KN4OLA-10

Submitted by KN4OLA on Wed, 2025-11-12 12:28

23 January 2026 1345 UTC – Winter storm preparations are complete. Continuity of operations for the KN4OLA-10 Winlink gateway has been validated for an extended commercial power outage.

The gateway is protected by layered power and network redundancy. Power is provided by two Tripp Lite commercial UPS units, with load separation: one UPS supports servers and radios, and the second supports networking equipment and WAN backhaul. Long-duration sustainment is provided by a Generac standby generator that has been tested under full rated load and supports approximately six days of continuous runtime.

Network resilience is provided by a dual-NIC gateway server configured for path diversity, using wired Ethernet as the primary interface with wireless failover as secondary. Local access is distributed via three wireless mesh access points using wired backhaul to avoid single-hop RF dependency. External connectivity is maintained through dual ISPs, with Comcast Business as the primary internet connection and Starlink Roam as the secondary.

Net result: KN4OLA-10 should remain operational during a prolonged utility outage with automatic failover across both power and network domains.

If all of that fails then we're having a really terrible, no good, very bad day.

07 January 2026 - 1354 hrs UTC - Updated VARA FM to version 4.4.0 on Winlink Wednesday. Software update during a busy day? Yup! I live life on the edge.

28 December 2025 - 1706 hrs UTC - Problem wasn't resolved but appears to be a false positive. Moving the gateway back to the primary internet connection with secondary backup.

27 December 2025 - 2029 hrs UTC - Hnting down an "offline" notification. CMS is running on the Starlink backup internet connection for debugging purposes. You can follow the thread here: https://groups.google.com/g/winlink-programs-group/c/ygsNllru4L4 .

17 December 2025- 2019 hrs UTC - Winlink password change resulted in the gateway stopping mid-day. Updating the password and re-launching the gateway resulted in Vara FM settings zeroed out. Odd bug, but uptime is the key here so I rebuilt the settings and restored gateway connectivity.

12 November 2025 - Post patch Tuesday updates and reboot, gateway sound card changed from SignaLink to onboard USB resulting in the inability to connect to the gateway via VHF 145.070. Corrected the sound card mapping and successfully sent a Winlink Wednesday Check-In message. If I had a dollar for every time Windows 11 broke something that was working fine...

08 November 2025 - Updated Windows 11 24H2 to 25H2

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Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc.

Winlink Global Radio Email®️ is an all-volunteer project of the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc. (ARSFI), a non-profit public benefit corporation with no beneficial owners.

Please give to ARSFI if you use Winlink radio email or correspond regularly with someone who does. By donating $25 each year you will do your part to improve this system and keep it running. Donations are tax-deductible by most US federal taxpayers. This is the best way to say "thank you" to Winlink volunteers! You can also purchase a registration key for your Winlink Express software. That's different than a donation! And is another way to contribute.

WANTED:

Software and Hardware Developers
The Winlink Development Team is looking for talented software and hardware developers who have expertise in Digital Signal Processing, embedded firmware, RTOS, VB, C#, C, C++, dot-Net Core, Python, JavaScript, OSX, iOS, Android, Open-Source Project Management, GitHub and AWS experience. We need PCB Designer, fabricator and supply chain expertise. We need developers who can move our programs to new platforms and environments, keep pace with internet mail and security standards, and to help innovate for the future. If you have volunteer time, are willing to help, work well with others and would like to join an accomplished team, please contact Mooneer Salem, K6AQ, and Tom Lafleur, KA6IQA.

The Winlink Development Team

The Winlink radio email system and software are built, maintained and supported entirely by volunteers.

Victor D. Poor, W5SSM (SK)
Rick Muething, KN6KB
Lee Inman, K0QED
Phil Sherrod, W4PHS
Steve Waterman, K4CJX
Scott Dakers, W7SGD
Tom Lafleur, KA6IQA
Lor Kutchins, W3QA
Ross Merlin, WA2WDT
Chris Steinhardt, KD9LF
Neil Hughes, VE1YZ
Scott Miller, K6SKM
Mike Burton, XE2/N6KZB (SK)
Jonathan Remba, XE1BRX
Greg Kruckewitt, KG6SJT
Mooneer Salem, K6AQ
Kevin Hedgepeth, NB7O
Tom Whiteside, N5TW
Gerhard Kmet, OE3ZK (SK)
Scott Currie, NS7C
Thomas Noel, KF7RSF
John Wiseman, G8BPQ
Van Malan, NH7IT

Contacts

See the SUPPORT main menu link above!

User Support (especially for account and password issues), and Gateway Sysops, tech support and help: Click this link, then click the appropriate link for the client program you use, or use this link:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/winlink-programs-group

Internet mail server adminstrators, mail server errors and internet routing issues: the Winlink Postmaster. USERS: Please do not look for user support here!

Official Business only, Winlink/ARSFI: Steve Waterman, K4CJX, Winlink Administrator

Outstanding Volunteers

The Winlink system is run entirely by volunteers. Those called Gateway Station Sysops, who support and run over a thousand stations around the world, are special. They are essential for providing the radio network that allows us to use Winlink radio email. Without them, there is no Winlink. If you use Winlink radio email, make sure to thank your sysops by sending them an email to their RMSCALLSIGN-at-winlink.org address.You can find their contact information by mousing over their call sign on the RMS List tab here.

Apart from the Gateway Station Sysops and Development Team, there are other volunteers that run e-mail groups and tutorials, manage user accounts, register software, update the network's assets and catalogs, test and debug products, provide training, and independently write software. They all work together to keep the Winlink system running smoothly. Thank you to all the hardworking volunteers, authors and developers who contribute to the Winlink system. Some are exceptional and deserve special praise:

Oliver Dully, K6OLI
Jim Price, KO6GM
Gordon Gibby, KX4Z
Jim Corenman, KE6RK
Georges Auberger, WH6AZ
Jose Alberto Nieto Ros, EA6HVK
Don Felgenhauer, K7BFL
David W. Barrow III, N9UNR (SK)
Bill Kuechler, N9ACQ
Bud Thompson, N0IA
Chris Mattia, W6AH
David Goldenberg, W0DHG
Dan Tomlinson, NR6V
David Ouellette, WB8MWG
Dan Midyett, KA4CAH

The Platinum Club
Original Volunteer Gateway Sysops on-air in 2000, and still on-air today!

Martin Spreng, HB9AK
Eric Simmons, KB6YNO
California Yacht Club Radio Amateur Group, K6CYC, and Eric Oistad, KF6DZT
Jerry Curry, KL7EDK
Joel Michello, KQ4ET
John Burke, W7BO
San Diego Yacht Club Amateur Radio Group, W6IM, and Rod McLennan, W6MWB
Bernie Zindell, WG3G
Neil Hughes, VE1YZ

Please say "thank you" with a donation to the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, a non-profit public-benefit corporation.

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