We had another Winlink session this week, with a concentration on P2P with packet.  P2P is peer-to-peer, sending messages directly from one Winlink client (i.e. Winlink Express) to another without going through an RMS or the CMS.  Five people brought their equipment this week, and we successfully accomplished P2P message transfers between three of them.

Next month we'll be playing catch up, trying to get everyone up and running with working Winlink accounts, getting RF working, and getting P2P working with both packet and VARA FM.  If you're planning to attend the Advanced Topics class next month, please plan to bring your radio(s), computer or other computing device, and an interface if required (some radio/computer combinations do not require an interface device).  If you need help figuring out what you need, let Jan (KD7ZWV) know or use the Contact Us form.

Our ultimate goal is to be able to haul our gear out into the wild and pass messages with Winlink.  To that end, we want everyone comfortable with the following:

• Winlink Account Creation
• Telnet Connections
• RF Connections to the CMS via an RMS
• RF Connections P2P with packet
• RF Connections (to RMS and P2P) with VARA
• Using Winlink Forms

Being comfortable doesn't mean you are ready to teach someone how to do it, but it does mean that you're able to get your own setup working.  You're encouraged to practice using Winlink often, send messages to each other, take your setup apart and put it back together, and understand the Winlink concepts.  If there are any of these you're uncomfortable with, come to the meeting in June and ask!

The fifth session of the Getting Started With Amateur Radio series, this session covers actually getting on the air... that includes things like finding frequencies, nets, repeaters, and other amateurs in your area, getting your radio set up, and the most dreaded first you will ever experience as an amateur radio operator:  pushing the PTT button for the first time!

Download the slides here:  Get On The AIR!

Or look at them right on the site below.

This week we continued our 2024 advanced topics program with a Winlink workshop.  Last month, we introduced Winlink and got people set up with the software, got Winlink accounts created, and made connections using "Telnet" protocol.  This month our focus was on getting people working with RF!  We had about ten folks show up with computers, radios, and interfaces and got most of them going on VHF, using both the Crossroads club's gateway (K7XRD-10) and West Valley City's gateway (N7WVC-10).

Next month we'll continue the process of getting everyone working on RF, and we'll experiment with P2P and other techniques.  If you're just getting started with Winlink, we'll help you get going from the ground up.  If you've had Winlink for a while but not used it much, we'll show you some things you can do.  If you're having trouble getting Winlink to work with your radio, bring it to the meeting and we'll help you get it running and working.

The fourth session of the Getting Started With Amateur Radio series, this session covers programming your radio.  We start with talking about various settings and configuration options, diving into detail on what each of the options are and why you would choose one setting over another.  We continue with a discussion of programming in frequencies (and where to find the frequencies to program in).  Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we got into the demos, so we'll continue this session next time, which will be April 4th, 2024.

We continued with a discussion of programming the radio's VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator) manually from the front panel and saving that information into a memory, then covered programming via software with the manufacturer's software, CHIRP, and RT Systems.

Here's the video from the second session:

Download the slide deck here:  Programming Your Radio

Or view the slides right now:

Jan (KD7ZWV) briefs us on Winlink, how the system works in both Conventional and Hybrid modes, P2P, and "Radio Only".  We finish with discussion of plans for our workshop next month and MARC's plans for Winlink in the future.

Download the slides here:  Let's Get Started With Winlink

Or view them on the site:

Dan (N7XDL) relates his experiences surviving a 7.5 and 7.4 earthquake in Chile and talks about what we should do to be ready to help ourselves, our neighbors, and our communities when the "Big One" hits Utah. MARC welcomed the Salt Lake Crossroads club, who joined us for the briefing.

Download the slides here:  What to Do When Disaster Strikes

Or view them right now:

Jan (KD7ZWV) introduced the MARC repeater and talked about the need to provide some type of wide area connectivity into the repeater for MARC members (and others).  He covers repeater linking, both RF and Internet based, and moves on to the solution that MARC is exploring, EchoLink.  EchoLink is introduced and we discuss how to get an EchoLink account, including getting your license validated. Finally, EchoLink configuration is covered.  Jeff (KL7KVG) continues with a discussion of the EchoLink for Android application and then talks about the EchoLink node that he has built as a proof of concept for the MARC repeater.  Finally, we observe a demo of the EchoLink software connecting to the MARC repeater using the node Jeff built, which was on display in the meeting room.

Slides are available here:  EchoLink and the MARC Repeater

Or view them immediately:

Additional notes:

1. This project is NOT complete... Jeff detailed a few things that we still want to do, including
   1. Registering N7MRY-R as an EchoLink node
   2. Installing the node at a location other than Jeff's dining room table
   3. Not hogging up Jeff's portable computer (dedicating some hardware to the node)
   4. Tweaking and adjusting parameters to improve the functionality of the node
   5. Configuring outbound connectivity from the node (i.e. DTMF control)
   6. and whatever else we think it needs to be a solid addition to MARC's repeater setup
2. We had some previous classes that covered repeater linking, including IRLP and EchoLink
   1. April 8th, 2021, Radio Linking via Internet IRLP and EchoLink
   2. October 14th, 2021, we had a joint meeting with the Taylorsville club on IRLP and EchoLink presented by Doug (AD7LO).  This meeting was carried on the Taylorsville Zoom and we were unable to record it.  I believe the slides are the same as recently presented to the Taylorsville club and can be found here:  Doug's IRLP and EchoLink Slide Deck
3. As mentioned during the meeting, our prototype is not online all of the time... Jeff will be facilitating experimentation with it by bringing the node up about an hour before our Sunday net and leaving it up for about an hour afterwards.  If you want to experiment with EchoLink and the MARC repeater, this will be an excellent opportunity for you to try it out.  Get the software installed, get your EchoLink account set up and validated, and be ready to try it out this Sunday beginning around 7:00 PM until about 9:30 PM.

The four of us from MARC who attended the UARC meeting tonight learned a lot about the "Farnsworth" .62 repeater.  Clint (KA7OEI), the repeater manager for UARC, started with a brief history of the .62 machine, including some unique aspects related to its installation at the Fox 13 transmitter site.  He then delved into ways to extend the coverage of a repeater by linking multiple repeaters together.  Of course, the best example of this in Utah is the Intermountain Intertie, a linked repeater system that covers most of the state, with branches into Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Arizona.  The drawback to such a system is that each repeater needs to be on a different frequency.  This led to a discussion of the .62's setup, with a master repeater on Farnsworth peak and a secondary repeater on Scott's.  These two repeaters operate on the same frequency, using only one frequency pair for extremely wide coverage.

UARC has posted the recording of the meeting on their Youtube channel, and I'll include it here.  If you're curious how this system works, check it out.  At the end of the presentation, there was also some discussion about direction finding and how to deal with abusive use of the amateur frequencies, which was also quite interesting and may be the subject of a future UARC talk.

The third session of the Getting Started With Amateur Radio series, this presentation covers equipment you will definitely need as an amateur radio operator, as well as some other equipment that you may want to have or have access to.

Download the slide deck here:  Equipment

Or review the slides right now: