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MIRO EOC WINLINK System W7MIR@Winlink.org

V07 3/17/16

IN CASE OF AN INCIDENT OR DRILL: • Change AUTOCONNECT TIME to 15 minutes:

o Select WL2K Packet in the pulldown window o Left click Open Session o Left click Setup, autoconnect time, and select 15

min, Update and Exit o Remember to reset to 60 minutes when done.

• In case of an incident, try using WL2k Telnet first. If

successful it will be faster and avoid unnecessary radio traffic.

For assistance contact: David Giuliani, SYSOP

WA6PXX@winlink.org, David@Giuliani.org, 206-465-6852

Don Sandstrom, W7VXS W7VXS@winlink.org Don.Sandstrom@Mailaps.org 206-550-4148

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Overview

This station can send and receive e-mail messages via WINLINK, using “RMS Express1” software. The system transmits messages in two possible ways automatically:

• Conventional Internet – this is preferable if available.

• Packet radio – we have 2 Radio Message Servers (“RMS”) on Mercer Island, each with two frequencies. All use 1200 baud on-air data rates.

QTH Water Reservoir David WA6PXX near Luther Burbank Park

Internet Satellite + AT&T Comcast

Call sign W7MIR-10 WA6PXX-10

Operation 24x7 unattended 24x7 unattended

VHF 145.03 MHz 145.79 MHz

UHF 430.825 MHz 440.825 MHz

o If the RMS has Internet capability the messages will be sent

via Internet. o If no Internet is available, the message will be stored and

will be sent to the recipient who contacts the station by packet radio.

• Winmor – this is a HF messaging capability operating at 500 or 1600 baud. Current implementation requires an operator at the Winmor station. Two current Winmor stations are WA6PXX-10 (David Giuliani), and W7VXS-1 (Don Sandstrom). Messages can

1RMS stands for “Radio Messaging System”.

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be transferred from the packet RMS system to the WINMOR HF system for long distance communication, using an attending operator at WA6PXX or W7VXS.

Chapters:

1. Starting system page 4

2. Preparing messages to send page 5

3. Sending & receiving messages page 10

4. Reading messages page 12

5. Advanced information page 14

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1. Starting System

Turn on the computer if it is not already on

Power button is marked with white tape

Log in with password: EOCPASS

RMS Express starts automatically. If it doesn’t, start it by double left clicking

the icon:

RMS Express starts with a Home Screen. From here you can send e-mails and receive e-mails. Note the most commonly used areas of the Home Screen.

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2. Preparing messages to send

Without a template

Left click the Message button on the top bar. This brings up the New Message window.

Select the Destinations by clicking on TO, which brings up a contact list. Select Destinations one at time, and left click Add to Message. Left click Complete when done. You can also type addresses into the address line directly, separated by a semi-colon.

Enter the Subject and body of the message. You can also attach small files (less than 5k bytes recommended; which will take about 5 minutes to send). Then click “Post to Outbox” to prepare to queue to send.

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With the ICS-213 template

ICS-213 is the standard message format used in the Incident Command System. WINLINK supports ICS-213 formatted messages. Left click the Message button on the top bar. This brings up the New Message window. If your installation shows the “ICS 213 initial”, then click to start.

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If this button isn’t available, look under “Select Template” and choose “ICS-213_Two_Way_Initial.” A browser will open with a preformatted message form, and complete all non-optional fields; the Date/Time is automatically filled.

Use “tab” to move down the message fields, and “Shift+Tab” to move back up. Click “Submit” when done, and then return to the RMS Express window, which will now show the formatted message:

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Complete the “To:” and if appropriate, the “Cc:” fields, pulling down the selectable contacts if helpful. Then “Post to Outbox.” If the receiving station has the IC-213 templates installed, the received message will be displaced in a format on the browser. If not, the message will be shown as in-line text. With templates other than ICS-213 Open a new message, click Select Template and choose one of these three templates offered:

EMERGENCY PRIORITY ROUTINE

Edit the template to produce the desired message.

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Select the Destinations by clicking on TO, which brings up a contact list. Select Destinations one at time, and left click Add to Message. Left click Complete when done. Edit the body of the message to suit your needs. Posting When ready to send, left click Post to Outbox. The message will be sent with the next autoconnect cycle. If you want to send it immediately, go to Sending and Receiving messages, and connect. Click Close and you are back to the Home Screen. You can manage the outgoing messages by clicking Outbox.

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Sending messages to a Winlink station from the Internet

Messages should be addressed to station@Winlink.org, e.g. W7MIR@Winlink.org. The message line must also contain //WL2K to identify this as a Winlink message.

3. Sending and Receiving Messages To send messages in the Outbox, we first establish a pathway (regular Internet or radio), then connect by using the autoconnect cycle or activating manually. Establish a pathway. Find the Open Session area at the upper right side of the Home Screen:

Select the pathway that you will use for sending messages by pulling down the menu. The two that you will use are: • Telnet WL2K – uses regular Internet, so use this if you can. (For

drills we normally assume this mode isn’t available.) Left click Open Session, then Start on the dialog that opens. Left click Exit to close this dialog.

If this doesn’t succeed, then move to Packet below.

• Packet WL2K – uses packet radio to send the message to a

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WINLINK email server station (called “RMS Packet”).

Click Open Session. That brings up a dialog:

The default path is W7MIR-10, which is the water reservoir station. If this fails to function, then use WA6PXX-10, which is David’s house. If this fails, see “Advanced Information”. Connect. Press Start to begin the radio connection. That brings up another box:

You can watch the system connect, then receive and send messages. Normal completion is shown with a “Disconnect reported.”

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Left click Exit to close the packet session, which returns to Home Screen.

4. Reading Messages Any new messages will have a header showing on the Home Screen:

You can do several things to the selected message on this screen.

• Reply, Reply All, Acknowledge Receipt, or Forward using the icons at the upper left. An appropriate dialog box will open.

• Save or print the message. Make sure the printer power is on.

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• Delete the message by clicking Delete on the top line, or using the Delete key on the keyboard.

• Move message, for example to the “Saved Messages” folder.

You can also left click on a message to see its contents.

From here you can print, reply, or reply all.

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5. Advanced information Changing Packet frequency Use this information if you are unable to connect using the normal configuration. Use Channel Selection to open a dialog which shows RMS Packet stations at the time of last update.

If W7MIR-10 and WA6PXX-10 aren’t working, select an alternative station. W7EFR-10 is located on Cougar Mountain and is good choice.

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Change the radio frequency on the IC-2720H, right side. 4 channels have been programmed to the MIRO frequencies:

21 145.03 W7MIRO-10 (shown in picture below) 22 430.825 W7MIRO-10 23 145.79 WA6PXX-10 24 440.825 WA6PXX-10

Make sure the squelch is full CCW on the right side.

Normal configuration Computer – HP Stream 13 with Windows 8 Power setting: High performance, sleep disabled Laptop cover can be closed and computer remains active Radio – Icom IC-2720H Right band: 145.03 MHz, low power, no offset or tone Squelch: fully off (counter clockwise) Volume: doesn’t matter, leave it up to hear packet if you want Memory locations: see above TNC - TNC-X Computer port: 9600 baud Vt p-p = 2000mV

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RMS Express Setup Call sign: W7MIR Grid location: CN87VN Autoconnect time: 60 minutes when not in incident response or drill mode 15 minutes in incident response or drill mode Packet path: WA6PXX-9, 9600 baud Message path: Library / Documents / My documents / Winlink Messages Teamviewer – allows other computers to view and control this computer when attached to Internet This computer: MIRO-EOC-A Contact System operators if you need to use this facility: David Giuliani, WA6PXX, David@Giuliani.org, 206-232-0656 Don Sandstrom, W7VXS, Don.Sandstrom@mailaps.org, 206-550-4148 Change history V03 6/17/14

• Changed QTH to CV87VN • Removed team viewer codes and replaced with sysop

contacts • Added channel select screen • Changed CCMV to MICEC • Added templates and note about formatting incoming Winlink

messages

V07 3/17/16 • Updated hardware configuration (Computer, TNC-X) • Updated to newest RMS Express software (1.3.10) • Updated channel configuration