMS database, it doesn’t matter which
RMS the sender and recipient connect to.
Radio-Only Message: Where as the previous mode relies on an Internet connection between the
RMS and a
CMS, the Radio-Only mode does away with the
CMS and the internet connection it relies on. Instead, messages are sent to a designated
RMS for storage until it is retrieved by the recipient. This mode of operation can operate with local and total Internet outages.
Peer-To-Peer Message: This mode of operation transfers messages directly from the sender to the recipient without going through an
RMS or a
CMS and without the Internet. This is like a “simplex” mode, which requires:
Both stations to be on the air at the same time and on the same frequency.
Both stations to use the same transmission protocol (Packet, Winmor, Pactor, etc).
So the steps to compose a message are to:
Select how the message will be sent as.
Enter the recipient's address (usually their callsign, which may or may not require an
SSID)
And lastly, after the message is written, Post to Outbox, which saves the message locally and marks it to be sent.
Before initiating a connection (section below), you can write and post multiple messages to the outbox first.
Winlink Messages
The type of connection needed is chosen from the Open Session drop down menu.
Messages that are marked to be sent as Winlink Messages require a Winlink connection:
Telnet Winlink sends the message directly to the
CMS via the Internet, by-passing the
RMS. It's pretty much like sending an email and doesn't require a radio connection.
Packet Winlink is typically a
VHF or
UHF connection to an
RMS, which will then connect to a
CMS via the internet.
Pactor Winlink is an
HF connection to an
RMS. It requires an expensive
PACTOR TNC between the radio and computer.
Winmor Winlink is another
HF connection to an
RMS that doesn't necessarily require a
TNC. The IC-7300, for example, can connect to the computer directly with a simple
USB cable. The connection is slower than PACTOR however. See
Winmor for more information.
For Winlink connections, the address and frequency of the session must match that of a RMS chosen (not that of the recipient). A list of RMS can be found in the Channel Selection table:
Once the table is updated, select an RMS near you, and ensure that the frequency of your radio matches that of the RMS listed in the table and press Start
. At this point, two things will happen:
All the Winlink messages in your Outbox will be sent to the
RMS and forwarded to the
CMS, and
All the messages that the
CMS has for you will be sent to your Inbox.
A few things to note about Winlink Messages:
You can send a message to a station callsign (mine for example is VE7HZF
)
You can send a message to a regular email address
You can retrieve messages sent to your station callsign
You can retrieve emails sent to CALLSIGN@winlink.org
(mine for example is ve7hzf@winlink.org
)
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Messages
Messages that are marked to be sent as Peer-to-Peer Messages require a P2P connection:
Packet P2P is a direct
VHF or
UHF connection between the two stations exchanging messages.
Pactor P2P is a direct
HF connection between the two stations exchanging messages using the PACTOR protocol.
Winmore P2P is a direct
HF connection between the two stations exchanging messages using the Winmor protocol.
Direct
For a Direct
P2P connections, the address and frequency of the session must match that of a recipient (there is no RMS):
Ensure that the frequency of your radio matches that of the recipient,
that the recipient has a P2P session open listening to your call, and
press Start
At this point, two things will happen:
All the P2P messages in your Outbox addressed to the recipient will be sent to them, and
All the messages that the recipient might have in their outbox addressed to you will be sent to your Inbox.
This second point is worth highlighting: the session sends and receives messages.
Script
It's possible to connect to a station out of reach using a digipeater. On Vancouver Island, multiple digipeaters are setup on 144.970 MHz with an SSID of -8
and require a Script
to access. For example, for VE7HZF
to send a message to VE7SCE
via VE7LSO-8
, all three stations need to be on 144.970 MHz:
The first step is to create a script:
In this example, I named it
LSO to SCE
so I can reuse it easily later:
Once saved, select it and press
Start
:
If you monitor the traffic as you connect to the digipeater, you'll notice a few things:
Everything you send to VE7LSO-8
is being repeated by the digipeater for VE7SCE
Your callsign (in this case
VE7HZF
), is being retransmitted by the digipeater as
VE7HZF-15
. See the
SSID How-To page for more info.
The exchange takes more than twice the time of a direct connection because unlike a voice repeater that repeats in real time, a digipeater waits for you to stop transmitting before it repeats it.
Digipeaters
From Roberts Creek, VE7HZF was able to hear the following digipeater (-8
) and RMS (-10
) stations over a period of four days:
Digipeaters: | VA7ARE-8, VA7DXP-8, VA7MWP-8, VA7PF-8, VE7LSO-8, VE7PRL-8, VE7RYF-8, VE7SKR-8, VE7SPR-8, VE7TXD-8, VE7WOD-8 |
RMS : | VA7BCE-10, VA7DXP-10, VA7EO-10, VA7OPD-10, VA7PF-10, VA7QBE-10, VE7GEC-10, VE7GN-10, VE7LSO-10, VE7RYF-10, VE7SKR-10, VE7TXD-10, VE7URC-10 |
Important Caveat: I don't know anything about these stations other than I heard their callsign-SSID. They may not be what they seem.
SSID
The dash number after the callsign is called an SSID and it has a different meaning depending on whether it's for APRS or Winlink. See the SSID How-To for more info.
EasyTerm by UZ7HO
<box red |Under Construction>
I'm still learning lots about this so please consider this section to be vastly incomplete and probably wrong. – Patrick, VE7HZF 2019/09/02 06:48
</box>
An easy way to connect a radio to a computer using a Signalink is to use the UZ7HO Soundmodem program (see the Packet How-To for more information). But another really good program by UZ7HO is EasyTerm, which allows you to connect to another station and send specific commands to it.
For example, VE7HZF connected to VE7LSO-8
and typed H
:
*** Connected to station VE7LSO-8 2019-09-02 6:33:56 AM
:>H
497LSO:VE7LSO-8} TYPE 'HELP' OR ? FOLLOWED BY COMMAND FOR MORE INFORMATION
BYE CONNECT CQ HELP INFO LINKS MHEARD NODES
PORTS ROUTES STATS USERS SYSOP
This is the list of commands that this station accepts. For example, to learn what MHEARD
does, type ?MHEARD
. To use it, type MHEARD
.
Setup
Sources