Winlink Wednesday
We’re launching Winlink Wednesday at our club to sharpen our skills using radio-based email in case the Internet or normal communications go down. It’s also a valuable tool during local emergencies—allowing us to send messages out of the affected area to places where connectivity is still available.
Give it a try and help us build regular participation so we can confidently report to the Butler County Emergency Operations Center next Spring.
We will be using FHARCWN as the callsign for FHARC Winlink Wednesday Check-ins.
Notice in the attached file how the Location field shows where Barb downloaded your Winlink message. If you don’t manually enter your GPS coordinates—or use a GPS dongle inside Winlink—the system defaults to your Grid Square as your location. During an emergency, having your exact position can be critical for responders, so practicing accurate location reporting is important.
Using the exact sample format for each message helps build the habit of transmitting precise data under emergency conditions. Please format the message body as follows:
Callsign, First Name, City or Town, County, State Abbreviation, (HF or VHF, etc.)
Bern (KC4CRH), Wayne (KDØWAT) and Barb (KDØWAU) are practicing on the Original Winlink Wednesday.
https://winlinkwednesday.net/
You can see our emails on their map.
https://www.qsl.net/kw4shp/WinlinkWed/WWmap.html
Bern is currently practicing on VHF. Wayne and Barb are working with VHF, HF, and Peer-to-Peer. They typically send:
- One line in the standard format (as above)
- Two lines including brief weather information
- And on certain weeks, they also use Winlink forms, depending on the week of the month.
Wayne and Barb are also training with the North Texas NVIS group, an experimental team that uses multiple modes:
North Texas NVIS Net: https://groups.io/g/North-Texas-NVIS-Net/message/1353
We’ve added Post Office as a new option we’re practicing, alongside VHF and HF. They’ve also experimented with Radio-Only email, which requires more advanced Winlink setup and knowledge.
Finally, Barb participates in the Weekly Emergency Training using Winlink:
Winlink Thursdays: https://emcomm-training.org/Winlink_Thursdays.html
Caution: they grade your transmissions for accuracy and for following instructions—so make sure your ego can handle honest feedback! 🙂
