Winlink Wednesday Net

Hello Operators.
One of the tools I’ve used for winlink practice is the weekly winlink net called winlink Wednesday. There are a few of them I enjoy checking in to.

The point of checking in to winlink Nets is a sort of passive means of keeping our skills up-to-date. The problem many of us face is sitting up our gear, setting up our software and computers, then never touching the equipment again until we need it. This will ultimately lead to failure. I tried to send out emails every day using winlink. I vary the gateway’s I use, the bands that use, and even the time of day to check. The one thing we don’t want to do is use a telnet connection to check into these winlink nets. This would completely defeat the purpose of the exercise!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CONKTUYDJqi/?igshid=1g3kdsvxclmq1

The first is out of Virginia. It’s called Winlink Wednesday. The details of it can be found at http://winlinkwednesday.net

The second is also another winlink net. It comes to us via North Texas. That one doesn’t have its website, but you can still find it here ( https://groups.io/g/WinlinkWednesdayNTX ).

Neither the Virginia winlink Wednesday mentioned above, or the North Texas winlink Wednesday requires you to be in either Virginia or Texas. Geographically, they’re open to everyone with an amateur radio license. The only caveat is check can’t be done with telnet. We need to send our check-in over the air. That means it needs to leave our stations over RF.

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Kentucky Winlink Net
Recently Dean K5MPG sent Information about the Kentucky winlink net. It isn’t certain yet, if this net is weekly or not, but I want to get it up here, so we can supportit. Deans email follows.

To: OH8STN
Source: K5MPG
Subject: Kentucky Winlink Net 1April, 2021

Good Day Marine!
In case you’re interested.. and, this is NOT an April Fool’s joke. Deano doesn’t roll like that :))

Session Type: Messages will be accepted via VARA P2P (frequency below) or may be posted to an RMS gateway of your choice and protocol for pickup.
P2P Frequency: Center Frequency 3.581 KHz USB, Dial Frequency 3579.5 KHz USB
Information Requested: All requested info should be submitted on a Winlink Check In form.
Winlink Check In form fields should be field out as follows:
Date/Time: Date and time of report
Status: NET
Band: HF Amateur if sending on HF, VHF if sending on a 2-meter frequency, UHF is sending on 70 centimeter frequency
Mode: Select mode you are sending. If using VARA pick either HF or FM depending on the band used. If sending Ardop select that. If sending via packet select packet.
Send To: AF4Y
Call Signs of Initial On-Site Operators: Leave Blank or your call
Sender: Your Callsign
Location: Your QTH, if EOC or Hospital please note
Decimal GPS Coordinates: Easily looked up using your address via https://www.itilog.com/
MGRS: Will auto populate once you put in GPS info
Grid: Will auto populate once you put in GPS info
Comments: Please answer the following questions. Last one is Trivia thought we could have some fun with our practice. Feel free to lookup the answers if you want, we are not keeping score and you may learn something new to you.
1) What County and State are you in?
2) Do you have a radio setup as go-kit or portable operations kit?
3) If you answered yes to #2 do you use a laptop or. Raspberry Pi to run you go-kit or portable station?
4) Which of the following musicians is/was NOT an amateur radio operator: Alice Cooper, Ronnie Milsap, Joe Walsh, Jim Croce

—
Roland D. Brown II
AF4Y

More on the Thursday Kentucky net https://oh8stn.org/blog/2021/04/22/kentucky-winlink-net/

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West Virginia

Another shared by Dean, coming from West Virginia.

Calling All Radio Amateurs!
Calling All Radio Amateurs!
I will hold the 36th installment of the West Virginia Winlink Net this Thursday, April 22nd from 00:00 to 23:59. I will take check ins all day at your convenience. Please make sure your check in follows the following format in the message body:
K4MIC, MIKE, SUGAR GROVE, PENDLETON, WV (VHF, HF, or P2P)
This week I will again conduct an evening HF VARA/ARDOP P2P session for anyone who wants to send me their check in directly. The session will be held on 3583 kHz (Center) 3581.5 kHz (Dial). From 6 to 7 I will be taking VARA P2P check ins, followed by ARDOP P2P check ins from 7 to 8. The VARA session will be full throttle, however the ARDOP session will be limited to 1000 kHz bandwidth to be respectful to the OLIVIA net that always shows up during the second hour. Please check the Facebook page for up to date frequency spotting if you can not connect. I will post updates to the West Virginia Winlink Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/994952394247448
Please feel free to share this announcement with your fellow Hams. If you have an email list, or a club social media page, or however you connect to your fellow Hams, share this information with them.
K4MIC NCS, MIKE, SUGAR GROVE, PENDLETON, WV

Great Lakes Winlink Net
VE3SKH sent over info on the Great Lakes Winlink net.

Hi Julian

Here is the info for the Great Lakes Area Winlink Net run and hosted by Ryan KB8RCR . I think its been up and running for 3 weeks now, so its still fairly new.

They are starting to encourage the use of the templates built into Winlink Express to test them out now, as long as they have the basic information needed for the check in. I’ve never used the templates before this time, but I will be experimenting with it now.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks and 73
Chris
VE3SKH/VE3FTA
see below…

GREAT LAKES AREA WINLINK NET
Purpose:
To help promote the use of Winlink and the various facets and functions of the program.

Eligibility:
Open primarily to those states that border any of the Great Lakes. Those states being
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York
and the Canadian province of Ontario. However, those wishing to check in from other
states or provinces anywhere are welcomed to participate. Open to anyone with a valid
ham radio license for the band you are sending your message out.

Net Check-In Process:
Send either a basic plain text message or use any of the forms templates available of your
choosing that will allow you to include the following line of text in the body of the
message or in some spot on the form you choose to send:
FIRST NAME, CALLSIGN, CITY, COUNTY, STATE, COUNTRY

An example of my checkin might be:
RYAN, KB8RCR, REMUS, MECOSTA, MICHIGAN, USA.

When to check in?:
Starting with Wednesday, March 10th, 2021, send your message any time during
Wednesday of that week using Winlink in any mode you have available. (i.e., traditional
RF or via Telnet for example.

Send your message to me at KB8RCR as the recipient on Winlink.
The net shall operate in the above described manner but subject to change as needed to
keep the net operational and efficient. Also, special event dates such as Field Day may
call for additional messages.

Thanks for your participation. Feel free to send messages about any suggestions or
comments.

Ryan KB8RCR

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These types of Winlink Nets are a valuable way to keep our skills fresh. They do not require much effort, but the practise can actually save a life one day. If you’d like more information on Winlink, here are some videos from myself and commsprepper.

73
Julian oh8stn