The collaboration of Army, Navy-Marine and Air Force MARS, the ARRL, and amateur radio operators from the National Hurricane Center station WX4NHC, UMH/MediShare, Maritime Mobile Service Net, and Echolink, made a difference supporting the University of Miami Hospital MediShare Haiti relief effort. Winlink radio e-mail was used on MARS and amateur frequencies to back up University of Miami satellite links, and interoperability was the name of the game.

Read the complete article by following the link:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/03/11371/?nc=1

RMS EXPRESS--the software being developed as a new and easy-to-use single-user software client for WL2K--is currently working for WINMOR and TELNET. Soon, Pactor 3, and thereafter AX.25 Packet will be available with this new client software. Like Paclink, it will have MARS-ready capabilities such as automatic insertion of a routine precedence with manual override, RMS station listings by probability of connection by time of day, and much more. Unlike Paclink, it has its own e-mail interface rather than using an external client like MS OUTLOOK or OUTLOOK Express, and is intended for single, and not multiple users.

To prepare for the use of RMS Express with Pactor 3, one must first have SCS firmware version 4.0 or higher installed, regardless of the SCS modem model. SCS provided firmware code changes to make WL2K operation more robust. RMS Express will test for the firmware level, and if it is not 4.0 or higher it will refuse to run the PTC-II controller. This applies to all models. The current Pactor RMS gateway stations already use SCS firmware version 4.0.

You may obtain the latest firmware for your specific SCS modem model on the SCS WEB site:
http://www.scs-ptc.com/downloads

You may use Airmail to install the firmware update to 4.0.

1. Put the firmware file for your SCS Modem(s) in the Airmail main directory, usually found in a sub-directory under "Program files."

2. Go into the Airmail menu items "tools>Dumb Terminal mode" and push "Reset Host" command button. You should see "CMD" and if you do not, then hit the enter key on your keyboard to bring it up. Insure that you have the proper modem, baud rate and Comport number.
3. Once you see the "CMD" command, put VER on the command line and push ENTER on the keyboard. IF you have firmware version 4.0. STOP.
4. Otherwise, go into the Airmail menu items "Tools>Update PTC II Firmware" and you should see the proper file for the firmware you wish to update. If not, browse to find it.
5. Once the proper firmware update is seen in the file window, push "Start Update." Do NOT push "OK" until you see that the update into the SCS modem is complete. You will see a few flashes and other actions. Just WAIT! The UPDATE FORM may turn white. JUST WAIT!
6. Once the update process is complete, type VER on the CMD line again to ensure the update is successful.

   This firmware version has a bios update included, and will reboot several times.

Steve, k4cjx, aaa9ac
Winlink Development Team

You can access this file from the WINMOR page.

WINMOR TNC "Helper Application" with instructions. This is a Windows .NET 3.5 application that implements the WINMOR Protocol as a "virtual TNC". It is not a stand alone application but intended for use by other Windows developers developing other WINMOR client or server applications.

Full details on the new WINMOR protocol, and how to access the user software "RMS Express" that runs WINMOR, are on the WINMOR page.

[Submitted by Daniel Nye, and first published in the Colorado ARES D24 Newsletter.]

On the morning of Saturday, October 10th I received an email to my D24 EC email address from a woman who said that she had just moved to Castle Rock and that she and her husband had be cruising the Sea of Cortez in their sailboat the Allure for the last two years. Her husband was still in Baja and was docked at Bahia de Los Angeles and they had been faithfully communicating every day via Skype. However, she hadn’t heard from him in four days and she was really worried; he was an experienced and reliable Captain. She also said that although she and her husband weren’t hams, they listened to the 75 meter Sonrisa net each morning to hear the latest weather conditions and information about the Baja area. She asked if us “hamsters” (evidently that’s what sailboaters call ham radio operators) could provide any assistance in contacting her husband. In her email she provided a Castle Rock phone number and I was able to confirm her story and collect additional information. I also gain a real sense of the level of concern that she had for her husband.

[From the ARRL web site www.arrl.org]

On Wednesday, December 23, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued an Instruction concerning MARS, effective immediately. This Instruction gives the three MARS services -- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps -- a new focus on homeland security and a new name: Military Auxiliary Radio System. The Instruction is the first major revision to MARS since January 26, 1988 -- as such, the first revision since the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, two major events that changed the way Amateur Radio dealt with emergency communications.

[Posted with permission. This was originally published in the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management newsletter "MEMO", November 2009. The complete article is posted as a PDF for downloading at the botom of the page. ed.]

Most in the emergency management community are aware that amateur radio provides backup communications to support public safety agencies. In the past, amateur radio has consisted of voice messages; relaying tactical information or resource requests on behalf of other agencies. But technological advances are changing amateur radio operations.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands, October 11, 2009 -- The intrepid Jeanne. She just pushed off for the long ride. She recently reported, "I'll head down to South Africa and around again.... but this time I'll be sailing east-about nonstop .... via Cape Horn.... We'll see how it goes, but this time I hope to get all the way around!! It'll be totally different from my previous circumnavigation.... starting from the Atlantic, heading east in higher latitudes, passing south of the Five Great Capes.... I expect the journey to take 6-7 months. It'll be a definite challenge but [the new] “Nereida” sails beautifully, is a good sturdy boat and I'm looking forward to it."

Jeanne Socrates is no stranger to sailing, she started her first solo round-the-world voyage in March 2007 for it all to end in disaster June 2008 with the loss of Nereida at Playa Michigan, Mexico, just 60 miles from her destination. Yachting Monthly featured the details of the shipwreck in an article in their August 2009 edition, "Shipwrecked 60 Miles Short of Triumph".

Jeanne retired as a teacher in 1997 and bought Nereida with her husband George. Together they sailed Nereida, a Najad 361, from Sweden to the Mediterranean, over the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the east coast of America. Sadly, George was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2003. For most this would have been an end to cruising, but not for Jeanne. From 2004 – 2006 she sailed solo around British Columbia, Mexico, California and then in 2006 took part the Single-Handed TransPac from San Francisco to Hawaii, getting to know Nereida and gaining confidence.

Cancer pushed her to the next level. Besides George, she’d lost other good friends to the disease. She decided that she wasn’t getting any younger, and began to plan her solo sail around the world. From March 2007 until June 2008 she did just that. She sails today supporting the charity Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The longest passage that Jeanne has sailed previously is three and a half weeks. This time, she will be at sea non-stop for 6-7 months. She will be relying on Winlink for weather and e-mail, and satphone and SSB for her only connections to the outside world. Her website is http://www.svnereida.com and you can follow her progress while at sea with both of her regular reports on the home page and her daily noon positions from her travels page. We will be posting news here from time-to-time as well.

And, oh yes, Jeanne is now 67 years old. That will make her the oldest woman to sail solo--not to mention non-stop--around the world! Intrepid Jeanne!