Winlink Fundamentals

A Guide for the Potential New Winlink User

The increasing number of requests for guidance from potential new Winlink Users has made it necessary to issue this Press Release. It provides some guidelines that will assist potential new Users with the decision whether to proceed or not and, if so, how to set up the hardware and software and become operational. Much of the information presented is available in more detail from the Winlink and Airmail Help Menus.

It is not clear why the sudden spurt in interest in Winlink in Australia arose; however, it may well have been that Australian hams have been sitting on the sidelines pending some official pronouncement about the status of Winlink in Australia. As it happened, the World Radiocommunications Conference has just issued new regulations that significantly liberalized international amateur radio operations. These have once-and-for-all cleared up the situation, in fact, WRC has encouraged national regulators to amend their regulations making it possible for radio amateurs to prepare for providing emergency radio communications. This is exactly one of the main features of Winlink - digital communications that can be used locally and internationally.

To reduce the demand for individual responses to the many questions put forward via support@aussiewinlink.org, the attached interim guidelines have been hurriedly put together. It is anticipated that these will require clarification as readers start to test the guidelines and respond to the procedures. When a pattern of questions emerges and the demand is in excess of that can reasonably be coped with by the Winlink and Airmail Administrators, AussieWinlink will give consideration to opening a "Questions and Answers" page on its website.

In the meantime, potential Winlink Users are urged to read again the Homepage to see if Winlink is for them and, if so, they are encouraged to read the attached Guidelines. They are presented in PDF format. Those who are in a hurry will be offered shortly a brief summary.

AussieWinlink
25 August, 2003

Copyright © 2002-2008 AussieWinlink. Material may be quoted with acknowledgement of its source. Last modified: September 28, 2008