Yavapai County ARES/RACES and the Winlink System
Yavapai County ARES/RACES has chosen to implement the Winlink System (see www.winlink.org) on 2 Meters and 70 cm as a digital communications system to support our served agencies, in particular, the Yavapai County Office of Emergency Management. We are deploying Winlink VARA/packet gateways and repeaters throughout the county and on mountain top locations. Our long term goal is to have Internet email access from most locations in the county, whether or not the Internet is actually available in the county. Although we coordinate closely with Coconino County ARES (1 gateway is located in Flagstaff and 1 VARA/packet gateway is located on Bill Williams Mt.), no adjacent counties have chosen to implement a VHF VARA/packet Winlink System.
The recommended user software is Winlink Express, which is maintained by the Winlink Development Team (WDT) and therefore works seamlessly with the Winlink System. It is a free download at http://www.winlink.org/WinlinkExpress. It will automatically update itself when new versions are released and it supports VARA and ARDOP as sound card modes and most terminal node controllers (TNC)s that are available today. It includes an email program that will be recognized by any email user. It can also be used in a peer-to-peer (P2P) mode to send email directly from one station to another, bypassing the Internet.
Our gateways are using RMS Packet and RMS Relay software, both of which are maintained by the WDT. Our gateways are located at municipal facilities (where we hope the Internet is more likely to be available during an incident), on mountain tops and some gateways are maintained at their homes by local amateur radio operators, in order to provide maximum flexibility during an emergency. We will continue to deploy additional mountain top repeaters and gateways as facilities become available in order to improve digital communications coverage in the county.
All our gateways have enabled VARA FM, a higher speed mode written by EA5HVK. VARA requires a sound card interface at both ends of the connection. VARA can only handle 1 hop of digipeating.
Yavapai County ARES/RACES also recommends its members become proficient with the use of Winlink on HF. The primary modes should be VARA or ARDOP, which are both supported within Winlink Express. The simplest implementation requires an external sound card interface (e. g. Digital Radio Adapter, Signalink, Rigblaster, several MFJ products or a generic sound card) between your computer and HF radio. HF, within the Winlink System, will provide email Internet access across the country and around the world, if the Internet is not available in northern Arizona.
Soundcard Packet
VHF packet can be generated in 2 ways. Traditionally we have used a TNC between the radio and the computer. An alternate (and better) method uses a sound card – typically an external device as mentioned above. A sound card is a particularly good choice if your radio supports both HF and VHF and has 1 data port (e.g. FT897, FT857, or others) or if your radio has a built in sound card (e.g. modern Icom radios). With separate VHF and HF radios, you will need 2 sound cards or you will have to switch the sound card between the radios. Follow the sound card device level setup instructions on HF (e.g. for VARA), then don’t change them for VHF. Here is a link to the detailed instructions written by our own W6CCD – UZ7HO SoundModem Installation. These instructions assume that you are starting from the default settings when the software is downloaded. If you had a working version and it suddenly doesn’t work, Windows may have changed some settings for you. We recommend removing the old version, downloading a new version and then following the instructions. If you need additional assistance with setting levels at VHF, try this link – Quick Setup Guide for VHF/UHF written by K6OLI and NS7C.
Packet Resources in Northern Arizona
Operational Notes: Remember to allow the gateway or gateway/digipeater combination to completely disconnect before stopping a Winlink Express session.
VARA can be used when connecting directly to a gateway with VARA enabled, in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) session or with 1 hop through a digipeater.
There are many hills and mountains in northern Arizona. This may cause multi-path interference at the gateway or digipeater, particularly if you are using an omni-directional antenna. If you are positive you have a clear path to the gateway and cannot connect, multi-path is a likely problem. If you are in a portable location, try moving your antenna. At your home station, try installing a directional antenna.
During an incident or an exercise, do not use a working gateway as a digipeater unless you must use it to make a Peer-to-Peer connection. Also during an incident or an exercise, use VARA whenever possible. Note that 145.71 MHz provides access between the Verde Valley and Wickenburg.
Winlink Gateways
|
Callsign |
Frequency
(MHz) |
VARA
Enabled? |
Location |
| K7YCA-8 | 145.710 | Yes | Mt. Union |
| K7YCA-9 | 145.030 | Yes | Bill Williams Mt. |
| K7YCA-10 | 145.050 | Yes | Mingus Tanks in Prescott |
| K7YCA-11 | 145.010 | Yes | West of Prescott at N7CW |
| K7YCA-12 | 145.050 | Yes | Prescott Valley Police Department |
| K7YCA-14 | 145.010 | Yes | Mingus Mt. |
| N0DAJ-10 | 145.710 | Yes | Wickenburg at N0DAJ |
| N0DAJ-11 | 145.010 | Yes (narrow) | Wickenburg at N0DAJ |
| N0DAJ-12 | 441.300 | No | Wickenburg at N0DAJ |
| NL7FQ-10 | 145.710 | Yes | Cornville at NL7FQ |
| W7LUX-10 | 145.010 | No | South of Flagstaff at W7LUX |
| KE7EJF-10 | 145.710 | No | Central Phoenix at KE7EJF |
| N2UEM-10 | 145.710 | No | North Phoenix at KG7ARL |
For the absolute latest data, check the Channel Selection in the Session Window of Winlink Express. The VARA Session Window contains VARA-enabled gateways and the Packet Session Window contains packet gateways.
Digital Repeaters
|
Callsign |
Frequency
(MHz) |
Location |
| K7YCA-5 | 145.010 | Mt. Union( gateway with digipeater function) |
| K7YCA-8 | 145.710 | Mt. Union (gateway with digipeater function) |
| K7YCA-9 | 145.030 | Bill Williams Mt. (gateway with digipeater function) |
| K7YCA-10 | 145.050 | Mingus Tanks in Prescott (gateway with digipeater function) |
| K7YCA-11 | 145.010 | West of Prescott at N7CW (gateway with digipeater function) |
| K7YCA-12 | 145.050 | Prescott Valley Police Department (gateway with digipeater function) |
| K7YCA-14 | 145.010 | Mingus Mt. (gateway with digipeater function) |
| N0DAJ-10 | 145.710 | Wickenburg at N0DAJ (gateway with digipeater function) |
| N0DAJ-11 | 145.010 | Wickenburg at N0DAJ (gateway with digipeater function) |
| NL7FQ-10 | 145.710 | Cornville at NL7FQ (gateway with digipeater function) |
| NL7FQ-12 | 145.710 | Squaw Peak |
| W7MOT-6 | 145.710 | White Tanks |
| W7MOT-8 | 145.010 | Mt. Elden |
Gateway Connection Suggestions
REMINDER – 2-step connections only work with packet. At this time, VARA only works through one repeater. All Yavapai County ARES/RACES gateways work with both VARA and packet.
All the gateways can be connected to directly. There are currently no digipeaters to access K7YCA-9.
K7YCA-8 can be accessed through W7MOT-6 on the White Tanks or NL7FQ-12 on Squaw Peak. Examples of 2-step connections are:
NL7FQ-10 first, then through NL7FQ-12.
N0DAJ-10 first, then through W6MOT-6
K7YCA-10 can be accessed through K7YCA-12 at the Prescott Valley Police Department.
K7YCA-11 can be accessed through K7YCA-14 on Mingus Mt., W7MOT-8 on Mt. Elden or K7YCA-5 on Mt. Union. Examples of 2-step connections are:
K7YCA-14 first, then through W7MOT-8.
K7YCA-14 first, then through K7YCA-5.
W7MOT-8 first, then through K7YCA-14.
W7MOT-8 first, then through K7YCA-5.
K7YCA-5 first, then through K7YCA-14.
K7YCA-5 first, then through W7MOT-8.
N0DAJ-11 first, then through K7YCA-5.
K7YCA-12 can be accessed through the K7YCA-10 on Mingus Tanks.
K7YCA-14 can be accessed through K7YCA-5 on Mt. Union, K7YCA-11 in Prescott or W7MOT-8 on Mt. Elden. Examples of 2-step connections are:
K7YCA-5 first, then through K7YCA-11.
K7YCA-5 first, then through W7MOT-8.
K7YCA-11 first, then through K7YCA-5.
K7YCA-11 first, then through W7MOT-8.
W7MOT-8 first, then through K7YCA-5.
W7MOT-8 first, then through K7YCA-11.
N0DJA-11 first, then through K7YCA-5.
N0DAJ-10 can be accessed through W7MOT-6 on the White Tanks or K7YCA-8 on Mt. Union. Examples of 2-step connections are:
NL7FQ-12 first, then through K7YCA-8.
N0DAJ-11 can be accessed through K7YCA-5 on Mt. Union. Examples of 2-step connections are:
W7MOT-8 first, then through K7YCA-5.
K7YCA-11 first, then through K7YCA-5.
K7YCA-14 first, then through K7YCA-5.
W7LUX-10 can be accessed through the W7MOT-8 node on Mt. Elden. Examples of 2-step connections are:
K7YCA-5 first, then through W7MOT-8.
K7YCA-11 first, then through W7MOT-8.
K7YCA-14 first, then through W7MOT-8.
KE7EJF-10 can be accessed through W7MOT-6 on the White Tanks. A 2-step connection can be used through K7YCA-8 on Mt. Union first, then connect to W7MOT-6.
NL7FQ-10 can be accessed through NL7FQ-12 on Squaw Peak.
This is not a comprehensive list – there are more gateways popping up around northern Arizona. Check the Channel Selection in the Winlink Express Session Window.