Winlink 2000 A Digital Communications System with support for P2P, intranet, and internet & File exchange via Amateur Radio

CMS HalifaxCMS San DiegoCMS Perth WL2K System Overview Internet CMS BrentwoodCMS Wien World wide COMMON MESSAGE SERVERS (CMS) Synchronized and Redundant – one or two required - five available Think of these guys as Net Control

CMS Halifax CMS San Diego CMS Perth Internet CMS BrentwoodCMS Wien Situation normal – direct access via the web Using RMS Express – Outpost or other compatible message client Normal Server

CMS Halifax CMS San Diego CMS Perth Internet CMS BrentwoodCMS Wien Situation normal or ECOM – direct access via RF LINK Regularly used by Maritime & RV Using RMS Express – Outpost or other compatible message client No commercial traffic on Amateur Freqs. – watch third party overseas! HF or VHF Maritime Marine

Radio Data Interface Radio Data Interface CMS ANY or all of them HF or VHF RMS Special Software Layer VHF (packet) or HF (Pactor or Winmor) The last mile! Your Normal Server

Radio Data Interface Radio Data Interface CMS ANY or all of them HF or VHF NORMAL INTERNET Agency System (LAN) County EMC Red Cross or Hospital Emergency situation where this link Replaces downed internet link RMS Special Software Layer The last mile! Your Normal Server

Radio Data Interface HF or VHF Radio Data Interface PEER TO PEER (P2P) JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DIGITAL MODE Normally Not keyboard to keyboard

What Is Needed to Use the System Computer with RMS EXPRESS or compatable client To Access an RMS VHF Packet Gateway (Local) VHF/UHF Radio Packet Terminal Node Controller (TNC) hardware or Software. Audio and PTT (or CAT) interface {Rascal, Signal Link or HB} Within full quieting range of Packet RMS Station – (listed at

What Is Needed to Use the System To Access an RMS HF Gateway (Worldwide) Computer with RMS EXPRESS or compatible client software. HF Transceiver (stable) – for fully automated system you will need CAT interface and propagation predicting software on the control computer. Terminal Node Controller TNC (sometimes called a modem) Hardware or Software (Pactor or Winmor compatible) Audio and PTT (or CAT) interface {Rascal, Signal Link or HB}

Winlink 2000 Today by the numbers Over 99% system availability since Nov, Full-time, Redundant, Mirror image, Common Message Servers (CMS) in Halifax, San Diego, Washington DC, Perth, and Vienna all in hardened sites, providing excellent reliability, worldwide. (Wash DC is DHS sponsored, Halifax is Canadian Sponsored) 600+ total Radio Message Servers, worldwide, in 3 major Service Classes: Public, EmComm, Amateur, and Government (MARS controlled) maintaining separate operations. Approximately 13,000 Radio users communicating with over 100,000 recipients, pushing an average of 150,000 messages or 280,000 minutes, monthly, with an average duration of 3.4 Minutes at 3,600 bytes/per message. The average time from message origination to availability for delivery is less than 1 minute, regardless of distance. The greatest growth is now in Emergency Communications preparedness. (Not all Amateur Radio)

Traditional role of Amateur Radio in ECOM: Support – Incident Command, Search, Report health and welfare of affected public Voice communications among served agencies (EOC's, hospitals, shelters, and incident command.) Site tactical and rescue, damage and storm reporting (SKYWARN). “Formal,” - limited written emergency traffic handling – RTTY at best.

Why Winlink? Our traditional methods fail to meet needs for complex message handling in today’s agency environment! Since the advent of –Need for delivering written procedures, lists, graphics, images, and Pre-defined, formatted, documents to multiple recipients! –Multiple recipient with binary attachments is the de facto standard to carry written information. –Hand-written message forms are seldom used, and are not transparent to normal operations! For complex messages, voice, Morse code, Radiograms, and traditional Packet radio won’t do… –Way too slow, translation required, inflexible, prone to error, no permanent record, not self-originating, not point-to- multipoint. –Doesn’t go end-to-end from user-to-user on their own computers in their own offices & no attachments and no automatic distribution..

“ Written documents impose their own kind of discipline ” Albert Einstein Moving into the 21 st Century “I can’t work without a blackboard!”