The goal of Iowa ARES® Winlink Weekend 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.

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 or Sunday, 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 WEEKEND, 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 or Sunday, 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 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.

September 21-22, 2024

EXERCISE, EXERCISE

After reporting on Ham Radio at the local school we will relax with a basic check-in this week.
Start a new message and select Standard Templates > GENERAL Forms > Winlink Check-in.

In COMMENTS:, enter your
call sign, first name, city or town, county, state, mode (Winlink HF, VARA FM, VHF packet, etc.)
Save a copy for later if you wish, review your message, then click Submit and set "Subject:" to "Iowa Winlink Weekend".

RMS submission

In the message composition window, make sure "Send As:" is set to Winlink Message.
Check "Request message receipt" if you wish a confirmation message.
Set "To:" to WB0GAG. Add any others you would like to receive the message.
Set "Subject:" to Iowa Winlink Saturday.

When you are satisfied with the message, click "Post to Outbox".

Send as normal. If you have no radio capability yet, use telnet.

Peer-to-Peer submission

In the message composition window, make sure "Send As:" is set to Peer-to-Peer Message.
Check "Request message receipt" if you wish a confirmation message.
Set "To:" to N7BBI.
Set "Subject:" to Iowa Winlink Saturday.

When you are satisfied with the message, click "Post to Outbox".

VARA HF P2P

Set Open Session" to Vara HF P2P.
Open a session between 7:00AM and 9:00AM, Central Time Saturday.
Send to N7BBI, dial frequency 7090, bandwidth 500.

VARA FM P2P

Set Open Session" to Vara FM P2P.
Open a session between 9:00AM and11:00AM, Central Time Saturday.
Send to N7BBI, dial frequency 145.73.

VHF Packet P2P

Set Open Session" to Packet P2P.
Open a session between 11:00AM and 1:00PM, Central Time Saturday.
Send to N7BBI, dial frequency 145.73.

When you are satisfied with the message, click "Post to Outbox".

Send as normal.

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

• Railroad derailment - Hazardous Material Spills
• Flash floods
• Plane crashes
• Hill slides
• Tornados
• Earthquakes
• Search and Rescue operations
• Marathon and parade communications