Winlink

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Winlink, also known as the Winlink 2000 Network, is a worldwide radio messaging system that mixes internet technology and appropriate amateur radio technologies to deliver advantages not possible with each alone. The system provides email with attachments, position reporting, graphic and text weather bulletins, and robust emergency communications between internet users and the amateur radio, US Army and Air Force MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System), and UK Cadet Forces communities.

Daily, Winlink users on the high seas, in remote jungles, or traveling anywhere exchange emails with friends and family that assure their safety and express the joys of their travels. Mobile users post their positions on a map and retrieve helpful weather information wherever and whenever they need it. The system is most popular with remote or mobile users who do not have internet access available.

Winlink also has capabilities attractive for emergency communications where local or regional internet and wireline services are disrupted, overloaded, or down. It is especially useful where accuracy is essential, where information quantity makes voice communications inefficient, and where accurate records of the information sent and received are important. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), Army and Air Force Military Affiliate Radio Systems (MARS) and UK Cadet Forces have all officially adopted the Winlink system for critical email emergency communications with the government and civil agencies they serve.

Contents

[edit] Users

Anyone with an email account can exchange emails with Winlink radio users.

In order to become a Winlink radio user, you must have an appropriate Amateur radio license. If you are interested, but are not properly licensed, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is a good place to start.

The Winlink system is available to any licensed Amateur radio or Army MARS operator. As such, you simply log into one of the participating network stations (PMBOs) using the client software, AirMail, and you will have automatically established yourself as a registered Winlink user. After you have become a "registered" radio user, you may also then take advantage of many other system facilities.

As of May 2006, there are approximately 10,000 radio users and approximately 98,000 Internet correspondents. Monthly traffic averages over 150,000 messages or 280,000 minutes of total radio air time.

Amateur radio operators interested in joining the network as a full-time Winlink participating network station should review the requirements. To become a partner in a world-wide network with a flow of over 150,000 messages monthly from over 9,000+ users is most gratifying. Knowing that you are providing a valuable and necessary service to your fellow Amateur operators, their family & friends, by aiding their safety and well-being, is a life-long rewarding experience.

[edit] How it Works

The Winlink system is a "star" network containing at the hub three mirror-image, redundant Common Message Servers (CMS)--one in San Diego, one in Detroit and one in Perth, Australia. These insure that the system will remain in operation should any chunk of the Internet become inoperative. Like the ends of spokes on a wheel, each Radio Message Server (RMS--formerly 'PMBO') is tied together with the common servers at the hub. Traffic goes in and out between the CMS and the Internet email recipient, and between radio users and the Radio Message Server gateways. In any single message, multiple radio-to-radio addresses may be mixed with radio-to-internet e-mail addresses, allowing complete flexibility. It is, after all, email.

Because Winlink 2000 uses de facto e-mail (IETF RFC 2821) as its format, it provides radio users and Internet users seamless, transparent email with attachments of reasonable size without any additional stress or learning curve. This allows any mobile or portable operation to connect with the Internet e-mail system from literally anywhere in the world.

Access to the system is separate for each user class, such as Army MARS or the Amateur service. Each class of service is totally separated from the next so that boundaries and purposes are not mixed. Army MARS only sees Army MARS stations and users, while amateur radio stations only see other amateur radio stations and users.

Because each Radio Message Server gateway is a mirror image of the next, it does not matter which station is used. They all look the same to the radio user. Each can provide over 700 text-based or graphic Weather products, and each can relay the user's position to a WEB based view of reporting users. This keeps family, friends or, in a disaster, tactical positions in view. The views can zoom to the street level via a standard street map, a satellite view or a mixture of both.

(more to come)

[edit] Supported Radio Technologies

[edit] History

The Winlink system development started in the early 1980's. The original program, Aplink (AMTOR-Packet link) - an early DOS-based mailbox program, and the first versions of Winlink server software were the brainchild of Victor D. Poor, W5SMM, a then semi-retired engineering executive and one of the major forces behind the development of the modern microprocessor. Aplink, which linked amateur radio HF AMTOR into the VHF/UHF Amateur Radio Packet networks, became widely used for long-haul Amateur and MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System) text based messages. Navy MARS users asked for and received a smaller client version of Aplink for their use aboard ships, called "PAMS." Aplink was also adopted by the ARRL National Traffic System digital services.

When the Windows operating system became available in the mid 1980's, Vic updated his messaging program to what is now called Winlink Classic. Over several years, it was enhanced by Hans Kessler, N8PGR, while Vic cruised aboard his "temporary retirement" trawler. One of the most important uses of Aplink was during the 1991 Gulf War. In fact, the CBS documentary, "The last Voice from Kuwait," spearheaded by Frank Moore, WA1URA, illustrates the heroic efforts of several Aplink stations, the USS Kennedy, and the Department of Defense.

During this period, Internet use ramped up and email became a preferred communications tool. On the Amateur radio scene, the VHF/UHF packet radio networks lost users and started to deteriorate. Steve Waterman, K4CJX, was actively operating his own Mailbox station and assisting with the design and testing of Winlink Classic. It was obvious that for Winlink to continue to have value, it now must also interface into this new and exciting communications medium. Steve spent many months searching for a willing programmer. Jim Jennings, W5EUT, a former Winlink Classic Mailbox operator and recently retired petroleum engineering professor at Texas Tech, stepped forward to "give it a try." Jim programmed and Steve tested and soon "Netlink" was a working system, automatically supplying an interface between amateur radio digital messages and the Internet email system for amateur radio users everywhere.

Word spread quickly in the amateur community and Winlink with Netlink became widely used by both maritime and RV mobile users. Missionaries, emergency managers, and medical relief organizations soon followed as users. More mailbox operators added Netlink to their Winlink stations, and soon there was a worldwide system of independent Amateur Radio Mailbox stations serving the mobile Amateur with text-based email.

Jim Corenman, KE6RK, developed a client program for WinLink/Netlink called AirMail. Airmail followed the development of Winlink Classic, and continues to be the state-of-the art client program for today's Winlink 2000 system. AirMail is also now used with commercial systems such as SailMail, making life easier for those who use both Amateur Radio and commercial digital email.

One of the first users of the "Netlink" system was Rick Muething, KN6KB, a semi-retired chip manufacturer, and former college professor. Rick's interest had been sparked when he took his sailboat from San Francisco , CA. to Melbourne, Florida. During this extended trip around Mexico, through the Panama Canal and into the Caribbean, Steve, K4CJX, was posting messages to and from his family. This was being done while Jim, W5EUT, and Steve were testing the automated interface. As soon as it was implemented, Rick became "hooked on Winlink" and became an active Mailbox station after he arrived in Florida. He later took over the Netlink programming effort that Jim Jennings pioneered.

Because Winlink Classic was never meant to interface with the Internet email system, the combination of Winlink and Netlink was limited to text-based messages. It was not an easy system to use and it required special knowledge to keep it running. It used an older programming language that was also limiting. Plans for improvement started being formulated between Steve (K4CJX), Rick (KN6KB) and Hans (N8PGR.) This interested Vic (W5SMM), who had been away from his brainchild for years.

In 1998, Steve, Rick, Hans, and Vic, met in Cleveland, Ohio, and planned "Winlink 2000." The broad, general criteria was to develop a feature-rich messaging system that would operate over Amateur Radio, use the Internet under a "star network" configuration for internal system communications, and to make it as efficient as possible on the HF bands. Utilizing state-of-the-art object oriented programming, Winlink 2000 would be user-friendly. The system would use a network of many stations, worldwide, and proper message routing would be transparent to the mobile user. When used with AirMail, the system would provide email between Amateur stations, internet email, and provide a library of weather and help bulletins through the AirMail application's catalog. The system would also provide the ability to show the geographical position of its users. Lastly, the system would be robust, have built-in redundancy, and be "Emergency Management" ready.

At the time of the design, Vic Poor, W5SMM, was the chief technical consultant to Globe Wireless, one of the World's largest common carriers. He was, therefore, no stranger to HF digital messaging. Hans Kessler, N8PGR, was and is still the owner of a custom software programming company. Rick Muething was still involved with the computer chip industry as a consultant to several major chip companies, and Steve, K4CJX, had just retired as VP of a telecommunications software development company. The stage was set to start implementing the design.

In 1998, the plans for Winlink 2000 were announced at the annual November Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) convention (GAM) in Melbourne, Florida, and were brought to fruition around February of 1999. Since then, development continues at a rapid pace.

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 and more recent national disasters have transformed the emergency management world. There is increased urgency to adapt Amateur Radio tools for efficient emergency service in a fast-changing environment. Winlink developers responded and added Telpac gateway software to the system. This software allows an amateur operator to create a packet radio gateway station into the Winlink system. When a Telpac station is in range, other operators can use common packet radio equipment and Airmail client software to send and receive email over VHF and UHF frequencies. Rick Muething also developed an extremely easy-to-use client that is meant for VHF/UHF operations. Called Paclink, it allows the use of any common SMTP email software (Outlook, Eudora, etc.) as the user interface. This is especially important in emergency situations where there is no time for software training. Telpac and Paclink software are enhancing and revitalizing long-forgotten packet radio networks in many locations.

In 2005, the server-side software also was significantly improved and the network was enhanced by adding additional, redundant and transparent Central Message Servers around the world. Should the Internet fail at any or several sites, there are other fully-synchronized servers to handle the worldwide system at full capacity.

After the Amateur Radio response to the Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita disasters of 2005, Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, presented the idea of using APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) to enable mobile and remote APRS users to access their Winlink e-mail accounts under emergency or unusual conditions. In 2006, an interface was developed that allows short messages to be sent and received via APRS. Called APRSlink, this system interlinks Winlink with APRS messaging, expanding the utility of both.

Over the last several years, the system is used almost daily by the maritime community for locating lost vessels. The United States Coast Guard regularly requests the location and condition of missing or overdue vessels from the thousands of maritime Winlink users. And more often than not, the Winlink community comes up with answers. During the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and its Tsunami, Winlink maritime users played an important role in emergency communications early in the disaster. This was also true of the Chilean/Peruvian storms, the failure of INTELSAT 804, which left hundreds of Islands without reliable communications, and many other hurricane-related episodes in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Such acts went unnoticed until the domestic weather disasters brought Winlink to the attention of many, including a positive mention in post-Katrina reports from both the US House of Representatives and the White House.

Several years ago, the Department of Homeland Security suggested to the ARRL President that the Amateur community should design and maintain a national digital network for emergency communications purposes. Winlink 2000 was their network of choice. Today, the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) and Radio amateur civil emergency service (RACES) has been busy deploying Winlink county by county across the country. Other non-Amateur volunteer services such as the Army and Air Force Military Affiliate Radio Systems and the UK Cadet Forces, the Salvation Army, the GA Baptist Relief organization, the International Health Service, among others, have used Winlink for their radio e-mail, both in emergencies and when no other communications outlets have been available.

The Winlink system receives broad interest and support from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA), the maritime press, and other news media. With the help of Hans-Peter Helfert, DL6MAA, and Martin Clas, DL1ZAM, the inventors of PACTOR, HF message transfer speeds have increased to over 3600 bits per second while features have become more sophisticated and user-friendly. With the help of Jim Corenman, KE6RK, AirMail continues to keep pace and improve as a user-friendly client for the Winlink end-user. With the help of Tim Rulon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the system provides critical weather data to those who need it. With the help of the Seven Seas Cruising Association, the developers have a following of faithful and informed maritime users. With the help of the American Radio Relay league, Winlink 2000 is currently being deployed as an excellent alternative for internet email in the Amateur Radio Emergency Services.

The voluntary efforts of the Winlink Development Team, the participating stations and the user community have been on-going and extremely productive. Through the cooperative efforts among people from many different cultures and countries, Winlink has made the world smaller and a little friendlier. Winlink continues to provide a public service to both the everyday Amateur Radio user as well as those deploying emergency preparedness and disaster recovery for their served agencies.

[edit] External links

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