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Iowa ARES® Winlink Saturday
Coordinated by Muscatine County ARES®
Everyone is welcome to join in!

Home Winlink Monday Winlink Saturday Results

The goal of Iowa ARES® Winlink Saturday is learning and practicing the use of the Winlink programs to prepare for their use with the agencies we intend to serve, as well as supporting ARES® itself.

ARRL IA SET 3-23-24

We will be practicing the various message forms we can expect to be asked to use.

Messages are to be sent any time on Saturday, Central Time.

Specifics for Check-in weeks:
Use the basic Winlink Check In template which is in Standard Templates, in both GENERAL and MAPPING-GIS forms.
Enter WINLINK SATURDAY, using the Setup button.
In Comments: call sign, first name, city or town, county, state, mode (Winlink HF, VARA FM, VHF packet, etc.)
Example: WB0GAG, Bruce, Muscatine, Muscatine, IA, VARA HF
Fill in the remaining entries as you wish, but make your location data accurate "enough".
You can save your data for reuse with the Save Check In Data button.
If you don't want to include your own phone number, use (any area code)-555-0121, which is not in use anywhere in North America.
Click the Submit button and follow the prompts.
Send any time Saturday, preferably by radio (RMS), although you can use Telnet if you are just starting or can't get a radio connection.
Eastern Iowa and Illinois are on 145.610 MHz, packet Winlink. We are working to extend deeper into Iowa.
Send to IAWINLINKSAT or WB0GAG. Check the exercise scenario for any additional addresses.
Peer to Peer (P2P) volunteers are welcome and don't need to be available for the whole time. Notify WBØGAG of the hours, band and mode you want so it can be added to the web site.

March 30, 2024

EXERCISE, EXERCISE

This week, we will recover from the ARRL IA Simulated Emergency Test.

Part of the preparation for SET is becoming familiar with the RRI ICS-213 Radiogram. This is the recommended form for ham-to-ham messages, as they easily flow into the National Traffic System and are efficient.

Click "Message"then click the dropped down "New Message". A window will open for composing your message.

Select the RRI ICS-213 Radiogram message template: click "Select Template", then "Standard Templates" then "RADIOGRAM & RRI Forms", finally the RRI ICS-213 Radiogram.

The RRI ICS-213 Radiogram is based on the ARRL Radiograms and adapted to international needs. Take note of the Radio Relay International Numbered Radiogram Texts. These replaced the ARL numbered Radiogram texts.

If Number is filled in, leave is is.
Precedence stays R (Routine)
Handling Instructions stay NONE.
Station Of Origin should already be your callsign.
Check (here and below) will update automatically as you type your message.
Place of Origin: put in your city, county and state.
Time and Date: click the format (UTC or Local), then make any needed changes to the time or date.
Fill in the requested information in the next sections.

Write a message including at least one Numbered Radiogram Text.
The format for an RRI text is "RRI" then the number spelled out.
Include EXERCISE, EXERCISE at the start of your message, and, below that,
your call sign, first name, city or town, county, state, mode (Winlink HF, VARA FM, VHF packet, etc.)
Before submitting, go back to the top of the form and insert "RRC" before the number in "Check"!

Submit and send as normal. If you have no radio capability yet, continue with telnet.

Specific suggestions are welcome, especially incident scenarios and which forms to use. Planned scenarios include: