Winlink Express

Sample Setup from KF0MLB

I volunteered to help my local ARES group perform a Simulated Emergency Test, and I needed to try and get Winlink working before the event.

Packet Modem

Hardware

• Explorer QRZ-1
  • Diamond RH77CA
  • SMA Male to BNS Female
• Digirig Mobile with Baofeng adapter cables
• Surface Book 2

USB Sound Card

With the Digirig as a new USB sound source, connected to my Surface Book, I experimented and found I needed:

• Speaker and Microphone levels set to 40%
• Turn off all other options, such as AGC, Bass Boost, etc.
• Renamed the Microphone to "Digirig RX" and the Speaker to "Digirig TX"
• Changed the audio format under Advanced, from DVD Quality to CD Quality
  • Somewhere I found the audio codecs are using 44100Hz, which matches CD Quality
• Make sure Digirig is NOT the default sound device for the system (mic or speaker)

TNC Setup

I decided to use the UZ7HO soundmodem software for Winlink Packet Modem; I tried using Direwolf first, but it kept telling me the audio levels were too low and I couldn't get it to work. Since the Digirig will do PTT, I was able to configure soundmodem to connect to COM4 using RTS to control the PTT.

Radio Setup

I connected the radio to the Digirig using the Baofeng adapter cables, via the K1 ports on the side. I removed the Diamond antenna I like to carry, and using an adapter I connected my N9TAX slim jim antenna in the attic.

• Frequency: my local RMS gateway
• Volume: 25%
• Squelch: off
• Band: Medium

Software Setup

I had to sign up for a Winlink account before I could use the software, there are plenty of guides to get this done.

From Winlink, I wrote a new email to my personal gmail account and **Posted to Outbox**. Then I opened a Packet Modem session. I configured my Packet Modem to connect to *soundmodem* using KISS TNC type on port 8001. I messed with the TNC Parameters a lot, so I don't know how good or bad they are. But for the QRZ-1, I used:

• 1200 baud
• TX Delay 300
• Max Packet 128
• Max Frame 4
• Frack 2
• Persistence 128
• Slot Time 30
• Max Retries 5
• Enable IPoll checked

Vara FM

Same setup as Packet Modem, except swap Soundmodem for Vara FM. I also was testing this late at night from my couch, with the QRZ-1 connected to the Diamond antenna (not my N9TAX), and I could reach the Emergency Operations Center setup. I did need to play with the volume of my radio until the VU meter in Vara window was about 1 o'clock.