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Winlink in Unusual PlacesOr maybe not!At first glance it might appear unusual to find a Winlink User on the mighty Amazon River in South America but than, that is not really so. It's exactly those people that are in extremely remote locations, and who do not have access to other forms of reliable communication facilities, that are served by Winlink. One such person is Phil Gonzales (HK3SA). He captains the "Amazon Queen" in the upper reaches of the Amazon River in Colombia. He is as real an adventurer as you'll ever find among the more than 4,000 Winlink Users. Phil was still slugging it out with the now superceded Pactor I communications protocol. However, even those hidden in faraway jungles eventually learn that Pactor II and, preferably, Pactor III are the best options that are on the market today. To upgrade, Phil had to find a telephone because even the best of email communications are not always conducive to solving complex technical questions that need to be discussed personally. After having found a telephone Phil called Steve (K4CJX), the Winlink Administrator, in the attempt to fine-tune his Pactor I modem. Phil saw the light and ordered the SCS Pactor III modem at Farallon (at www.farallon.us). Quoted below is part of his email thanking Steve and Gary Woods of Farallon Electronics for the advice and assistance received: QUOTE From: Phillip R Gonzales I have been working with the Pactor I mode down here in Colombia on the Amazon. You may remember me, I called you from Colombia about a month ago regarding settings for Pactor I. I have had great success in actually getting out small 16kb pictures from my ship the "Amazon Queen". But as you said that mode is HISTORY. With respect to the newer Pactor II & III , I took your advice and ordered the Pactor III from Gary at Farallon Electronics. Nice fellow. Wanted to thank you and all the other guys for helping out with the mail boxes and the great advice.I do have a question, however. How do I download a new updated frequency list? I accidentally erased all my frequencies when trying to add information from (the old) to the (new) updates. Do I have to download the entire program again and go through all the settings? I hope not. Regards, Phil, HK3SA, Captain of the Amazon QueenUNQUOTE Below are a few pictures that Phil had attached to his
email message that he had sent via Winlink.
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Amazon Queen, with Yagi Antenna, on the Amazon River, Columbia 
