More About WinLink Express: A Look at Modems, Including the PXdragon DR-9400

Much of what we talk about in amateur radio centers around a “bad day” scenario. Whether it’s a natural disaster, infrastructure failure or political unrest, we extol the virtues of how amateur radio will save the day. As amateur radio operators, we like to boast about how we have redundancy in our power system and a contingency plan for almost every situation.

The problem is, many of us get tunnel vision and lock in on a single modality. The result: We miss out on a lot of other great ideas. I have said it before–I definitely have more than one wrench in my workshop toolbox. Why would you not have more than one tool in your emergency communications toolbox?

The tool we are going to talk about again today is WinLink Express. WinLink is an email client much like Outlook. It allows licensed amateur radio operators to send and receive emails via RF, HF/VHF/UHF rather than through a traditional internet service provider. This allows for transmission of information, forms, and even pictures via email when it would otherwise not be possible.

WinLink has a network around the world of amateur radio volunteers who operate “gateway stations.” These stations are the tie that binds your RF signal to the internet. Using the WinLink software, you format your message just like you would using your current email client and post your composed emails to your outbox. They are stored there until the next time you connect to a gateway station.

This next step is where the waters get a little muddy for some folks. In addition to WinLink software, you will need a modem to connect to the gateway station. When choosing a modem, you have the option of a hardware modem or a software modem.

I recently had the opportunity to test the PXdragon DR-9400 Modems from SCS. The DR-9400-BTWF PACTOR 4 Modem model comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built in. I had always used software modems, which we will discuss shortly. The DR-9400 was like going from DSL to Fiber internet.

My transmissions sent and received were 25-50% faster using the PACTOR 4 protocol and the hardware modem. The DR-9400 is backward compatible with PACTOR 1-3 as well. Even with those older protocols, the hardware modem made things considerably faster. WiMo and SCS are working with volunteer gateway station operators to make the new technology available to them. 

The majority of non-gateway station operators use software modems. There are several on the market. Most software modems have a free version and a paid version that offers upgraded speed capabilities. I mainly use Ardop, which is built into WinLink and Vara. Although they offer free versions, like WinLink, I am a strong believer that if something is working for you and you use it to your benefit, then the developer is entitled to a little compensation. After all, where would we be in amateur radio without the innovators working hard to develop and maintain products for us.

After you install your software modem(s), you set it up like any other “digital mode software.” You point the software to the appropriate COM port and set up your audio settings. If you are setting up your radio to talk to your computer for the first time, it is IMPERATIVE to install the manufacturer drivers for your radio on your computer BEFORE attaching the USB cable for the first time!

Once the modem and the radio are talking, you simply open a WinLink session on the appropriate modem. I know this is extremely simplified, but there are a ton of YouTube videos on this topic, and I want to focus on the importance of WinLink.

Now that the session is open, you simply choose one of the available gateway stations. WinLink updates the gateway station table when you log on if you have internet. The stations are listed in order of propagation from good to poor. It is as simple as choosing the gateway station and pressing start.

The software will call the gateway station and make the connection. Once connected it will send any messages in your outbox and retrieve any messages from your inbox. Once all messages have been sent and received, it will say goodbye and disconnect. Simple as that.

I must mention that WinLink software will do more than just send and receive emails. It contains a plethora of pre-programmed forms such as the National Incident Management System Incident Command System forms, Geospatial Information System forms, and on and on. The forms library is kept current and updated as you log into WinLink with an internet connection present.

You can choose the appropriate form being requested from your served agency, fill in the blanks based on the paper copy they have hopefully supplied you with, and post it to your outbox. The next time you connect to the gateway station, it will be transmitted to the agency you addressed it to, just like you emailed or faxed the paper form.

WinLink also has a Peer-to-Peer function. You and another party/agency can connect to your best matching gateway station and have an “instant message” type of conversation. And again, this can all be done outside of any local infrastructure.

I strongly encourage you to look into adding WinLink to your arsenal. But it is not enough to install it and carry on as normal. You need to practice. There are WinLink nets that meet weekly or monthly. Practice during your state’s Simulated Emergency Test as well.

As you think about stocking your EmComm toolbox, please carefully consider WinLink Express as one of those tools.

Until next time when we’ll look at NBEMS, 73 de AC8OW

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