Cheap Winlink2000 E-mail from the High Seas

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Hamsailor

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I use an old Kantronics Kam Plus HF Modem (TNC) with Pactor 1 capability (important), for doing E-mail from my laptop hundreds of miles out to sea and from the woods, using Winlink2000.

The Kam cost less than $100 on the used market, and I had the radio, inexpensive manual antenna tuner and laptop anyway. (Plus a Ham Radio license).

I connect it to my Icom Ham radio through the microphone socket, but it can also be connected to the accesory plug at the back.

If your wire interface or harness was professionally built, then you are definately good to go.
If you did it yourself, just check and double check your work and soldering.

Watch out for ground loops.
I would say, as a rule of thumb, if your transceiver and the tuner is grounded (they should be), then do not have any ground wires connected in your interface wire or harness. This causes a hum when the ground wire in the harness is connected, due to different phasing in the slower or faster ground wire connection, compared to your main ground connection to the transceiver and tuner.

If nothing works, I have disconnected all wires on my interface harness, and just left the transmit line connected. Now open the vox on your transmitter and set it to key the transmitter when you hit the green connect dot on Airmail's Terminal Window. This crude arrangement works. However, you could then reconnect your other wires one by one untill you get a workable arrangement without having to use the vox. Once again, try not to use the ground wire in the harness.

I assume you know how to tune your transmitter and load it up on a desired Ham radio frequency.
I assume you are a Ham. =)
I assume your computer talks to your Kam.
I assume your Kam can do Pactor 1 (important) - see the specs. You need firmware version 8.0 or there abouts, but if it says it can do Pactor, you are good.
I assume you downloaded Airmail version 3.2

Now:

Turn everything on.
Call up Airmail on your computer.
Open the Terminal window (Far right icon on your tool bar up top)
After a few seconds,it should say: "Kam modem initialized OK" in the Terminal window.
Tune your transceiver for the desired band (7Mhz, 10Mhz, 14Mhz, 21Mhz) Tune up the transmitter with the antenna tuner.
Run only about 60 - 70 Watts (or less). - Pactor has a very high duty cycle, and your rig will warm up, if you run full power. This is adequate power for 1000 NM or more.
Make sure you are on LSB (Lower Side Band ) for ALL bands
Click on the "Transmit icon in the Terminal Window (Green dot).

Your Kam should now make your transmitter cycle through transmit and receive.
Listen to your signal with a portable radio on LSB, or from another yacht (RF gain turned way down!). The signal should be a nice, clear audio chirping (Not hoarse). Hoarse, means RF in the system, or ground loop in action.

If you hit a PMBO, you will eventually, after a few seconds (up to about 15 secs), hear Pactor chirping coming back in your receive cycle.
Two green lights (Lock and Val) should come on, on your Kam. ("Val" only comes on, when an excellent signal is present - look for a frequency and time that gives you this, for a faster connection, but the system works (just slower) without "Val " on.
Read the message in the Terminal window.
You are in business !!!

Open any unread e-mails in the message index window after all activity stops.

Try all PMBO,s within 1000NM, on all frequencies at different times of the day, untill you find a good, clear, fast connection, and log all settings and times for future ease of use.

All the above might work for Sailmail as well, but since I don't have a Sailmail account, I did not test it yet.

Here is some more info:
>
> Definately read "A Pactor Primer",
> http://www.airmail2000.com/pprimer.htm
> Good general info here.
>
> See the "Help File" in Airmail
> Specific info about your radio and Kam and USB ports
> to serial ports, in the
> file.
>
> See more on Sailmail and download Airmail here:
> http://www.airmail2000.com/down.htm
>
> Also see:
>
http://www.alleged.com/radio/TNC-Wiring-Diagrams/ka.html
> for Kam
> wiring info to radio.
>
> Also: http://users3.ev1.net/~medcalf/ztx/wire/
>
> And http://www.spaceyideas.com/ozzie/pinouts.html
>
> The system is not "Plug and play", and needs a
> little research and free
> consultation, but works excellent and inexpensively
> when done.
>
> Once all is set up, it could be tested on Winlink
> (free to Hams), or
> Sailmail.

Easy, and cheap.
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Older Pactor 1 HF SSB Modems which are inexpensively available on the used market:

Kantronics Kam +
Kantronics Kam 98
Kantronics Kam XL
PK 232
PK 900
DSP 1232
DSP 2232
MFJ 1276
MFJ 12788
DXP 38

All supported by Airmail 3.2 e-mail software for both Winlink and Sailmail.

All going for less than $100 on the used market at Internet auctions and Hamfests (Ham radio fleamarkets).
 
I think you may find that more and more wl2k and sailmail stations are dropping Pactor1 which is the only protocol that these older modems will handle. It will work for a time but you will not be the most popular user since at Pactor1 you will tie up whichever frequency you are using for a greater period of time than anyone else using P2 or P3. There is an argument for broader bandwidth and shorter contact time...thus freeing up the frequency for other users...There are developments in the pipeline, e.g. SCAMP which may relieve the burden of expensive radio modems but if you really wish to now make best use of your radio and modem with these "free" Wx/email systems then maybe the expense will justify itself?
 
Good information and an important debate that desrves to be in the forums, whether it should be in PBO or the liveaboard forum is a moot point, but not one that could be expected to be answered by a new poster.
 
I have been thinkingg about this area for some time and as I am not a ham would be unabl;e to make use of the feee link. My decision was that a SSB was a great tool for inter yacht comms, but an iridium would be more reliable and better for the net links. Especially as the iridium is about the same cost as the pactor 2/3,

yes I know that connection costs are more for iridum than sailmail (or whatever) , but the connection is also better and faster.
 
Hi all,

My post above was a copy of an E-mail sent to a Winlink2000 user in Africa who was particularly interested in an inexpensive solution to the expensive HF SSB Modem (TNC) problem.

I agree the trend is towards the faster Pactor 2 and 3 modes.

What gets me and other Hams a little bit, is the fact that Winlink and Sailmail was in a way hijacked by the manufacturers of these Pactor 2/3 modems. (The same manufacturer) And Winlink/Sailmail (and others), allow this. - It's a bit like this: "If you dont buy our TNC, you cannot have faster Winlink or Sailmail connections, as we are the only game in town, and intend to stay and remain like that by perpetuating our monopoly in this field, so shut up and swallow it. (And we have a great deal with Winlink and Sailmail etc.)" -Very sailor-unfriendly and contrary to the innovative spirit of Ham radio, to my mind. Hopefully SCAMP soundcard software will take care of this. Way to go SCAMP !

There are lots of poorer entities, in poorer countries in the world, that can benefit by the use of older, used technology Pactor 1 modems, which are inexpensively available on the used market (See E-Bay, Hamfests etc.) I am thinking of missionaries in the field, yachties on a budget, farmers in Africa and South America etc, etc.

The argument that Pactor 1 slows down these systems, does'nt hold water to my mind. All Winlink2000 users get 30 minutes per Participating Mail Box Office (PMBO) or Internet node, per day. All Sailmail users get about 10 minutes per node per day. How you use your 30 or 10 minutes, is up to you.... You either use an inexpensive slow modem (Pactor 1), or a very expensive fast modem (Pactor 2 or 3). In any case, human nature will dictate that users will use ALL their allocated time per day, since we are all so used to a much faster Internet access at home.

So please keep some Pactor 1 PMBO's open throughout the world !

Pactor 2/3 is good, but lets get some competition in the manufacturing of these TNC,s !

Just my humble opinion and not meant to flame anybody.
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I don't think you are correct in stating that SCS hi-jacked AirMail/SailMail/Winlink2k. It may only be of academic interest to a few but I think that the WinLink team chose Pactor because of the error checking capability. It was not the only protocol tested but proved the most effective, I understand. SCS developed the Pactor 2 protocol quite independently and the modems which allowed automatic correction of frequency disparity between stations and automatic data rate alteration as a function of error detection and/or propagation (or something similar!). Subsequently WinLink moved to Pactor 2 and then Pactor 3 because that provided the improved rates for up/down loading. SCS designed the protocols & modems for a much wider market than Radio Hams. I understand your use of Pactor 1 if all you want is a short text Weather Forecast...but if it's WeFax or even updating "the list" - you may find 30 minutes isn't enough in poor propagation. The same info at P2/P3 would allow more users to access in good conditions rather than being locked out by P1...
 
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