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Hello dear Pactor-friends !
Many of you may know Winlink2000, a nice network which lets you stay in contact via email with your friends from mobile or portable locations without internet just via pactor on HF.
But Winlink2000 also offers other possibilities to access your emails from home or at locations with internet or packet radio availability:
I am using the Windows client Airmail2000, my normal SCS PTC2E, which I also use for Pactor. In Airmail2000 I configured parallel to the HF-Terminal also the Packet-Client and using this I can work through the packet-radio network like via Pactor, it is only faster.
DB0LJ-2 connects automatically to the Winlink2000-Server KN6KB, for the intelligent mailrouting of Winlink2000 it does not matter where you access the network. Nevertheless I will try to find a Winlink2000 Server with TelPac enabled in Europe.
If you don't know Winlink 2000 here just a few words for overview:
Winlink2000 is an internet based network of email-servers with RF access
via Pactor all around the world, where mobile and portabel stations without
own access to the internet can exchange emails with people on the internet.
They can also send automatic position reports generated manually or automatically
using GPS, weather reports and more.
In the US Winlink2000 is part of the emergency network.
You will find much more details at http://www.winlink.org.
The TelPac port is designed for automatical access with a special client software, it makes no sense to contact db0lj-2 manualy, this is like connecting a mailserver's pop-port with telnet and fetching mails manually - it works, but it is hard work and very inconvenient.
A usual client software for HF/Pactor as well as for Packet-Radio is
Airmail2000,
a Windows software with all features known from internet email clients
and much more (generating position reports manual or from GPS, wx-reports,
transceiver control...).
This software can be found at http://www.airmail2000.com
and also at the Packet-Radio-Fileserver of the BBS DB0LJ-8 (/ham/comm/ptc2/windows/airmail)
This software is freeware for licenced hamradio-amateurs.
When changing from HF/Pactor to PR/TelPac Airmail2000 needs no big changes in the configuration. You only have to activate the "Packet-Client" in addition to the usual "HF-Terminal" and configure it for your TNC hardware. You can use the same software, in many cases the same PTC/TNC and possibly also the same transceiver.
The TelPac-Node uses the call DB0LJ-2 and should be available nearly everywhere in the German packet radio network and several other countries.
You can also use another hostmode-TNCs for Packet-Radio with Airmail2000,
but the Software is designed for the TNCs used in the US, the hostmode
should be compatible, but the way how to enter it automatically is different
from TAPR- to TF-firmware, so you may need to do some manual configuration
changes. I have not tested with other TNCs than the PTC2 yet.
TelPac is
designed for Packet-Radio-user:
In the Winlink2000-network all emails are usually compressed before
transfer (FBB-binary Level2 is default, can be switched off in the settings
of Airmail2000).
The Pactor<=>Packet-Radio-GateWay
DA5UDI , which is connected to DB0LJ via wire, is not transparent for
binary datas, so TelPac can not be used with compression through this way
from Pactor !
There are a lot of Winlink2000-servers on the HF bands, so it should
not be a problem to access Winlink2000 direct from HF.
If you have internet access this way through TelPac should not be necessary.
Winlink2000 is a system desined in the US with
some features, which may not be allowed in other countries.
Please notice, that you are responsible
to respect your local regulations !
This is not only a problem of Winlink2000, this
is a general requirement for all hamradio users.
If you use Winlink2000 for sending emails you
can be reached via internet using the address <your_own_call>@winlink.org,
but only from stations, that you addressed first or that have registered
themselves at www.winlink.org.
Good luck with this node, I would be very glad hearing about your experiences
and possible problems !
73 de
Hans, DL5DI
SysOp @DB0LJ, DB0MYK, DA5UDI