I have been in amateur radio for quite some time, age 91 so no kid here, what I am concerned about is Winlink being used for emergency communications with a number of gateways rather than a more direct approach such as CW and PSK . Gateways have always been a more less problem as sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t work. The hams that do CW at a specific frequency are far more reliable and the PSK hams also have a direct frequency so they can be very reliable especially at short range .
George,
The prime reason is that I cannot attach an ICS-213, An excel file or PDF image or use specific templates such as an HCS-254 form. While it has its place Emcom response is no longer ARRL radiograms as the primary method. While there may be other tools similar to Winlink that could be considered, the overwhelming majority of response agencies have adopted Winlink as their tool of choice.
Lee, W5LHC
It’s going to be interesting to see how things go, I hope it works ok but I’m not convinced. George K5YQ
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Hi George,
Winlink has two capabilities that do not require a gateway.
- Winlink can operate peer to peer on both VHF and HF whereby one station is connected to anther station just like CW or PSK.
- Winlink has a Hybrid Network whereby messages can be forwarded using RMS Relay. For more detailed information, please see https://winlink.org/HybridNetwork
73,
Hal AD5L
I just built a 5w 40 cm QRP CW from QRP labs. 49.00 with a 80.00 antenna and 20 buck in connector cables. Took me 8 hours to build and was a lot of fun. Could be easily modified to 20 meters for better CW. I think it’s a great idea, fun to.
Winlink is nice for general communication but so is Whisper.
73,
Tim
KI5TIM
New Braunfels, TX
Licensed Paramedic
ARRL Instructor
I agree that Winlink is the way to go because the capabilities are so robust…but K5YQ has convinced me to learn and master CW, just in case.
Does the ‘Hybrid’ network use Pactor?
Don N5CID
Thanks Don for the info I have been “boning up” on utube and I can see where there has been some major changes through the years, your info is helpful. George K5YQ
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