K1CE for a Final: Experience Gained in March 11 Winlink Thursday Red Cross/ARES Exercise Ahead of May 8 Nationwide Exercise
I participated in the March 11 “Winlink Thursday” (WT#6) to gain some more experience with Winlink Express, its message and other form templates, attaching jpeg files to messages, and using the VARA HF high-speed (thanks to my purchase of the full-feature unlocking key) mode, to be prepared for the May 8 nationwide American Red Cross/ARES drill.
The objective for the March 11 WT was learning how to use and make the Winlink Express Check-in form a Favorite form for easy and quick access to it, and saving the data entered into the form for ease of loading the next time for quicker generation; and second, learning how to attach a jpg picture file to the Winlink message after resizing it to keep it under 25 kb, the limit for Winlink jpg files.
I found the single page of instructions provided by the organizers to be clear and easy-to-follow. It took me about 20 minutes to accomplish the above, and post the Check-in form message and attached jpg file to my Winlink Express outbox. The total size of the message file was a little over 26 kb. The packaged message was addressed to ARCSOUTHEAST – the American Red Cross Southeastern Divisional Clearinghouse for the Winlink Thursday sessions.
The next step was to send my message. I started my Winlink Express program, connected to my area’s 7 MHz Radio Mail Server (RMS), which had path reliability and quality predictors in the upper 90s. It took about 35 minutes to complete the message/photo transfer for an average data transfer rate of about 750 BPM. That rate seemed a bit slow to me, but the channel was busy, possibly with other stations trying to send their messages at the same time, and my signal-to-noise ratio was low, as indicated by the S/N meter on the VARA HF dashboard.
The point of this editorial is to encourage you to try these excellent Winlink learning exercises. I am not an especially gifted data mode operator, to say the least. In other words, if I can do it, you can do it! The next Winlink Thursday is April 8, and is the last one before the May 8 nationwide exercise. Get the complete information and instructions. The American Red Cross is a longtime, key ARRL served partner. It’s important to know how to operate the modes and systems that the Red Cross needs for emergency communications for its shelters and regional offices for when a major incident occurs.
Next month, get on Winlink Thursday for April 8, and be prepared for the big nationwide drill on May 8! It’s great training in using a premier data platform for public service, and it’s just plain fun! – K1CE
[The Spring Drill 2020 had more than a thousand participants from 40 states passing Red Cross traffic (ARC Red Cross Message Form 6409) over long distances with no internet, using Winlink. The Fall Drill 2020 took place in November, with more than 1500 participants from 47 states and Puerto Rico, Canada and Venezuela, passing ARC-213 forms for practice. For more information, organizers have established a groups.io mail list with 1600+ interested parties, regular weekly and monthly on-the-air digital training sessions, and a website. Join the drills and see what hams can do for the Red Cross in disasters when there is no internet, cell service or even electrical power.]
