Online Winlink Training This Saturday

Stuck at home? Well, this Saturday at 9:00 AM we will be offering an online training on how to set up and use Winlink for Windows.  The training will go no longer the 2 hours and will cover account creation and basic Winlink usage.  A more advanced training will be scheduled following this session.  The link to the meeting will be posted on our website 30 minutes prior to the meeting start time.  It will be helpful if you have Winlink installed on your computer prior to this session.  You can download it here: https://downloads.winlink.org/User%20Programs/Winlink_Express_install_1-5-27-0.zip.

If you have any questions post them here.

Thanks,

Mat
K2MJM

Winlink Wednesday. Something a bit different

This Winlink Wednesday will be a little different and will probably stress out the infrastructure a bit, which is a good thing.  This week, we will have you take a picture of something spring like and send it in.  A picture you say?  Well, yes you can send pictures, although it will need to be resized a bit.  The Windows Winlink client can help you with this.  What you will do is fill out a Winlink Check-In form like you normally do and then attach a picture to that same message.  Watch this video on how to attach a picture and resize it properly.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=886P6ygHm00&list=PL-7mirT-kjfs84FQzLr-qv066Kl94rtYM&index=20&t=0s.  Make sure your picture size is no larger then 50 kb if at all possible. (It took me about 8 min to send 50 kb at 1200 baud, 5 min at 9600 baud.)

You can view my test picture here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KyeK7bb_NgWxRwkV4CQ_Mo9jRU-pLKyj

I look forward to seeing all of your pictures!

As always, if you need more information regarding Winlink Wednesday, go here:  https://www.wvcarc.com/p/winlink-wednesday.html.
Thanks,

Mat
K2MJM

WVCARC Great Shake Out Drill Results

We had a successful drill Saturday.  We started at 10:00 AM and completed the drill at 11:20 AM.  We had operators check in from 39 schools and 6 fire stations.  12 operators did the check-ins and my daughter and I ran Net Control for a total of 14 operators.  We ran Net Control from the church at 4333 S 6400 W on solar and battery power.  Most operators were assigned 3 - 4 locations and the majority of the operators checked in via voice.  We did have two operators who checked in over packet Winlink which helped lighten the load on the repeater.  I think this was the best drill yet.  It is always good to set goals for the next time we do this.  I would like to have more operators able to check in by Winlink, as well as have more operators participate next year.

A special thanks for those operators who participated.  It sounded like everyone had an enjoyable time.  Let me know your thoughts on the drill.

Mat

K2MJM

2020 West Valley City Drill Assignments Posted

You can find your assignments for this Saturday here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Pe0jdDLtTSTACrXZI-regkC7YXFWG8L1QYGj8tAxFis/edit?usp=sharing

I had to make a few adjustments, as some schools had multiple operators assigned to them.  I tried to keep each operators schools somewhat close to each other.  I will be starting the NET at 10:00 AM.  We will be using our repeater, 448.800 Mhz, negative offset, 100 Hz tone.  Please wait for instructions before checking in.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding your assignment please let me know.  If there are other operators who would like to participate and have not yet signed up please email me at mat.murdock@wvcarc.com.

Thank you again for your willingness to help out with this drill.

Mat
K2MJM

Shake Your Hobbit Hole - Utah Great Shake Out NET

The Great Utah Shake Out is Today, Thursday, April 16th.  WVCARC will be holding a quick NET at 10:00 AM on our normal repeater which is 448.800 Mhz, negative offset, 100 Hz tone.  This is always an interesting NET as people are generally at a different location then our normal Thursday Night NET.


Mat Murdock
K2MJM

April 18th Drill Information

This April 18th we have the opportunity to participate once again in a Salt Lake Valley wide drill.  The goal is to have Amateur radio operators check in from each and every elementary school and Fire Station in our city limits.  We are expanding the drill again to allow check-ins via Winlink Packet.  This will be a challenging task as there are 29+ schools and 6 Fire Stations.  This is the third year we have done this drill, the past two years we have been successful.

Before the drill we will make assignments largely based on what elementary school you choose on the Operator Panel.  You can select schools in addition to your fire stations, so stop reading and go do that now.  :)  This needs to be completed by Thursday night we we can get the assignments posted Friday.
.
Please also fill out his form so we know who all will be able to participate.



At 10:00 AM we will start voice check-ins and share final drill check-ins at that time.  You can check-in two different ways, the first is by voice utilizing our repeater frequency, 448.80 Mhz.  The second is by Winlink packet.   Please utilize one of the three packet frequencies which can be found on our website.  You will send check ins to K2WVC and use the ICS-213 form.  Based on where people check in, we may make additional assignments for operators to go and check in from another school.  We need to complete this drill by 11:00 AM.  Because you will not need to make physical contact with anyone this drill will satisfy current advisories.  We will NOT meet together after the drill as we have done in the past.

This is a simple drill, however it does allow us to it will show us and the city what we are capable of doing.  So for now the assignment for each of you is to get on the Operator Portal and get select your school.  If you have any additional questions let me know.

Mat
K2MJM