Winlink

Worldwide radio email messaging system that uses amateur band radio frequencies

Winlink, or formally, Winlink Global Radio Email (registered US Service Mark), also known as the Winlink 2000 Network, is a worldwide radio messaging system that uses amateur band radio frequencies and government frequencies to provide radio interconnection services that include email with attachments, position reporting, weather bulletins, emergency and relief communications, and message relay. The system is built and administered by volunteers and is financially supported by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation.

Winlink networking started by providing interconnection services for amateur radio (also known as ham radio). It is well known for its central role in emergency and contingency communications worldwide. The system used to employ multiple central message servers around the world for redundancy, but in 2017–2018 upgraded to Amazon Web Services that provides a geographically redundant cluster of virtual servers with dynamic load balancers and global content distribution. Gateway stations have operated on sub bands of HF since 2013 as the Winlink Hybrid Network, offering message forwarding and delivery through a mesh like smart network whenever Internet connections are damaged or inoperable. During the late 1990s and late 2000s, it increasingly became what is now the standard network system for amateur radio email worldwide. Additionally, in response to the need for better disaster response communications in the mid to later part of the 2000s, the network was expanded to provide separate parallel radio email networking systems for MARS, UK Cadet, Austrian Red Cross, the US Department of Homeland Security SHARES HF Program, and other groups.

Generally, e mail communications over amateur radio in the 21st century is now considered normal and commonplace. E mail via high frequency

For offshore cruising yachtspeople Winlink is widely used as an alternative, or alongside, Sailmail, which is an HF PACTOR based email system using marine HF frequencies rather than amateur. As well as email the service uses a system called Saildocs, which allows cruisers to retrieve meteorological, maritime safety and other crucial files over email. Winlink was found to be more useful in and around South Africa where best weather was provided by SAMNet (South African Mobile Maritime Net).

PACTOR I, WINMOR(deprecated), ARDOP, , HSMM (WiFi), AX.25 packet, D Star, TCP/IP, and ALE are non proprietary protocols used in various RF applications to access the Winlink network systems. Later versions of PACTOR are proprietary and supported only by commercially available modems from Special Communications Systems GmbH. In amateur radio service, AirMail, Winlink Express, and other email client programs used by the Winlink system, disable the proprietary compression technology for PACTOR II, PACTOR III, and PACTOR IV modems and instead relies on the open FBB protocol, also widely used worldwide by packet radio BBS forwarding systems.

In May 1995, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) privately asked the FCC to change Part 97.309(a) to allow fully documented G TOR, Clover, and original open source PacTOR (Pactor I) modes. The FCC granted this request in DA 95 2106 based on the ARRL's representation that it had worked with developers to ensure complete technical documentation of these codes were available to all amateur radio operators. However, subsequent versions of Pactor contained proprietary compression algorithms that prevent over the air interception. In 2007, a US amateur radio operator filed a formal petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) aimed at reducing the signal bandwidth in automatic operation subbands; but, in May 2008 FCC ruled against the petition. Moreover, we do not believe that changing the rules to prohibit a communications technology currently in use is in the public interest." In spite of FCC rulings DA 95 2106 and DA 13 1918, Winlink advocates continue to use the proprietary versions of Pactor and other undocumented data formats that cannot be eavesdropped, and continue to press the FCC for encrypted data transmissions in amateur radio, as exemplified in a Winlink petition to the FCC for legalized encryption of the US amateur spectrum while seeking broader spectrum allocations in response to the Puerto Rico hurricanes of 2017. Opponents warn that the continual lack of enforcement by the FCC and continued allowance of "effectively encrypted" e mail traffic in the amateur bands is a national security threat, and ham operators have written to the US Congress about the threat. However, all messages passing through licensed US amateur radio stations by radio are freely accessible by other licensed amateurs via the WinLink Open Message Viewer on the Winlink WebSite. Amateurs concerned about encryption are encouraged to help the US amateur radio community police itself by search and viewing such messages, and reporting messages if they spot a violation. https://winlink. org/content/us amateur radio message viewer

The Board of Directors of the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc. has written FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, other Federal Communications Commission members, and FCC administrators to correct inaccuracies in opponents' claims.