Frequently Asked Questions - 100 Winlink 2000 -- General

A720 The CMS may be seeing the message coming not from your email address, but from “----blackberry.com”. You need to Setup your real email account on the Blackberry and delete the blackberry.com account.

Go to www.blackberry.com and search for your email support from your provider. You can also delete a signature line there.

A720 The CMS may be seeing the message coming not from your email address, but from “----blackberry.com”. You need to Setup your real email account on the Blackberry and delete the blackberry.com account.

Go to www.blackberry.com and search for your email support from your provider. You can also delete a signature line there.

Yes. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Airmail2000.

A108 The license class only limits the frequencies on which you can transmit, not whether you can use Winlink email. You can hold a Technician license, be limited to VHF and above frequencies and use WL2K. But you would be limited to 50-100 mile distances. For most work at sea, with practical 100-7,000 mile ranges, you will need a General or Amateur Extra class amateur radio license (in the USA), which provide privileges on the radio bands that support distant communications.

A675 New e-mail addresses are automatically added to your Whitelist when the CMS receives the message from you, independent of which user program you are using. The list can also be changed by:
A) If you are connected to the Winlink 2000 web page:
1) WebMail….User Settings
2) Add or Delete specific addresses and/or domains to either the Whitelist or the Blacklist.
3) Hit the Save button

B) Create a new message [the following is an example] to the CMS with the following format (not case sensitive):

To: System
Subject: Whitelist
LIST will return a list of all Whitelist and Blacklist entries for the user.

ACCEPT: jblow@somewhere.com will allow messages from jblow@somewhere.com to be accepted. You may send multiple lines, each containing one e-mail address.

Reject: jblow@somewhere.com will reject any messages from jblow@somewhere.com. You may send multiple lines, each containing one e-mail address.

Delete: jblow@somewhere.com will remove jblow@somewhere.com from the user's Whitelist. You may send multiple lines, each containing one e-mail address.

ACCEPT: arrl.net will allow all messages from xxxxxx@arrl.net to be accepted

REJECT: Verizon.com will reject all messages from xxxxxx@verizon.com

IMPORTANT NOTE: Domain Entries without the "@" will be treated as "domain names" only. For example if "Accept: sailmail.com" were entered, then ANY message from that "domain name" (sailmail.com) would be accepted.

Send the message

A955 First please try and remember we have been doing this WL2K project about 9 years so we have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t. RMS is not an experiment; it is the natural evolution of what we have learned and optimized over the past 9 years. The RMS concept grew out our experience with PMBOs, central servers and from the successful Telpac effort for packet--hundreds of which have been installed and operated for over 7 years.

The only time an RMS captures or buffers any message will be if it has lost internet connectivity and it has the optional RMS Relay module installed and enabled. (This Module is still being written but the design is functionally complete). RMS relay does have the optional capability to bridge mission critical prioritized messages from local packet users via HF Pactor in the case of no internet connectivity. This allows emergency long haul traffic out of any locally isolated (orphaned) RMS that has Pactor capability. Normally this bridging function would only be enabled during emergency situations due to the limited available bandwidth on HF compared to VHF/UHF. Even if HF bridging does not take place, when connectivity returns buffered messages will flow out to the CMSs and waiting messages for the RMS users will flow in to be available on an RF connection.

A951 The first thing you have to remember about server loading is the bandwidth of a radio channel (packet or pactor) is VERY slow compared to internet bandwidth. Each of the CMSs have at least one T1 connection (1.5 megabits/sec). Most have multiple. Each T1 line would handle roughly 200 simultaneous 9600 baud packet channels running at max throughput. Or something like 1000 Pactor channels. In practice these servers are set up to allow 1000 simultaneous connections but we have rarely seen them go above 20 or so. There are currently four CMSs with distributed DNS servers world wide. All RMS sites now cache actual dotted CMS IP addresses so they don’t require any DNS service. All RMSs automatically rotate through all available CMSs if a connection can’t be made to the initial CMS. If a CMS ever becomes saturated it simply will reject new connections and slow down the throughput to those connected to it. However based on the typical speeds of radio links most users would never even see this throttling.

Each CMS has a firewall and a mechanism of capturing connect attempts and these along with some additional mechanisms can be used to block most Denial of service types of attacks. It might be worth noting that we have had a Central server mechanism used in WL2K for over 9 years and have never had a successful Denial of service attack. Since going to redundant CMSs about 4 years ago we have had virtually 100% availability of the system…even during major disasters such as Katrina, The Tsunami, etc., and hardware/internet failures at a CMS.

A7080 Yes, it can be used with the Paclink MP software and Airmail using setups for Telnet connections with PMBOs, RMS/RMS Relay and CMS. Another way is to use Paclink MP as a POP/SMTP server in a high-speed D-Star LAN. D-Star users with DD mode can connect directly to the Paclink MP server using their e-mail client software with tactical e-mail addresses. With good design of the local high-speed network, extremely efficient and fast radio e-mail service can be expected.

A2545 That depends on your definition of "robot" and "automatic". RMS Pactor Stations have their transceivers and TNC's controlled by the station computer. They are usually "unattended" by their Control Operator. Transmissions will begin ONLY after the receiver detects being called by another station AND in the moments before the call the frequency was deemed to be “not occupied” by the RMS Pactor Station (this is a new feature). Loss of a satisfactory receive signal will time out the transmitter and Disconnect with the other station.

Possible modes and frequencies are enabled by software, abiding to goverment regulations. The list of scanned frequencies may change, depending on time-of-day. Get the RMS Pactor Station Frequency List from ZS5S for the latest information (see Q2560).

A950 Certainly!

ARRL (ARES/RACES) – General FAQ concerning Winlink 2000
http://www.laarrl.org/ARESFAQ1.htm

Chester County (PA) ARES/RACES – W3EOC Radio Email Exercises
http://www.w3eoc.org/RadioEmail/#top

Harris County (Texas) ARES/RACES – WL2K Resource Page
http://harriscountyares.org/resources/digital/dist_14_dig.htm

AE5V – WL2K Implementation
http://home.earthlink.net/~bscottmd/wl2k_implement.htm

K4SET - The Winlink 2000 Network, Amateur Radio, and How It Could Help Your Work
http://radioministries.org/winlink.htm

N0IA – Tuning Packet Parameters for Best Performance
http://home.earthlink.net/~k7bfl/TuningVHFPacket.pdf

N7CW, KI5DR, VE3GFW – A Winlink 2000 Training Session
http://www.joppe.net/dares/Winlink%202000%20Training%20Session.ppt

SV2AGW – A discussion about packet TNC’s built into radios
http://home.earthlink.net/~k7bfl/TascoModem.pdf

Icom – D Star Specifications
http://www.aesham.com/display_pages/d-star.pdf

ARRL Lab (KC1SX) – Comparative Performance of Packet Radios at 9600 baud
http://home.earthlink.net/~k7bfl/RadioCompare.pdf

The “Pactor Primer” and “RF Interference”; two excellent articles written by Jim
Corenman, KE6RK; author of the AirMail software:
http://www.airmail2000.com/docs.htm

AirMail Installation and Setup Instructions – W5IFQ
http://www.ke5exx.com/pdf/AirMail_HOWTO.pdf

AirMail Setup Instructions – San Diego ARES
http://www.sdgares.net/2%20AirMailSetup%20R3.pdf

WL2K Information Resource pages:
http://www.activeham.com/winlink/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Florida Amateur Digital Communication Association
http://www.fadca.org/

Each Wednesday night on the W8FSM EchoLink server at 8:00 PM EST, (7 PM Central,
etc.) there is a group that meets to discuss WL2K and related topics.

A930 Yes! Several things will be happening, which will improve the system. See the paper "Winlink 2000 Roadmap”, written by two members of the WL2K Development Team.

A920

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wl2kemcomm/
Purpose of the group is to share ideas, uses, methods and procedures of utilizing Winlink 2000 for Disaster Recovery/Emergency Preparedness; and to include any other organization/agency that deploys or is considering deploying Winlink 2000 for emergency communications.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/airmail2000/
A general purpose list for things like: Beginner questions on setting up, tips on using and connecting to the WinLink2000 system, frequency updates, WinLink 2000 station status and new station additions are all welcome on this list.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mars_wl2k/
This Yahoo group is for the use of Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System) members interested in the establishment and use of Winlink 2000 network technology. It is not an official forum. Messages posted here, unless otherwise noted, are the opinions of the poster. Do not discuss matters such as specific frequencies or channel designators on this Group. This group is for technical assistance to WL2K users and sysops, NOT for arguments of whether we should/shouldn't run Winlink.

There are also several limited-membership discussion groups for the purpose of coordinating sysop functions and beta testing software in development.

A900 Winlink 2000 (WL2K) is (and always has been) all volunteer. No one is compensated for their contributions of time which now [2007] totals well over 20 man-years. We try to offset at least some of the costs of running servers, registering internet addresses and domains, licensing software etc with donations.

In 2006 we set up a not-for-profit public service corporation to handle the finances and contributions from the distributions of CDs and also as a vehicle to accept donations of equipment and services (e.g. retired commercial servers etc). This corporation is called the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation Inc. (ARSFI) see http://www.arsfi.org/ The directors of the ARSFI are the founders and developers of WL2K and no director receives any compensation. We are in the process of obtaining Public Charity status 501(c )3 for this corporation but that is a time consuming process and it is not guaranteed we will be granted this status. The ARSFI is the mechanism we use to pay for the expenses of WL2K and to purchase what licenses, hardware and new development tools and software are required. It is also a mechanism to provide training for Emcomm groups and distribute information about WL2K and Amateur Radio Emergency services in general.

Interested parties or those wishing to contribute to the operation of WL2K can do so in one of a few ways. These mechanisms can all be reached via the ARSFI web site above.

• Join the ARSFI ($10/year). Your membership gives you a vote into how the
  organization is run and what it does. The contribution goes to the ARSFI and some of that is used to support Winlink 2000.

• Make a cash donation through the ARSFI. Both Pay Pal and Secure Credit Card
  mechanism are available on the ARSFI.org web site. We request that personal donations be limited to $100.

• Purchase one of the CDs which we make available throughout the year to various
  boater, RV, and EMComm groups. These have convenient up-to-date software and other
  useful information. A nominal $15 donation is suggested to cover duplicating and mailing costs. If you would like a CD configured to target a particular group or service please contact one of the directors and provide us information on what your target audience is.

• Make a donation of equipment or services to the ARSFI. This can be in the form of retired but otherwise useable servers, radio equipment, software, facilities or services (e.g. legal, accounting, engineering, programming or documentation help) To make a donation of equipment of services please contact one of the directors of ARSFI.
• Donations of cash or check are also appreciated and should be sent to:

  ARSF Inc.
  c/o Rick Muething, KN6KB
  6143 Anchor Lane
  Rockledge, Florida USA 32955

  Make checks payable to ARSF Inc. or Amateur Radio Safety Foundation Inc.

Your support of Winlink and the ARSFI is much appreciated.

Rick Muething, KN6KB
Director, Treasurer Amateur Radio Safety Foundation
Winlink 2000 Development Team

A690 Yes, if you will be giving a Winlink demonstration, it would be good to turn the Whitelist OFF, prior to the demo. Many email users, including some that you may send messages to during the demo, do not have identical email addresses for their incoming and outgoing email. A Reply from one of these persons will bounce from your Whitelist.

Another important case would be if you are participating in an EmComm exercise. You never know which e-mail addresses will be sending you mail. You do not want them to bounce if they aren't in your whitelist.

If you haven't used your Winlink address for more than 400 days (or have never used it), but suddenly want to use it and receive incoming email from any email address, send your first message to SYSTEM with a Subject of OPTIONS and a message body of Whitelist: OFF. See Q670.

A670
A) If you are an AirMail user: Options Message (created with AirMail) Update and Send.

B) If you are a Paclink MP user, and you are connected to the internet:
1) After starting the Paclink MP software: File…Site Properties…
2) Put a “check” in the “Use Whitelist” and “Whitelist Notice” boxes if you want these turned On.
3) Select the “Update” box.

C) If you are a Paclink MP user, and you are not connected to the internet; or you are a Paclink AGW user:
1) Create a new message to the CMS in the following format (not case sensitive):
To: System
Subject: Options
Whitelist: On [or Off, True, False, No, Yes]
Whitelist Notice: On [or Off, True, False, No, Yes]
2) Send the message

D) If you are connected to the Winlink 2000 web page:
1) WebMail….User Settings
2) Change and Save your new Settings.

A630 Messages incoming to WL2K users are filtered, using high level methods, by the Central Message Server (CMS). Winlink 2000 uses the information from SPAMCOP. It also requires a reverse DNS lookup. Each server IP address must return a PTR-record that matches the HELO or ELHO command received from that server and it must have an A-record that matches the host name shown in the HELO or ELHO command. If such a record exists, then it has entry to the Whitelist system.

In addition, individual WL2K users have the ability to use a “Whitelist”. “Whitelist” is the default method for new users. Your choice may be changed at any time. If you decide to not use your Whitelist, you will get a lot of Spam. It is recommended that all users turn their Whitelist “ON”.

As of September 2007 WL2K is no longer using a Spam Filter with a “Threshold”. Ignore references to a Spam Threshold in the AirMail software.

A620 Yes, go to the Webmail page and login. Then …User Profile.

A610 This can be done via the Winlink WebMail page after you log in. The limit is in bytes.

The Attachments limit can also be changed by sending an “Options” message to the
Common Message Servers with the AirMail program. See Q670. Go to: Message Index….Window…Winlink-2000….Options Message

[Note: The Attachment Limit filter is not used by a PMBO station when downloading to a WL2K user directly (without using a Telpac Winlink Gateway) via the Telnet method.]

A600 The TNC’s made by SCS contain a LOT of technology. Discounts are available from Farallon Electronics for qualified users. See:
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ek7bfl/SCSDiscount.pdf

A590 Yes, Winlink still has value, even in this very unlikely scenario. In an event as you described, each PMBO or RMS equipped with RMS Relay stores messages received from users before sending them to the Common Message Servers. Therefore, each PMBO or RMS would act as a “Hub” for Winlink users who can access that station by radio. If N3ABC and K3KK can both access RMS K4CJX via radio, then they can exchange emails by using their normal Winlink email addresses. If it is a PMBO they are connecting to, they cannot send or receive an internet e-mail from someone like mother@earthlink.net. When a path to the CMS is restored all stored messages will flow to and from the PMBO stations.

However, given the more likely scenario that the internet is gone only across a large region--even a whole continent--, and if it is an RMS with RMS Relay they are connecting to, their messages are forwarded by radio to another RMS that does have connectivity to the CMS. Local messages, as well as those bound for internet destinations outside the WL2K system, are delivered.

PMBO stations are being phased out in favor of RMS.

A560 That particular transaction is not allowed by the Winlink 2000 system.

A500 Attributes of Winlink User Software

A480 Third-party traffic is any traffic transmitted over the Amateur bands that is either from or to a non-amateur. In the Western Hemisphere (with a few exceptions) there is no restriction on third-party traffic being passed over amateur radio. Many countries outside of the Western Hemisphere also now permit third-party traffic over amateur radio.

Messages between amateurs even if they originate or are delivered over Internet are not considered third-party traffic. Third-party traffic only deals with that portion which is transmitted over the radio spectrum. Since there is no limitation on third-party traffic over Internet itself, messages passed between WL2K participating stations, or a participating station and the Internet are not
restricted. Only when the message involves a non-amateur and is passed over a radio
link is the issue a concern. For example: if a message originates in the U.K. on Internet but is delivered to a U.S. amateur over the radio from a U.S.-based station no third-party rule is broken even though the U.K. does not allow third-party traffic over amateur channels. Likewise, a message originating over the radio from a U.S. amateur and passed to a U.S. station is legal even if it is addressed to the Internet address of a nonamateur in the U.K.

Users must make themselves familiar with these third-party rules for the country in which they are operating as well as linking with if they are exchanging messages with nonamateurs. See the country list for countries known to permit third-party traffic for U.S. stations and their reciprocals.

A460 Yes, smaller messages are downloaded before larger messages.

A440 1. WL2K web page….WebMail (Attachments are not supported)
http://www.winlink.org/webmail [Note: You must have accessed the WL2K system by
radio or “Telnet” at least once after November 13, 2006 to enable this method of
accessing your mail. Your default password for WebMail is your callsign.

2. Internet connection….Telnet…AirMail or Paclink AGW or Paclink MP

3. Radio….packet…..AirMail or Paclink AGW or Paclink MP

4. Radio… packet….Keyboard Access (Attachments are not supported)

5. Radio…pactor…AirMail or Paclink MP

6. Radio…D-Star…Paclink AGW or Paclink MP

A400 All except .exe and .zip. Attachments are not available when accessing with the Winlink WebMail page or when using the Keyboard method.

A380 The WL2K outbound e-mail (SMTP) client will try and send your outbound mail directly (no relays) to the end recipient 10 times over a period of 5 hours. If it still fails (in this case because it appears the recipient's ISP is not accepting or blocking the connection) it gives up and sends a failure notice to the originator.

Most of the time these failures are due to:
(a) Improperly listed public MX record for the destination domain
(b) Some form of spam or other filtering mechanism used by the ISP
(c) The server is off line or otherwise down. If multiple servers for a
domain are available (as listed in the MX records) all are tried.

A370 Yes. From the WL2K web page go to …Reports …..CMS Status
http://www.winlink.org/CMSStatus

A360 Message size maximum, including Attachments: 120000 bytes (compressed)
[If a message exceeds the absolute compressed size limit, a service message will be sent to the sender advising that the message has not been accepted. There is no message number limit or overall byte limit.]

Attachment name size maximum: 50 characters (including extension)

Message Routing (retention period) from the CMS to a PMBO, for a particular Winlink
user address: 90 days

Life of an Unread message: 21 days

Registration period for a Winlink user: 400 days since last access via radio or Telnet

Life of a Tactical Email Address: 400 days since last use

Life of an email address in your Whitelist: 400 days since you last sent a message to that address.

Tactical address name length: Current Tactical addresses are limited to 12 characters total (including any "-") preceding the "@winlink.org". See Q7030.

User daily time limit for HF users is defaulted to 30 minutes. The PMBO operator may change that default, or customize it for different modes (pactor 1, pactor 2, pactor 3) and different users. If you have specific larger needs, email your request to the PMBO or RMS operator (pmbocallsign@winlink.org). There are no User daily time limits associated with a RMS packet gateway or Telnet.

A340 If you have access to the web, go to the WL2K web page….Maps….User Positions…
http://www.winlink.org/userPositions

Click on the dot of the approximate position of the station you are looking for.

Click again on “View Position Reports” to see all of the recent reports from that station.

If you do not have access to the web, and are using AirMail, send a “Position Request” message via Message Index….Window….Winlink-2000….Position Request.

A320 It either be embedded in the body of the message, or attached to the message.
AirMail can be used to send and receive NTS radiograms via the NTSD system, by
accessing the NTSD “Area Hub” pactor stations. See the instructions by AE5V at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~bscottmd/airmail_ntsd.htm Also see Q6100.

A300 No, it is not compatible. The Winlink 2000 system is an off-spring of Winlink 2.9 (Winlink Classic). AirMail is similar to Winlink 2.9, but has MANY differences. A major difference is the message routing process. Winlink 2000 does not support “H-routing”. Winlink 2000 is centered on the SMTP email standard.

Winlink 2.9 was written by Victor D. Poor, W5SMM, who has continued to write software
for Winlink 2000. You can read more about the history of Winlink at:
http://www.winlink.org/node/1

AirMail can be used to send and receive NTS radiograms via the NTSD system, by
accessing the NTSD “Area Hub” pactor stations. See the instructions by AE5V at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~bscottmd/airmail_ntsd.htm

A280 What you're seeing is a BBS forwarding exchange where the two connected systems propose transmission of messages they have available for the other user, and list which messages they wish to receive of those proposed.

For documentation of the basic F6FBB BBS proposal exchange, see:
http://www.f6fbb.org/protocole.html

For a documentation on the B2F (FC proposal) enhancements implemented by WL2K software, see: http://www.winlink.org/B2F

WL2K uses the standard FBB protocol with a B2 extension. B2 is simply a specific mechanism for encapsulating a message which allows adding attachments, addressing multiple recipients, and mixing radio and email (internet) recipients. Otherwise it is virtually identical to the FBB B1 protocol and it uses the exact same LZW compression algorithm as FBB B1. The B2 protocol (http://www.winlink.org/B2F) was developed in 1999 by the Winlink Development Team to be an efficient mechanism to move text and binary attachments using the FBB forwarding protocol. The FBB protocol and B2 is more efficient than the standard internet SMTP protocol in RF applications such as Packet or Pactor.

A260 The on-air content looks that way because it is a compressed binary format called “B2F.” This format is available to anyone and is not proprietary. The compressed data is not considered encryption for the purposes of concealing content or illegal for radio amateurs. Additional information about B2F is at:
http://www.winlink.org/B2F

Data transferred through Winlink 2000 is not considered to be secure. Data transferred through Winlink 2000 using the Keyboard method is not compressed, therefore it is readable by monitoring operators.

A240 Tests done early in the development process indicated that the B2F format we use
resulted in higher throughput than using the TCP protocol, which has much unnecessary
overhead for radio use.

On the other hand, for all other links that do not involve HF and VHF/UHF radio, we use TCP/IP. The system's building blocks nicely intercommunicate over Ethernet. These design decisions are responsible for the great synergy Winlink 2000 gets from the best of both radio and TCP/IP links.

A220 Yes, but since Windows operating systems are used by the majority of actual and potential users, we feel our limited man-power resources should be used to improve the present Windows based software.

There is a version of the Telpac Gateway software that runs under Linux and
several have used this to add Packet gateways to WL2K...again this is a server function and not user access. See Q9100.

Several starts on Linux user software have been abandoned by their third party authors.

You can use AirMail which runs on a Mac using the Windows emulation, such as Soft
Windows or Parallels. This may be a bit sluggish, depending on the speed of your computer, but will work. AirMail also runs fine on a Mac under Virtual-PC. The only wrinkle has to do with USB/serial adapters not AirMail, either map the serial port from the Mac side OR enable VPC's USB support and install the Windows USB drivers. But don't do both, that ties the serial ports into knots.

You can also run AirMail under WINE on Linux.

If you mean as a WL2K PMBO or RMS station the answer is no; those are only Windows .NET programs running on Win 2000 or Win XP. Perhaps someday there will be a .NET runtime for the Mac which would make things a lot more transferable.

As a last resort you can access WL2K via any dumb terminal program on packet in
keyboard mode. This is not recommended...it is error prone, does not allow attachments, etc; but it will work in an emergency. HF access via keyboard is very restricted due to its inherent inefficiency.

The Winlink Development Team is open to other user programs that operate using other operating systems. If you are or know a good Mac programmer we will encourage him and help him if he would like to write a Native Mac client. If you have such programming expertise and want to donate your time, please contact the
System Administrator, K4CJX.

A200 Principles include:
1. A message system compatible with SMTP e-mail.

2. Enable messages to be transferred to the destination party in a VERY accurate
manner, within a short time duration (several minutes).

3. Enable use of the available internet infrastructure, if available.

4. Encourage use of VHF/UHF/SHF radio spectrum, if an internet path is not available.

5. Enable EFFICIENT use of HF radio spectrum, if VHF/UHF is not available or suitable to the path. Use as small as possible “RF Footprint”. See http://home.earthlink.net/~k7bfl/RF_Footprints.pdf

A180 The message is immediately deleted from the PMBO you are connected to. The PMBO notifies the CMS that the message has been delivered. The cancelling of messages at other PMBOs in your Routing Table may take up to 10 minutes depending on loading and PMBO polling cycles. If you connect to another PMBO before that time it will try and PROPOSE the message again but AirMail or Paclink AGW should always reject it as having already been received. This is not that uncommon.

If you connect to another PMBO using a different computer or installation of Paclink AGW or AirMail or do a completely clean re-install of those programs then of course the duplicate blocking feature is lost since there is no longer any record of MIDs (Winlink message identifier) received. In other words, if you connect and retrieve a message from your favorite PMBO “A” with AirMail and then connect to favorite PMBO “B” with Paclink AGW there will be no duplicate message blocking possible since the two programs are not communicating the MIDs received between themselves.

In the case of RMS stations used for contact, a delivered message is marked delivered immediately at the CMS and will not be proposed again, no matter which RMS you connect to.

A170 Due to the much slower transfer speeds of most common radio paths (compared to dial-up, etc.) it is better if messages are kept as small as practical, while still accomplishing the communications objectives of both users. Following are approximate air times needed to transfer a 4K message (after compression) for several modes of operation, under ideal conditions:

Packet (1200) direct ->2 minutes
Packet (1200) 1 Node ->2.5 minutes
Packet (9600) direct ->1 minute
Pactor 1 ->30 minutes
Pactor 2 ->10 minutes
Pactor 3 ->1 minute
Telnet (D-Star, HSMM, Internet) ->seconds

Messages containing “emoticons” and “backgrounds” contain embedded image files and should be avoided, if possible. These images can be stripped from your incoming messages by setting your account Attachment Limit to 0. However all other “useful”
Attachments will be stripped also!

Winlink 2000 (except when using Keyboard or WebMail Access) will process Attachments of many file types. Some file types comes with significant “overhead”. This overhead can be reduced by changing the file to a txt, rtf, or csv file, if appropriate. Image files should be as small as practical!

A160 The CMS consists of four different computer systems in four widely-separated physical locations. In 2008 these were San Diego, Washington DC, Halifax, and Perth. They are backing each other up on a continuous basis. If a failure occurs at one location, PMBO’s and RMS stations will be transparently re-directed to one of the other locations.

A150 No guarantees, but if one of your intended recipients is NOT a Winlink user (has a non-Winlink domain in the address), you will get a service message from the CMS telling you of that problem. Assuming that you have addressed the message correctly, there are still a multitude of reasons why the intended person might not get the message; or got it and has not read it. The Winlink system is good, but not infallible; ditto for the rest of the internet infrastructure.

Some e-mail servers’ spam filters are very aggressive. Some may reject email
originating or from a server located in specific countries. It is the responsibility of the message originator to verify that the message path is working – ALL THE WAY to the recipient of the message. This is no different than using any e-mail service.

A145 Yes, if fact you can have multiple Winlink addresses, such as K3ABC@winlink.org and K3ABC-3@winlink.org. The system should treat those two call signs as separate users. There are some areas of confusion that need to be discussed.

1) If you are registered in the system as callsign and then connect as callsign-ssid, if THAT –ssid registered in the system as a separate user it will treat you as a separate user. There are some specific reasons for this having to do with PMBO’s etc.

2) If you connect with a –ssid and THAT –ssid is NOT registered in the system it treats you as the BASE call sign …no ssid.

3) If you connect through a packet network or some switches (packet nodes) that ALTER your –ssid then this can pose a problem. Paclink MP (and its predecessor Paclink AGW) has an extended feature added (signified by the N in the SID) that tells the target PMBO/RMS what your real –ssid is even if the packet network altered it in the connecting process.

If you want your Paclink MP software to really operate as K3ABC and not as K3ABC-3, then simply change the call sign in the site properties. You will also have to change any accounts on your e-mail client (Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Outlook etc.) to match the new base call sign. See Q3560

A140 It may be because you have not used that PMBO is the past 90 days. If this is the case, just connect again in a few minutes. The message should be there waiting for you.

If you are using AirMail (HF) or Telnet (Internet Access) to a PMBO, you should also note on your connection log how many minutes have elapsed since the PMBO has connected to one of the Common Message Servers. If that duration is greater than 15 minutes, the PMBO may be having a problem communicating with the CMS; use another PMBO.

Also, the mail may be waiting for you at the PMBO, but the PMBO sees you as
Usercallsign-15, caused by your going through a packet node (using either Airmail or a terminal (keyboarding) program). See Q145. If that is the case, and you are using
Airmail, you might try connecting to the packet node as Usercallsign-1. Somehow, the WL2K database has you with two email accounts. You can request the System Administrator to delete Usercallsign-15@winlink.org, and your “node problem” will go away!

If you connect to an RMS station, the database you are connected to is the CMS. If there is no message for you, there really is no message for you!

A135 90 days after you last used that PMBO. Routes are not required if you contact an RMS station.

A130 Winlink 2000 has changed it's topology in 2008. It formerly used dynamic routing where a routing table was maintained for each user, by the Common Message Servers (CMS). It contained a list of all of the PMBO stations that you assessed in the past 90 days. A copy of all e-mail for yourcall@winlink.org was sent to each of the PMBO’s in your routing table, shortly after the message arrives at the CMS. After you successfully downloaded a particular message, that message was deleted at each PMBO in your routing table. The message was marked delivered at the CMS.

With RMS Pactor and RMS packet software in place of PMBOs, there is no routing required. When a contact with an RMS station occurs, a real-time connection with the CMS database occurs, where all messages are stored. No matter which station you contact, your messages are instantly and always available. No more waiting for a PMBO to sync its database with the CMS.

A125 In February 2008 there were exactly 19,503 registered stations with unique callsigns... and growing!

A120 “Registration” is automatically done when you connect to the Winlink system via radio or via a telnet session. Webmail browser access does NOT automatically register a new user. Neither does registration on this web site. Your User information will remain in the database for 400 days after your last interaction with the Common Message Server via radio or telnet. User radio privileges are spot-checked by volunteer Winlink station operators. Use of the Webmail browser access does not “update” the 400 day limit; this must be done by connecting by radio to a PMBO or RMS station or connecting directly to the CMS via telnet.

A115 No. Its original purpose was to provide a very long range radio path for radio amateurs who did not have access to “land-line” communications needed to send and receive e-mail messages. Subsequent uses have been oriented toward providing partial backup of e-mail services for ARES/RACES and MARS “served agencies” during a local commercial communications outage or communications overload. Transfer speeds and available bandwidth do not allow for complete replacement of internet e-mail services. This may change with increased use of D-Star, satellite, and other high-speed RF paths to Winlink 2000 stations where the internet is working.

A107 “RMS” is a Radio Message Server. It is a direct radio port or gateway to a CMS site. Early in 2008 software relating to PMBO and Telpac will be replaced by software relating to RMS. PMBO software will be replaced by RMS Pactor software. Telpac software will be replaced by RMS Packet software. A benefit to WL2K users of these changes is a reduction in the “latency” of messages, as they move between the user and the Common Message Server (CMS). See Q4010.

This FAQ file will be updated as the new software is rolled out. See Q930.

A104 PMBO means "Public Mailbox." This is a radio station which functions as a port to the rest of the Winlink system. A PMBO can be an amateur radio station, or operate on government or military frequencies, such as MARS stations. It is a “bridge” between user radio stations and the email part of the internet, using HF Pactor and/or VHF/UHF packet radio with a telnet server for connections over the internet or by high-speed data radios, like HSMM (High-Speed Multimedia) or D-Star. Winlink PMBO software is depricated in 2008 in favor of RMS Packet and RMS Pactor software with sysop utilities.

A102 Not yet! But there is a short “Winlink made Simple” publication available at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~k7bfl/tfctools.html

Bud Thompson, (N0IA) has written an online course “WL2K For Dummies” for those who
have not yet installed the various client (end-user) programs for using the Winlink 2000 system. See: http://www.winlink.org/node/23

This Group is specifically designed for those who have not yet installed the various client (end-user) programs for using the Winlink 2000 system. There is no TNC, data terminal, or radio required for this on-line course. When there is sufficient interest, this group may expand to details of wiring computer-TNC-radio for using the Winlink 2000 client software components over the air.

The first thing to do is go to the "FILES" section of this group, and look for E-Mail
Assignments. Start working on the assignments at your own pace, and use the facilities of this Yahoo Reflector group to obtain assistance.