APRSLink
APRSLink provides a link between the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) and the Winlink 2000 Radio e-mail system. APRSLink monitors all APRS traffic gated to the internet, worldwide, and watches for special commands that allow APRS users to:
- read short e-mail messages sent to their callsign@winlink.org account (only the base callsign, no SSID)
- send short e-mail messages to any valid e-mail address or Winlink 2000 user
- perform e-mail related maintenance (see commands below)
- be notified of pending Winlink e-mail via APRS message
- query APRSLink for information of the closest Winlink interface (Telpac gateway or PMBO)
APRSLink provides a very special capability for the Kenwood TH-D7 and TM-D700 Radios for sending and receiving email from the radio front Panel without any need for a PC. This capability is greatly facilitated with the PS2 keyboard interface made by John Hanson; making messaging very easy using these Kenwood radios. See http://www.coastalchip.com for more information.
Properly licensed Amateur Radio operators are automatically registered in the Winlink 2000 system the first time they send a message through the system. For someone to send e-mail to you, you must first become registered by sending a message through the system. See www.winlink.org/
Additionally, your APRS station must have sent at least one APRS position report (beacon) prior to attempting to access this service. In that way, APRSLink can know your Amateur callsign, location, and station type.
| Available Commands | |
|
H or ? |
Return brief Help. Help is also returned whenever APRSLink does not understand a command. Use "?" followed by a command letter for detailed help for that command. Example: "?L" for help with the List command. |
|
L |
Return a List of pending messages (a maximum of 5 are returned). The List command queries the Winlink e-mail server and builds a list of up to 5 recent messages. Other commands operate on this list of messages. |
|
R# |
Read message number # (# is one of the numbered messages returned via the List command). Example: "R2" |
|
Y# |
replY to message. Reply to message number # (# is one of the numbered messages returned via the List command). Example: "Y2" |
|
|
Write multi-line message. These commands are issued using multiple APRS messages.
W <e-mail "to" address or callsign> Individual message lines can be submitted in |
|
/EX |
Complete and send the composed message. You should receive a confirmation message. |
|
P |
Playback message. Play back message lines for the message being written ("W" command). |
|
A |
Create/update an alias for an e-mail address. Example: A sam=sam@somelongdomainname.net The use "W sam" instead of "W sam@somelongdomainname.net" To delete an alias omit the part after the equal sign. "A sam=" will delete |
|
F# |
Forward message number # to address or callsign following F# (# is 1 to 5)(# is one of the numbered messages returned via the List command). Example: "F2 you@home.net" |
|
K# |
Kill (mark as deleted) message number # (# is one of the numbered messages returned via the List command). Example: "K3" |
|
T |
Return information about closest active Telpac gateway |
|
M |
Return information about closest active PMBO/RMS |
|
I |
Return Information about APRSLink |
Here's how it works:
You send an APRS message using WLNK-1 as the destination callsign with one of the above commands as the message text. APRSLink responds by sending APRS messages back to you via your IGate. Of course, your IGate must be configured to gate those messages back to RF - it should be.
APRSLink will detect if your request is from a Kenwood TH-D7 or TM-D700, and attempt to format retrieved messages to fit the display of those devices. For a TH-D7, this means you are limited to receiving a maximum of 48 characters per APRS message, and a maximum of 64 characters for the TM-D700. When you request to read an e-mail from the Winlink system, APRSLink will send one or more APRS messages back to your station. Reading large messages (over a few lines) is not appropriate, and APRSLink limits the number of APRS messages it will send back to your station.
APRSLink is tailored to fit the needs of remote TH-D7 and TM D700 users, but is fully functional for other clients as well. To allow easy entry using the D7 or D700 keypads, you can use a keypad letter instead of a number for the second part of commands that require message line numbers. For example, to read message 3 you can send Rd instead of R3; use Rj for message 5, etc. Actually, any letter on the key will be interpreted as the number on that same key for any command that uses a number following the command character.
If you desire notification of pending Winlink e-mail just add the callsign of the APRSLink server somewhere in your station's position comment (or status text) and you'll be notified with an APRS message whenever you have unread mail on the Winlink system. Notification is sent once per day but is reset whenever you use APRSLink to access your Winlink e-mail. In that way, mail received after you have read the current batch will trigger another notification.
Initially, there will be a single APRSLink server using a callsign of WLNK-1. Additional APRSLink servers may be added at a later time - if so, they will use the same callsign and a different SSID; -2, -3 etc.
The following text is inserted into messages sent through APRSLink to the Internet. Messages addressed to a ham callsign or to a callsign@winlink.org e-mail address do not contain this disclaimer.
================================================
This message was sent using a remote device which has
limited capacity. When replying use plain text, keep
the message as short as possible and include no attachments.
================================================
APRS is a registered trademark of APRS Software and Bob Bruninga, WB4APR