June 11, 2021 Honolulu -- Michael Miller KH6ML and Joe Speroni AH0A report a very successful King Kamehameha Day celebration and K6K Special event operation. Aloha and Big MAHALO to all the volunteers that made K6K a huge success! The results were grand and allowed operators worldwide to contact K6K stations.

2937 QSO’s
6 Continents
61 Countries
49 States (only VT Missing)
40 volunteers, 1497 Grids (6), 18 Hours
2129 Unique Calls
55 P2P Winlink messages received from 20 stations (OH was the DX)

Successful radio contacts are eligible to receive a special inscribed certificate bearing the full-color rendition of K6K: King Kamehameha Celebration.

For many, it was their first time to contact Hawaii over the Radio. If you contacted our Special Event Station, look up your call sign on the following link and print your own certificate:

https://sites.google.com/view/k6khawaii

Kainoa Danes, chairman of the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission said:

“I understand this served as a dual-purpose event of being part of the 149th Celebration and also giving local trained amateur radio volunteers a chance showcase their talents in our remote location of the Hawaiian Islands to communicate around the world.” He added, "It was fascinating to learn about Winlink radio email with no internet needed. It’s nice to know they can be called on in times of crisis or disaster.”

For more info: https://sites.google.com/view/k6khawaii

Gainesville, FL-- The amateur radio communications team of the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief has created a multi-site radio communications exercise designed to bring together volunteers and local authority agencies across northern Florida and beyond, for two hours in the evening of Friday March 19, 2021. Invitations to Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES(R)) volunteer groups, county-level emergency managers, state communications experts, and volunteers in a federal radio system have been widely disseminated, including national coverage by the ARRL.

During exercise Whirlwind Boom, volunteers will practice transmitting formal reports about the utility, water, and safety situations in their county, all sent out of simulated disaster areas supposedly struck by a swarm of tornadoes and then worsened by a terrorist bombing of a telephone system, without using cell phones, landlines, or the Internet – only radio transmitters and receivers. Many of the particpants will make communications across hundreds of miles from portable radio gear powered by car batteries or small generators, often using the WINLINK data system, and also using anything else that works -- voice, PSK31, etc.

Direct To The Public Service: As part of the two-hour exercise, simulated survivor messages outbound to friends and family will also be transmitted by WINLINK.

The intensity grows as groups receive secret instructions from exercise management advising them of unexpected handicaps that mimic what happens during disasters – and their tasks become even more complicated. Flexibility and ingenuity rise to the top at such moments in these exercises, which are structured in accordance with Department of Homeland Security training guidelines.

Contact:
Gordon L. Gibby MD, [email protected], (352) 246 6183

For additional information:
https://www.qsl.net/nf4rc/whirlwindboom.pdf

Hi all,

I was thinking there might be a demand for setting up chess games between members of the Winlink community, so I've set up a site for it!

http://AsciiChess.com is a place for Winlink users to find a game of chess with other members. If you visit the site you'll see a fairly straightforward set of instructions - just specify your skill level (beginner, intermediate or advanced), and your call sign and you'll be matched with an available member of your same skill level. Since I'm not sure yet how much demand there might be for this, it's pretty rudimentary, but I expect to update the site if it seems popular.

Thanks for your interest and looking forward to seeing some chess match ups at Winlink - if this proves particularly interesting to people maybe I'll even be able to set up some kind of tournament at some point!

Best,
Dan Turman, KL5MN