Winlink
| Winlink | |
|---|---|
| What it is | A worldwide system for sending email by radio |
| Run by | Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc. (ARSFI), a volunteer nonprofit |
| Address format | callsign@winlink.org |
| Main client | Winlink Express (free, Windows) |
| How it connects | |
| Gateways | RMS stations run by volunteers |
| Servers | CMS (Common Message Servers) |
| Radio transports | Packet, VARA HF and VARA FM, Pactor |
| Bands | HF, VHF and UHF |
Winlink is a global radio email system. It lets a ham with a radio and a computer send and receive email, including attachments and standard forms, from places with no internet or phone service: a boat at sea, a remote campsite, or a disaster area. Messages travel by radio to a gateway station, which passes them over the internet to central servers and on to the recipient, who can be another Winlink user or anyone with an ordinary email address. Winlink is operated by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc. (ARSFI), a nonprofit run by volunteers, and is widely used in emergency communications.
How it works
The system has three layers:
- The client is the program on the user's computer where messages are written and read. Winlink Express, free for Windows, is the most common. Pat is a free, open-source alternative that runs on Linux (including the Raspberry Pi), macOS and Windows. Other programs can act as clients too: G8BPQ's LinBPQ node software (BPQ32 on Windows) can connect to Winlink gateways as a client as well as run a gateway itself, and the Windows packet program Outpost Packet Message Manager can log in to Winlink and was updated for Winlink's secure login requirement.
- RMS (Radio Message Server) gateways are stations, run by volunteer system operators, that answer calls from clients on HF, VHF or UHF and connect them to the internet.
- The CMS (Common Message Servers) are internet servers that store messages, deliver them through the gateways, and exchange mail with the rest of the internet.
Every user has an address of the form callsign@winlink.org. Like an old dial-up email program, the client connects, sends any outgoing mail, collects anything waiting and disconnects. For HF, the client downloads a list of gateways and can suggest which ones are likely to be reachable at that time of day.
Messages are compressed for speed but not encrypted, and the usual amateur rules under Part 97 apply: no business communications and nothing that hides the meaning of a message. To keep out spam, Winlink doesn't deliver mail from an internet address unless the user has written to that address or added it to an accept list.
Transports
Winlink can move data over the air in several ways, which the client offers as different session types:
- Packet on VHF and UHF, the same packet radio that any FM radio can use with a TNC (terminal node controller) or a sound-card modem. It is slow but simple, and many areas have a local packet gateway.
- VARA, a sound-card modem that comes in HF and FM versions and is much faster than packet. VARA is third-party software, not part of Winlink: a free version runs at reduced speed, and a paid license unlocks full speed.
- Pactor, the long-established HF mode, which needs a dedicated and expensive hardware modem.
- Telnet, a plain internet connection with no radio, useful for setting up an account, testing, and sending mail when the internet happens to be available.
The choice depends on the band and the distance. Packet or VARA FM through a local gateway handles messages within a region; VARA HF or Pactor reaches gateways hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Emergency use
Winlink has become a core tool for emergency groups because it delivers exact, written messages rather than voice relays, and because it keeps working when parts of the system fail. If a disaster takes down the local internet, users can still reach HF gateways far outside the affected area. Winlink Express can also send messages directly from one station to another with no gateway at all, a peer-to-peer mode that works even when every link to the internet is gone.
Built-in templates cover standard forms, including the ICS-213 general message used in the Incident Command System, so a shelter or hospital can send a request in exactly the format the served agency expects. A list of supplies or a casualty count sent as a form arrives complete and legible, without the read-backs that the same message would need on a voice net. Many groups hold weekly practice sessions in which members check in by sending a Winlink message, which keeps both skills and station settings current.
See also
External links
- Winlink
- BPQ32 and LinBPQ at Winlink
- Setting up a Winlink client using LinBPQ (G8BPQ)